Pakistani accounts have shared a claim, “There are reports of Indian military/civilian communication blackouts across wide regions caused by Pakistan’s deployment of the Turkish KORAL Electronic Warfare system.”
A video has been shared with the claim where a BBC logo on the video is seen with the caption, ” Did Electronic Warfare Bring Down Indian Jets?”
Fact Check
Upon investigation, we found the claim to be misleading. There is no credible evidence to support the claim that Pakistan has deployed the Turkish KORAL electronic warfare system to cause communication blackouts across India. While Pakistan has been modernizing its electronic warfare capabilities and has maintained strong defense ties with Türkiye, no official or open-source defense intelligence confirms that KORAL systems have been transferred to or deployed by Pakistan along the India–Pakistan border. As of May 2025, Türkiye exported the KORAL system to select allies such as Morocco, but Pakistan was not officially listed among them.
Additionally, the recent power blackouts in several Indian regions, particularly in cantonment towns near the border, were the result of pre-scheduled civil-defense drills conducted by Indian authorities. On May 5, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs directed states to hold mock exercises on May 7, including 30-minute crash blackouts, air-raid sirens, and shelter-in-place rehearsals. Locations such as Ferozepur in Punjab observed these drills, and public notices were issued in advance. These were not spontaneous outages but organized readiness exercises amid rising tensions following a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. (Times of India Report)
Furthermore, we examined the video circulating alongside the claim. Contrary to the narrative, no such report has been published by the BBC regarding Indian fighter jets malfunctioning due to Pakistani electronic warfare systems. Upon closer analysis, we traced the footage to a Pakistan Air Force Mirage fighter jet crash that occurred in Punjab. The same video was uploaded to YouTube on April 17, well before the alleged blackout events. This confirms that the video used to support the claim is misleading.
What Is the KORAL Electronic-Warfare System?
KORAL is a land-based, transportable electronic-warfare (EW) system developed by Turkish firm Aselsan to jam and deceive hostile radar and certain communication systems over ranges up to 200 km.
As of May 2025, official sources list Turkey and Morocco as KORAL operators; there is no public record of Pakistan having procured or fielded KORAL units.
Conclusion
The claim that Pakistan used the Turkish KORAL electronic warfare system to cause widespread Indian communication blackouts is false. The outages were part of planned Indian civil-defense drills, and while some GPS jamming has occurred near the LoC, there is no evidence of a coordinated EW attack or KORAL deployment.
