The export version of the PL-15 air-to-air missile, known as an exclusive weapon for the J-20 fighter, accompanied by the PL-10 air-to-air missile and others, made its debut at the 13th China Airshow opened at the Zhuhai International Airshow Center today.
Prior to this, a J-20 stealth fighter jet suddenly showed off its missile bays at the 2018 Zhuhai Airshow, and the new PL-15 and PL-10 air-to-air missiles hidden in the bay gained a lot of fame.
A full-scale model of the PL-15E air-to-air missile, which is making its debut at the Zhuhai Airshow, can be seen in the Air Strike sub-pavilion of the China Aviation Industry Pavilion at this year’s Zhuhai Airshow, while detailed performance data for this advanced missile has never been released before.
According to China Aviation Industry, the “E” in PL-15E stands for export model, “which has more than double the range compared to the SD-10A medium-range air-to-air missile and is a powerful tool for air-to-air combat”.
According to AVIC’s website, the SD-10A medium-range air-to-air missile has a range of 70 kilometers, which means that the PL-15E has a range of more than 140 kilometers and is already a long-range air-to-air missile, but still far less than the data speculated by the West.
According to Chinese media citing the U.S. Global Security website, the Chinese Air Force’s own PL-15 long-range air-to-air missile has a range of more than 150 kilometers, possibly as far as 200 to 300 kilometers, with active radar guidance and over-the-horizon combat capability, and could be equipped on the J-10C, J-16 and J-20 fighters.
If previous Western speculation is true, it is clear that the export version of the PL-15E has a discounted range – which is actually comparable to the range of the USAF’s current state-of-the-art AIM-120D long-range air-to-air missile.
Even with the discounted range of the PL-15E, its performance is enough to scare the West. The PL-15 could use either a dual-pulse engine or a ramjet engine and pose a serious challenge to the U.S. and its allied air forces with a range at least equal to that of the AIM-120D, advanced complex guidance, and a supporting active electronically scanned array radar, according to U.S. TheDrive site cited by Chinese media.
It is commonly believed in the West that the Chinese Air Force could use such long-range missiles to sneak up on supporting aircraft such as refueling, early warning, unmanned reconnaissance and communications relays in the rear, thereby undermining these “airpower multipliers” on which the U.S. Air Force relies.
But as technology advances, long-range air-to-air missiles can make much more of a difference than that. According to the Chinese media, the TheDrive website also paints a more worrisome scenario of air combat for the West – stealth fighters quietly collect information on opponents’ air targets with advanced sensors in front, and this information is transmitted to non-stealth fighters at the back through the data link. The latter launches long-range air-to-air missiles and launches surprise attacks on the enemy with the advantage of range. These long-range missiles can also receive target updates from stealth fighters while in flight, giving the adversary no escape.
With the help of long-range missiles, advanced airborne radar, and battlefield data chains, non-stealth fighters with large ammunition loads can act as arsenals and be “reborn” in the modern air warfare battlefield, while stealth fighters do not expose themselves during the entire attack and can continue to sneak in to execute “lethal strikes”.
