Recovery of the air-to-air missile made in China can provide vital contributions to its capacities

Friday, the recovery of a long-range air-to-air missile from almost intact China near Hoshiarpur, in the east of Punjab, should offer the Indian Air Force an overview of its technical specifications and its operational capacities, helping to refine air combat procedures.

The missile, identified as PL-15, is an active homing radar missile that equips Chinese fighters like the JF-17 which are also in service in the Pakistani Air Force. According to reports, Pakistan has acquired the PL-15th variant which has a claimed range of 145 km.

The JF-17s in service with Pakistan were operationally deployed during continuous commitment to India. According to Air Force officers, the missile was probably launched on an Indian plane, missed its target and continued its flight until it runs out of fuel and fell from the sky.

The closest distance is at the top of the Indo-Pakistani border in the village of Kamahi Devi in ​​Hoshiarpur, where the missile was found, is about 60 km. While the designers specify the range of the missile, it can deviate according to the altitude and speed of the launch platform, environmental conditions and the angle of attack. Examination of its system can provide clues to the place and launch conditions.

“This is a gold opportunity, although rare for Indian experts to examine all aspects of the carefully missile, which will provide critical contributions to its operational planning,” said an IAF officer. “The fact that he is almost intact, which implies that he did not reach his goal which could have damaged or disintegrated and no longer his warhead explored on the fall, is an additional advantage,” he said.

The unit of propulsion of the missile, warhead and electronic systems such as radar and orientation unit would be studied, which would give the IAF a realistic image of its capacities that what could be obtained by analyzing electronic signatures, studying literature, examining the visuals or relying on other intelligence entries.

Drones are also used by Pakistan to attack places in India and the leftovers would also be examined. The border security force regularly performs a medico-legal analysis of the recovered drones along the border which are widely used for smuggling to discern their place of launch, destination and other parameters, for which dedicated laboratories have been set up in Punjab and Delhi.

The evaluation of the capacities of the opponent’s systems and equipment of arms is the key to operational planning and combat procedures, and all the military focuses a lot on this aspect. Needless to say, other countries that consider China as a threat, especially the United States, would also be interested in learning more about the missile, which taking into account its range and age, constitutes an important part of the Chinese arsenal.

Countries are trying to get their hands on the military equipment of other countries to assess their capacities. In fact, there is a documented case of the era of the Cold War where the KGB, the dreaded intelligence agency of the Soviet Union of the Old, managed to exalt a Sidewinder, then the most advanced air-air air missile in the United States, a German air base and transport it to the URSR.

Joint exercises with other countries, which operates equipment that an opponent may have, is another means of evaluation. In fact, IAF pilots have acquired a first-hand experience of the F-16 which forms the nucleus of the air capacity of Pakistan, during joint exercises with the Singapore Air Force.

China and Pakistan are the only countries to operate this missile which was inducted by China in 2016 and is also known as CH-AA-10 Abaddon in the West. Pakistan has only received these missiles recently. Certain variants used by the Chinese popular liberation army – the Air Force would have a range of up to 300 km.

India also has several long-range air-to-air missiles such as R-27, R77, KS-172 and Meteor, which can reach targets to ranges of up to 300 km. These are employed on SU-30, MIG-29 and Rafale. Indigenous missiles such as Astra and Ramjet leads to solid fuel, which have a range of 350 km, are also under development.