Almost a decade has passed since the People’s Liberation Army pulled the trigger on President Xi Jinping’s plans for a massive overhaul of the world’s biggest military. In the eighth of a series on Chinese weapons systems, we look at the country’s advanced air-to-air missile.
It was not until the combat debut of the PL-15E during a skirmish between Pakistan and India last week that the capabilities of the Chinese-made air-to-air missile were truly put to the test – after years of speculation by observers abroad.
For decades, Chinese-made air-to-air missiles were believed to be imitations of Western designs. But the recent deployment of the PL-15E by the Pakistan Air Force serves as a fresh reminder that the strengths of China’s air-to-air missile systems – alongside a growing fleet of advanced fighter aircraft – can no longer be ignored.
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