China has displayed its J-16 fighters equipped with the PL-17 weapon, a weaponry upgrade that drastically improves the fighter’s fighting power and reflects an overall change in its air warfare stance.
According to a photo published by China, J- 16 Flanker compounds are armed with numerous air-to-air missiles, including the long-range PL-17, also known as PLE-XX or PT-20, according to The Warzone.
A formation of four J-16 jets carrying a variety of missiles with short- to really long-range commitment capabilities was used to display the weapon. According to the Warzone statement, the PL- 17 is renowned for its unmatched reach, substantially increasing the functional capacity of the J- 16.
For critical aerial targets like aerial tankers and airborne warning and control system aircraft ( AWACS), the PL- 17 is a long-range beyond visual range ( BVR ) missile.
The weapon form has been the focus of ongoing research, even though the Warzone mentions that the PL- 17 was initially observed seven years prior to the author’s release. It is primarily designed to target high-value assets like tankers and flying early-warning plane and is widely regarded as the PL- 12’s successor.
The weapon, which is nearly 20 feet long and considerably larger than the PL-15, has a dual-pull spacecraft motor, four tiny tail fins, thrust-vectoring controls, and can travel at least Mach 4 speeds.
In contrast, its guidance system combines an AESA wanderer and a two-way datalink and is extremely resistant to digital countermeasures. The missile’s style also implies the presence of an infrared wanderer, which makes it more challenging to defeat during the phase of end engagement.
However, according to The Warzone, the PL- 17 is now limited to an exterior vehicle because of its size, which was first discovered on the J-16. According to the review, there is continued testing but no official confirmation of support entry, and its operating status as of 2023 is still unknown.
The report also emphasizes the information warfare component of China’s public display of these missiles, which is unmistakably an effort to signal operational readiness or near-readyness even though that is n’t always the case.
Samuel Leiter claims that while China has prioritized matching US features since the Gulf War, it still lags considerably in warrior features in a working paper published in March 2023 for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Leiter contends that China’s military philosophy emphasizes the use of heat energy for maritime security, particularly in close-by environments like the adjacent seas, reflecting a significant strategic change toward establishing atmosphere superiority in light of contemporary warfighting paradigms.
He contends, nevertheless, that despite all of China’s work, it can only use airport attacks to challenge US atmosphere superiority. Additionally, he asserts that US assessments frequently exaggerate China’s capabilities by focusing on defense systems rather than their actual operating effectiveness and training differences.
Leiter points out that when it comes to radar detection, air-to-air weapon ranges, and cunning capabilities, fourth-generation US and Japanese plane have significant advantages over their Taiwanese counterparts.
He claims that these elements are essential in BVR fight, where stealth and sensor advantages enable aircraft to participate without being seen, resulting in disparate combat performance outcomes actually between aircraft of the same generation.
Additionally, he points out that the switch to BVR fight has made traditional dogfights into one-sided executions, which greatly favors aircraft with cutting-edge technology.
According to Leiter, historical data indicates substantially higher eliminate ratios for more sophisticated fighters, with the gap between fifth and fourth era aircraft possibly being more important than those between earlier generations.
In May 2022, Asia Times discussed the possibility of an atmosphere conflict between China and Japan. According to satellite images from China’s eastern province of Xinjiang, it may be aiming very long-range BVR missiles like the PL-17 to kill Japan ‘ AWACS plane on the ground or, in the event that that is not possible.
Japan has four E- 767 and 16 E- 2 Hawkeye AWACS aircraft in operation. These are of post portable command posts that exchange information with friendly aircraft and direct fighters to their intended targets.
Without AWACS aircraft, Japan would be unable to build nuclear missiles at Guam or even the US mainland or check the corporate Ryukyu Islands, which serve as a confinement collection against Chinese ships and submarines from flanking maneuvers against Taiwan.
The US flying cargo fleet’s vulnerabilities, which are crucial to US power projection, were also covered by Asia Times in a report from February 2023. As China and Russia’s strategic competition intensifies, US cargo aircraft are currently operating at a very high rate, necessitating more extra capacity.
Nevertheless, the US cargo ship is aging, with airplane on average 52 years old. As China now has the ability to launch missile attacks against US aircraft and air bases like Guam and Okinawa, US flying recharging is also becoming more and more resilient.
Long-range missiles like the PL-17 may require US flying tankers to run at least 1,200 kilometers from China’s coast, leaving its fighter escorts without enough fuel to maintain station.
Despite these dangers, the US has taken strategic action to create defenses against the risk posed by Chinese BVR weapons that are becoming more sophisticated.
Douglas Barrie notes in a 2019 article for the International Institute of Strategic Studies ( IISS) that the US is creating the AIM- 260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile ( JATM) in response to the ever-more sophisticated Chinese missiles, such as the PL-17, as well as to replace the age-dead Aim-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air-Midlance Air ( AMRAAM ).
According to Barrie, the AIM- 260 is anticipated to be used on low-observable platforms like the F-22 and, to a lesser extent,F-35 in order to benefit from their stealth capabilities and the missile’s great efficiency. He does, however, point out that this strategy might be less successful with older soldiers from the US Air Force, like the F-15 and F-16.
The Next Generation Air Dominance ( NGAD ) and B-21 Raider, two new US stealth aircraft, may have significant advancements in covert technology, making them more difficult to track and target at a distance.
However, developments in stealth technology may make it possible for opposing aircraft to come into view of one another, necessitating expertise in air combat maneuvering (ACM) for within-visual-range ( WVR ) engagements.
In order to provide pilots a complete picture of the field and identify threats before they enter strike range, sensor fusion is also essential for the defeat of BVR missiles.
To maintain information and decision advantage, the US Joint All-Domain Command and Control ( JADC2 ) strategy emphasizes sensor fusion and data analysis using AI and machine learning.