China has unveiled a new weapon, marking a further expansion of its lead in the field of over-the-horizon air combat. On December 2, the Chinese military network published photos of a new air-to-air missile mounted on the J-16 for the first time in the actual combat training report of an aviation brigade.
In the movie Opium War, there is an impressive scene in which, facing the barrage of artillery from the British and French fleets, the defending Qing soldiers report heartbreaking: Our guns can't reach them!
After the outbreak of the Gulf War, over-the-horizon air warfare began to dominate the battlefield, and the results of the U.S. military in this war exceeded the number of short-range air-to-air missiles for the first time, and the Chinese Air Force at that time, still took aircraft guns and short-range air-to-air missiles as the main weapons, and the entire army could not even get a few fighters equipped with airborne radar. What Lin Zexu said at that time, "His cannon is ten miles away, and if my cannon cannot reach him, his cannon has reached me first, it is a bad weapon", which seems to happen again in the air battlefield.
However, with the continuous improvement of China's comprehensive national strength and military science and technology, the PLA not only has the capability of over-the-horizon air combat, but also comes in behind, equipped with the powerful PL-15 long-range air-to-air missile, which has a longer air strike distance than NATO fighters. Two hundred years ago it was our guns that could not reach Western warships, now it is the turn of Western warplanes to reach us.
And recently, China has revealed a new killer, marking a further expansion of China's lead in the field of over-the-horizon air combat. On December 2, the Chinese military network published photos of a new air-to-air missile mounted on the J-16 for the first time in the actual combat training report of an aviation brigade.
It can be seen from the figure that the J-16 carries a total of 10 missiles, including four PL-10 short-range air-to-air missiles, four PL-15 long-range air-to-air missiles, one PL-12 medium-range air-to-air missile, and one larger missile than the PL-15. From the appearance of the missile body, this is obviously an ultra-long-range air-to-air missile, suspected to be the PL-17 circulated on the network a few years ago.
China has a fine tradition of developing weapons with a low profile and a penchant for making big surprises. Other countries develop a new type of weapon, often in the PPT stage to publicize the world, for fear that others do not know that they are going to build a new guy. While China is quietly developing, J-10 until a few years before service, the official only semi-public J-10 existence news. J-20 until the first flight, the outside world did not know its existence, and this may be the intention of the Chinese side to publicize in advance, for the visiting US Defense Secretary to send a "greeting gift".
And now the People's Liberation Army officially released photos of the PL-17, and also emphasized that this was taken during the actual combat training of the aviation organization, which proves one thing: the PL-17 has completed research and development, is currently undergoing actual combat training tests by the military, and is most likely already in service.
Several years ago, the West became aware that China was developing an ultra-long-range air-to-air missile with a range above the PL-15, and collected the few photos of the PL-17. In May 2022, the United States "Military Watch" magazine published a document saying: the range of the PL-17 up to 500 kilometers, mainly used to attack enemy bombers, refueling aircraft, early warning aircraft and transport aircraft.
Although the specific performance of the PL-17 has not been officially announced, some parameters of the PL-17 can be roughly calculated by combining the evaluation of Western professional institutions and the comparison of photos of the PL-17 and the PL-15. First, the parameters of the export version of the PL-15E have been disclosed: 3.9 meters long, 203 mm diameter, 210 kg weight. The Pl-17 is nearly 5.8 meters long, has a diameter of 300 millimeters, and weighs about 400 kilograms.
Once in service, the PL-17 is expected to set three world records. First, the PL-17 is the longest range air-to-air missile in the world. Russia's R-37M air-to-air missile flew 398 kilometers in a cruise taxi profile during the test, while Russia's other ultra-long-range air-to-air missile, the KS-172, is not currently in service. The PL-17 is designed to attack large enemy aircraft, which usually operate in the relatively safe airspace behind, so the range of the PL-17 missile must be more than 400 kilometers to ensure that it can attack the large enemy aircraft before the air-to-air missile intercepts the aircraft during the launch of the enemy escort aircraft.
Second, the PL-17 will be the fastest air-to-air missile in the world. The Chinese Pl-15, the American AIM-120, and the Russian R37M, regardless of the aerodynamic design, have wings on the missile body to improve the maneuverability of the missile and still have considerable lift characteristics at slower speeds.
