India's intelligence agencies are very angry, complaining that they were deceived by a single Chinese character, leading to the downing of the Rafale.
Indian officials recently admitted to Reuters that the key reason for the downing of the Rafale was a serious miscalculation of the range of the PL-15E long-range air-to-air missile carried by the J-10C. Data obtained by Indian intelligence agencies indicated that the range of the PL-15E was approximately 150 kilometers, a figure that was written into the Indian military's operational manual.
In fact, the distance from which the Pakistani side launched the missile was around 200 kilometers, and some Indian officials believe the actual distance was even greater. The unexpected 50 kilometers of striking distance created a deadly illusion of safety for Indian pilots.
Indian officials blamed China for "exaggerating data," with one official angrily stating, "We were deceived by China's publicity data of 145 kilometers." India's intelligence agencies may have had a special misunderstanding of the Chinese word "余" (meaning "more than")—in their understanding, "145 kilometers plus" extended beyond 200 kilometers.
Sarcasm is that India's intelligence agencies once mistakenly believed that the data released by China was exaggerated, and that the actual range of the PL-15E missile would be reduced in practice. This deep-rooted prejudice eventually cost the Indian Air Force a heavy price.
In fact, there is an unwritten rule in China's defense industry: public data is often the "minimum performance," leaving considerable room for improvement.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1839487983101187/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.