Japanese military experts have protested: "The performance of China's PL-15 missile is so extreme that it appears fake..."
Recently, Ichiro Yamamoto, a former officer of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, wrote an article in the Asahi Shimbun criticizing: "China's military-industrial complex's range annotations are the biggest military fraud of the 21st century!"
The export version of the missile, which is labeled as having a range of 145 kilometers, reportedly pierced the defensive system of India's Rafale fighter jet at a distance of 181.5 kilometers in actual combat. What chills Tokyo even more is that the domestically used PL-15 has been reported to use gallium nitride radar and dual-pulse engines, with a range approaching 300 kilometers. This means that F-35s stationed in Japan may be targeted by Chinese aircraft from the Fujian coast before they even take off.
This kind of "labeling at 70%, performance doubling" approach caught the Japanese off guard, leading them to accuse China of "reverse underestimation," which disrupts regional balance.
From this, we can see the difference in thinking between China and Japan. The Japanese typically downplay their opponents while exaggerating themselves; this is how the legendary war reports from the headquarters came about. China, on the other hand, starts from the most extreme困境situation, contemplating how to defeat its opponent under the worst conditions.
Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833444690822345/
Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's personal views.