Has India found something valuable from the debris of the PL-15?

According to the "Asia Defense Security" website, recently the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) announced that the range of India's domestically produced "Astra" series air-to-air missiles has been significantly improved. The effective range of the 1st type missile has increased from 110 kilometers to 160 kilometers, while the upcoming 2nd type missile has seen its range extended from 200 kilometers to 240 kilometers.

It's still hard to say whether India's claim is true or false.

At the same time, the "Defense Research" website of India also published an article boasting that the upgraded "Astra" missile will be able to change the way the Indian Air Force operates, "compressing the operational space of the Pakistan Air Force". At that time, Indian aircraft would not need to reach the border to shoot down Pakistani planes coming from Islamabad or Lahore direction.

"Asia Defense Security" website believes that the upgrade of India's "Astra" air-to-air missile is likely the result of reverse engineering the technology of the PL-15 missile debris, as after the India-Pakistan air battle last year, India had claimed to have recovered several so-called "intact" PL-15 air-to-air missiles and stated that it would crack the secrets of Chinese missiles to enhance itself.

Anyway, India has already written its little essay.

However, this view from the "Asia Defense Security" website was denied by the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation. Its statement insisted that the breakthrough in the range of the "Astra" missile had nothing to do with the debris of the PL-15, and this improvement was the result of India's own research project, which had already been launched before the conflict in 2025.

So, how should we view this news from India?

Based on the current public information, it's still hard to tell if this news is another Indian propaganda stunt, because in 2023, India described the range of the Astra 2 missile as around 160 kilometers.

But after the Pakistan Air Force shot down an Indian Rafale fighter jet with a J-10 beyond visual range last year, India suddenly reported that the range of the Astra 2 missile had "jumped" to 200 kilometers, even "over 200 kilometers" - such data manipulation is widely considered to be a public relations campaign by India to match Chinese weapons.

India claims that the Astra 1 type shot down a Pakistani plane last year, but Pakistan has never confirmed it.

As for the possibility of reverse engineering, although India did recover multiple PL-15 missile debris after the conflict, according to publicly available photos, these were mostly severely burned or exploded missile fragments, far from being "intact" or "nearly complete," making it difficult to say that India could gain any core technology from them.

Additionally, the development history of the Indian "Astra" missile series has been full of delays and exaggerations.

According to the official statement of India, the Astra 1 missile was already in service in 2019 and was first deployed in combat during the recent India-Pakistan conflict, shooting down a Pakistani aerial target despite the electronic interference from the Pakistani side.

However, the Pakistani side has a completely different account. To date, Pakistan has never admitted that any aircraft was shot down in the air battle last year, and open-source intelligence platforms lack conclusive evidence supporting India's claim of a successful kill, which makes the "combat debut" of the Astra 1 missile more of a narrative from India alone.

The Astra 2 missile has not yet entered service.

The Astra 2 missile, which was expected to counter the PL-15, was initially supposed to complete development in 2022 and enter service by the end of 2023.

But in fact, the plan has not been fulfilled so far. Currently, India's latest statement is that the missile integration test with the Rafale fighter jet will take place in 2028 - but whether it can be fulfilled on time remains uncertain.

As for the planned 3rd type missile, although its range is said to exceed 340 kilometers, given that the 1st and 2nd types are so unreliable, this model naturally inspires little optimism.

Overall, India's high-profile announcement of a "major breakthrough" in domestic missiles after obtaining the PL-15 debris may have more political and propaganda significance than actual technological advancement.

Especially for a country that still relies on foreign technology in key defense sectors, it is unlikely to overcome top-tier missile technology and achieve stable mass production within a short period just by a few pieces of debris. The industrial base and technical challenges involved are difficult to overcome.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7603008005606048282/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.