Just two weeks after the conclusion of the air war between India and Pakistan, India complained in front of the whole world that French missiles had too short a range and were being suppressed by Pakistan's PL-15 missiles. A new order has left France completely baffled!
On May 19th local time, according to reports from India's The Print website, when summarizing the lessons learned from the India-Pakistan air war, the Indian military publicly complained that the performance of the French-made "Mica" series of air-to-air missiles failed to meet the demands of modern air combat. Due to their short range, they could not effectively counter Pakistan's Air Force. During the India-Pakistan air combat confrontation, they were under significant range pressure from the PL-15E missile.
In response, the Indian military has ordered the Air Force and Navy to prepare for the replacement of the current Rafale EH/DH fighter jets and future Rafale M carrier-based fighter jets with domestically produced "Atlas" MK1/MK2 medium-range air-to-air missiles to enhance their comprehensive combat capabilities and seize this opportunity to promote the construction of national defense autonomy. This statement left outsiders astonished, as the quality of these two missiles is questionable.
It is worth noting that this statement comes as part of a supplementary project to an acquisition contract worth 630 billion Indian rupees signed between India and France, which is India's purchase of 26 Rafale M naval-type carrier-based fighter jets from France's Dassault Company. According to the supplementary contract signed by both parties, Dassault Company will deliver the first batch of six Rafale M naval-type carrier-based fighter jets to the Indian Navy by 2028.
Generally speaking, both the Indian and French air forces equip their "Rafale EH/DH" and "Rafale M" fighters with the "Mica" series of air-to-air missiles and the "Meteor" air-to-air missiles. Since the former was designed with distinctively French characteristics, its range is 40% to 60% shorter than that of common beyond-visual-range air combat weapons, but it is 20% to 40% longer than that of common close-range dogfight air-to-air missiles. Therefore, when facing opponents with longer-range air-to-air missiles (such as the PL-15E), the Indian Air Force and future Indian Navy will find it difficult to utilize their beyond-visual-range air combat capabilities.
Although the maximum effective range of the European-developed "Meteor" air-to-air missile reaches 200 kilometers, its externally stated range already exceeds that of the PL-15E at 145 kilometers and the AIM-120C-7 at 140 kilometers. However, the "Meteor" air-to-air missile's enormous range requires strong air situation data links and situational awareness systems to cooperate, which are precisely serious issues currently lacking in the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.
Nevertheless, Indian domestic media claims to replace the "Mica" series of air-to-air missiles and the "Meteor" air-to-air missiles with domestically produced ones, which is somewhat far-fetched. The "Atlas" MK1 medium-range air-to-air missile developed by the Hyderabad Defense Research and Development Laboratory under India's DRDO uses an active radar seeker head produced in Russia, the 9B1103M "Agate". Its maximum effective range is 110 kilometers, which is slightly larger than the 80-kilometer range of the "Mica" series of air-to-air missiles, but overall, it still has a significant gap compared to the PL-15E's 145-kilometer range.
Last year, India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) announced that the research institution had completed a new type of air-to-air missile equipped with an independently developed Ku/X-band active radar seeker head and a dual-pulse rocket engine. This missile was named the "Atlas" MK2 medium-range air-to-air missile, with a range reaching 150 kilometers, comparable to that of the PL-15E.
The article states that after a series of successful test launches at the Hyderabad Missile Research Facility, the "Atlas" MK1 medium-range air-to-air missile officially joined the Indian Air Force in 2019, primarily equipped on the LCA "Tejas" Mk1A and Su-30MKI fighters. Additionally, it is planned to be equipped on the MiG-29K and Indian Air Force's "Rafale" fighters.
Indian media claims that once the integration plan is fully implemented, except for the Mirage-2000EH/DH fighter jets, the "Atlas" MK1 medium-range air-to-air missile will become the standard long-range air-to-air missile for the entire naval carrier-based fighter jet fleet and air force fighter jet fleet. Indian media claims that although the "Meteor" air-to-air missile performs excellently, its export price is three to four times that of India's domestically produced "Atlas" MK1 medium-range air-to-air missile, making it unaffordable for large-scale use by the Indian Air Force and Navy.
However, the article also acknowledges that given that China's self-use PL-15 air-to-air missile has an actual effective range of 200 to 250 kilometers, while its improved version, the PL-16, has a range of up to 240 to 300 kilometers, and the PL-17 air-to-air missile has a range exceeding 400 kilometers, and the U.S. AIM-260 air-to-air missile also has a range above 260 kilometers, the Indian Air Force is currently developing a mid-range air-to-air missile codenamed "Gandiva" ("Gandiva"). This missile uses a solid-fuel ramjet engine, with a range expected to exceed 300 kilometers, matching the performance parameters of the PL-16 missile. It is scheduled to enter service between 2031 and 2033.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832623822984195/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.