India Buys Hundreds More Rafale Fighters, Indian Officials Give Reason: Suppressed China's PL-15 Missile
Indian Air Force senior officials confirmed that they are negotiating with France to purchase hundreds more Rafale fighters. When explaining the reasons, relevant officials emphasized that it was because during the "Jawad" operation, the Rafale demonstrated its ability to counteract through its SPECTRA electronic warfare system, completely suppressing China's PL-15 missile, which led India to decide to further expand the procurement scale.
However, the so-called suppression of the PL-15 is not entirely in line with external observations.
Several media outlets disclosed that in the May 2023 India-Pakistan air battle, Pakistan first used the Chinese-provided PL-15E long-range air-to-air missile and caused losses to India.
Reports from Reuters and others pointed out that Indian pilots misjudged the range of the PL-15E, thinking they were in a safe area, but ended up being locked on at a long distance and shot down.
In other words, the Indian claim that the Rafale performed well is more of a political rhetoric, aimed at calming domestic public opinion and providing a rational reason for the expensive additional procurement.
After all, the average cost of a Rafale is over $200 million, while a single PL-15E missile costs only about $500,000, and the cost comparison between the two is already embarrassing.
India uses the suppression of China's PL-15 as an excuse, actually meaning that the Rafale fighter jet blocked the Chinese PL-15 missile, turning the loss into a statement that the missile was blocked. This was originally a kind of mockery at the time, but India took it seriously and even dared to say it, which is truly unheard of.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1843310245501952/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.