China Launches Probe into PL-15E Missile Failures After Multiple Intact Recoveries in India During May Conflict
Beijing, December 3 - In a move that underscores vulnerabilities in its advanced weaponry exports, Chinese defense authorities have quietly launched a comprehensive internal probe into the PL-15E beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile following its underwhelming performance during the intense May 2025 India-Pakistan aerial clashes. The investigation, spearheaded by the China Airborne Missile Academy (CAMA) under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), comes after India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) recovered at least eight PL-15E units, several nearly intact, from sites across Punjab, including a pristine specimen near Hoshiarpur on May 9. These recoveries, detailed in official Indian briefings, revealed critical flaws such as failed self-destruct mechanisms and disrupted guidance systems, exposing sensitive Ku-band active electronically scanned array (AESA) seekers and dual-pulse rocket motors to forensic analysis. The PL-15E, an export variant of the PLAAF's flagship PL-15 with a touted 145 km range, was deployed by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) J-10C and JF-17 Block III fighters in a bid to counter Indian Rafales and Su-30MKIs, but none achieved their targets, gliding harmlessly to earth amid electronic warfare disruptions.
The conflict erupted on May 7 with India's Operation Sindoor, a precision retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 civilian lives, targeting militant infrastructure deep in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. As PAF jets unleashed volleys of PL-15E missiles, serial numbers like P15E12203023 tracing back to a single aircraft, India's integrated defenses, bolstered by Rafale's SPECTRA suite and S-400 Sudarshan Chakra systems, neutralized the threats through superior jamming and decoy maneuvers. U.S. intelligence assessments hailed the intact recoveries as a "treasure trove," accelerating global countermeasures against Chinese missile tech proliferation in the Indo-Pacific. Serial discrepancies and telemetry logs recovered by DRDO pointed to mid-flight lock failures, likely exacerbated by the missile's limited battery endurance during prolonged ECCM engagements, turning what Beijing touted as a game-changer into a glaring embarrassment for Pakistan's $1.5 billion 2021 acquisition of 240 units.
Beijing's response has been measured yet urgent, with a CAMA technical team dispatched to Pakistan in late October 2025 to audit launch records and platform integrations, uncovering preliminary evidence of suboptimal firings without full airborne early warning support that capped effective ranges at 100-120 km. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang's May 30 statement acknowledged the wreckage as genuine exhibition models, a diplomatic pivot to mitigate espionage fears, while state-linked analysts blamed PAF pilot errors over inherent design shortcomings. Yet, the probe's scope, encompassing environmental tolerances and seeker resilience, signals deeper concerns, as the export model's downgraded specs pale against the domestic PL-15's Mach 5 speeds and 200-300 km reach, potentially eroding trust in AVIC's reliability amid rising South Asian tensions.
The fallout reverberates beyond bilateral frictions, with France, Japan, and Five Eyes nations queuing for DRDO access to reverse-engineer vulnerabilities, fast-tracking upgrades to systems like India's Astra missile. For China, this PL-15E debacle not only hampers its arms export ambitions but also invites scrutiny of broader military tech dependencies, as adversaries like India leverage the windfall to fortify air superiority. As the investigation unfolds, it may catalyze refinements that restore the PL-15 lineage's edge, but for now, the intact relics from Punjab's fields stand as stark reminders of hubris in high-stakes aerial warfare.
