I was certainly incorrect in my estimate of the g overload. However, the meteor is also capable of sustaining high speed flight through its aforementioned ramjet but also it’s throttleable rocket motor which allows it to have a longer burn time.
False sense of security, it is worth mentioning that according to reports from Indian pilots, they did not receive any radar lock warning before being shot down. It seems that the radar guidance head of PL15 will not be detected by the gust RWR. It should be noted that the guidance head of PL15 is a phased array radar, which has a working mode that can avoid the opponent’s warning
Rwrs can detect phased array radars, surely you mean lpi in this case?
Of course, I cannot be sure if RWR was completely unresponsive. The specific situation may only be known to the Indian pilot who was shot down, but unfortunately no one was able to contact them
Yes, I am using translation software to communicate with you, and many expressions may not be very precise
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The translation software is working greatly
where ? do we have proof ?
The seekerhead may not be AESA but it’s still no push over as it can recieve mid course updates from the fighter and is resistant to ecm. As for GPS guidance I have yet to find a source to suggest either missile has it.
3 double racks and 2 single racks for pl-15s and 2 more pylons for ir missiles. Total 10 missiles.
Take pl-15 instead of the fuel tanks for the inner pylons, and dual rack under the belly
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I believe the bottom image is the pl-12
Yeah it’s pl-12ae but pl-15 should be able to fit there as it’s smaller than pl-12ae
I don’t understand why we’re discussing the PL-15 in the J-10C thread, lol.
But let me share my perspective anyway. Nowadays, people tend to overestimate the range of ramjet-powered missiles while significantly underestimating that of rocket-powered ones. A key reason is seeing the Meteor’s 60+ seconds of engine burn time and assuming it must outrange the AIM-120D or AIM-260, even though the latter two have burn times of only about 10 seconds. This is a common misconception. First, even if we take the Meteor’s claimed cruise speed of Mach 4 and maximum thrust duration of 60 seconds, with a target approaching head-on at Mach 1.2, the powered flight range is only about 93.6 km. For Meteor’s claimed 150 km range, this means nearly 60 km of glide is required. The drawbacks of subsonic combustion ramjet missiles lie in: 1) their speed limitation, capped at around Mach 5 (typically Mach 3-4); 2) altitude restrictions preventing aggressive lofting like conventional air-to-air missiles; and 3) large intakes creating significantly higher drag during glide—potentially several times that of conventional missiles. These three factors severely limit the Meteor’s ability to extend its maximum range envelope.
As for the following missiles:
Starting with the PL-15: Based on PL-12AE data, I believe its 145 km range is achieved with continuous dual-pulse thrust (i.e., single-chamber dual-thrust mode) and little to no lofting. Considering Pakistan’s claimed splash at 182 km and a maximum launch distance of 190 km—along with one missile losing its target but continuing flight until reacquiring and destroying an unfortunate Mirage 2000 on patrol (as reported by the highly reliable Chinese blogger Yankeesama, whom SDF regulars might recognize)—the PL-15’s maximum range with extreme lofting could exceed 280 km while maintaining over 900 m/s endspeed, supported by paper data on 120 km+ rear-aspect launch range (at 10,000 m, Mach 1.2).
Similarly, for the AIM-120D/260A: For the same reasons above, with sufficiently extended battery life, their effective ranges could reach 185 km / 265 km respectively.
R-77M: Assuming it truly has a claimed dual-pulse motor and is lengthened compared to the R-77-1, its estimated range should exceed the AIM-120D but fall short of the AIM-260A. Strakes are excellent for short-range missiles like the IRIS-T due to high maneuverability lift-to-drag ratio, but for medium-range missiles spending most of their flight at low AoA, the larger surface area of strakes actually harms long-range performance—which is why both the PL-17 and AIM-260 eliminated the mid-body wings.
R-37M: With available HUD footage, its maximum range is around 200 km. It’s an older design with high drag, more like a scaled-up AIM-54 than the other missiles discussed here.
AIM-174B: I won’t delve into this, as the F/A-18E can’t even provide it with initial energy comparable to the missiles above (at 10,000 m, Mach 1.2), making any comparison meaningless.
Of course, the Meteor has its own advantages. When launched at a range of around 100 km, it can reach the target faster than other missiles, meaning it maintains a higher average speed throughout its flight.
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Based on what lol, this has the same energy as people hyping the rafale only for the PL15 to completely ignore SPECTRA
They should, although I don’t think it’s as related to the J10 as people like to think it is
The connection indeed exists, but primarily in less visible aspects: the J-10’s cockpit layout was modeled after the Lavi, and its radar technology was acquired and improved to develop the Type 1473 radar.
Yeah, the 2032 is probably the most related part, but apparently people think you can just scale a plane designed for the F404 up to take an AL-31 and then it will magically just work
We don’t even fight long ranged enough for that NEZ to matter, while being hypersonic both first and second stage absolutely gives an insane advantage
All Ramjet missiles have strong limitations on AoA and overload.
Would make for a good 13.0-13.3, but it’s not really a top tier addition by any means.
I mean there is definitely an element of inspiration taken for the overall design & premise, in terms of ditching the proposed J-9 in order to use a delta-canard configuration and Israeli radar etc, however they are by no means ‘copies’ of Lavi, and they look entirely unique
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