Before getting into the brewing disaster that is the PL-15, it is important that we take a trip down memory lane.
When the PL-12 was first added to the game with the rest of the other fox-3s, there was expectation within the Chinese community that the PL-12 would have a range performance on par with the AIM-120C, wrong or not, this was the expectation. They also had expected that the PL-12 would have better performance than the SD-10, but this expectation was not translated into the game (PL-12 has the same performance as the SD-10 in-game).
When the J-10C was added, there was some outcry regarding its performance and how it was not on par with the Eurocanards, and grumbling about the engine thrust curve performance and supersonic drag, but there was still some hope regarding the future of the Chinese aviation tree.
With the J-15T, there was several threads made and a larger outrage in regards to the performance of the aircraft. For some their gripes were with the low amount of countermeasures, and for others they had issues with the implementation of the PL-12A. The PL-12A in their eyes were not a true upgrade over the PL-12, and should have been a very capable upgrade over the PL-12. One user even submitted a report with a doctored photo. For a few, this was their last straw but for most…some hope for the future of Chinese aviation still remained.
This brings us to today, where we need to discuss the elephant in the room, the PL-15’s performance. Many in the Chinese community regards the PL-15 as the most famed Chinese missile, one of the representations of Chinese national pride. While China now has a better missile in the form of PL-16, the PL-15 was and is still the most talked about missile internationally. It is called an AWACs killer, said to have an AESA seeker, has a range of over 200km+, and some even claim that the PL-15 performs better than the Meteor. There isn’t many things good that hasn’t been said about this missile.
What is the problem? The disparity between what the community regards as the PL-15’s performance and how Gaijin implements it could be greater than the disparity for any of the previously mentioned Chinese equipment and vehicle. For many, this would be their last straw.
For Gaijin, when it comes to implementation of missiles, the consensus of online discourse is not taken into account and only hard evidence is used when available, this can be seen with PL-12 and PL-12A’s implementation. The same thing could be said to occur here for the PL-15.
For the PL-15’s range, it seems that the only available documentation regarding its range is the 145km range of the PL-15E (see below this paragraph). This is a far cry from the 200km+ range that is commonly cited. This would give the PL-15 a launch range of 145km over the PL-12A’s 120km currently found in-game. Some of this performance could come down to partly the reduced fin drag compared to PL-12, partly increased battery time, dual-pulse motor, and having 4kg less weight compared to the PL-12A while largely maintaining similar dimensions. A disaster is already brewing here.
For the PL-15’s seeker however, it is often claimed and is expected to have an AESA seeker modeled when being implemented into the game. However it does not seem that there is any bug-reportable sources available to claim this and oftentimes the evidence provided as confirmation are unsourced pictures of a radar seeker found in the field.
Where does that leave the PL-15’s likely modeled performance? It means that the PL-15 could likely be modeled in-game as a slightly better PL-12A, and maybe having some disadvantages compared to the PL-12A. In Bvvd’s own words, the PL-15’s dual-pulse would trade time-to-target for better terminal speed. This makes sense given that Gaijin has modeled the PL-15 back since December of last year, and and could likely be added some time soon if we go by R-77-1 and AIM-120C’s timeline from being in the files to being in the game.
For many, this would not be the missile that they had believed to be on par with the Meteor and R-37M, and would be an affront to Chinese identity and Chinese national pride causing cognitive dissonance as they try to reconcile what could have led to the PL-15’s shameful in-game performance before concluding that it is Russian bias that led to this. We could see the Chinese community having an outrage beyond what’s been previously seen with the addition of this missile.
