Media: Pakistan shot down Indian aircraft with the latest Chinese missile

Pakistan Air Force reported that they managed to shoot down three Rafale fighters of the Indian Air Force during night battles.

As Oxu.Az reports with reference to the TRT Global portal, Pakistan likely used the Chinese PL-15 missile against Indian fighters - this is the first case of its use in actual combat operations.

Last week, the Pakistan Air Force published footage demonstrating that Pakistani combat aircraft are armed with Chinese long-range missiles. The three-minute video showed combat aircraft armed with Chinese-made PL-15 missiles, including the JF-17 fighter.

The PL-15 missile, originally developed for the fifth-generation J-20 stealth fighter, is China's most advanced air-to-air missile and reportedly has a strike range of 200 to 300 km. The export version PL-15E has a range of 145 km.

According to Khalid Chishti, a former air commander and fighter pilot of the Pakistani Air Force, the PL-15E has a greater flight range than the Meteor missiles that equip Indian Rafale aircraft. As TRT Global notes, Pakistani JF-17 fighters are also equipped with an advanced radar known as an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA), which allows for more effective use of missiles.