After what regional military analysts describe as a humiliating “Beyond Visual Range (BVR) rout” by Pakistan’s Air Force (PAF) in the early days of May, India’s Air Force (IAF) is scrambling to secure its skies with the acquisition of Russia’s fearsome R-37M (AA-13 Axehead) long-range air-to-air missile.
The R-37M, developed by Moscow’s leading missile manufacturers Vympel NPO, is designed to neutralise high-value aerial targets at ranges exceeding 300 kilometres — a significant boost for India’s Su-30MKI fleet, which remains the backbone of the IAF’s air superiority doctrine.
Reports from senior defence sources indicate that New Delhi and Moscow are now in the final stages of negotiations, a deal that could be worth upwards of USD 250 million (RM1.2 billion) if the IAF opts for a substantial batch of these missiles to counter Pakistan’s recent technological leap.
This procurement is seen as a direct counterweight to Islamabad’s deployment of the Chinese-built PL-15E — an export-grade BVR missile that, even in downgraded form, allows the PAF to strike targets at over 145 kilometres.
Crucially, the indigenous Chinese PL-15 variant, fielded by Beijing’s own stealth fighters, is believed to have an engagement envelope stretching up to 300 kilometres — giving the PLAAF a “first launch advantage” in any major aerial engagement in the Indo-Pacific.
So far, the PAF officially operates only the PL-15E version, but multiple unverified reports suggest Pakistan may have gained access to the more potent domestic variant, an allegation that continues to stir concern within India’s security establishment.
During the unprecedented Pakistan-India aerial confrontations in May — an air battle described by some in the region as the largest BVR dogfight since the Cold War — Pakistan’s Chinese-supplied J-10C fighters, armed with PL-15E missiles, reportedly downed six IAF fighters in a matter of hours.
Among the casualties were three of India’s prized Dassault Rafales, each worth over USD 240 million (RM1.12 billion) per airframe when accounting for weapons and sustainment.
The remaining losses included frontline Su-30MKIs, MiG-29s, and Mirage 2000s, underscoring how vulnerable India’s combat fleet is against next-generation missile threats and integrated kill chains.
As New Delhi scrambles to fortify its air dominance with the R-37M, Islamabad is quietly laying the groundwork for an even more formidable response — the PL-17, also known as the PL-XX or “Project 180,” an ultra-long-range BVR missile with the potential to push the PAF’s engagement envelope to an astonishing 300–400 kilometres.
Military insiders believe Pakistan’s path to the PL-17 runs through Beijing’s strategic willingness to deepen its military-industrial partnership with Islamabad — a relationship that has become a pillar of China’s broader anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against India and its Quad allies.
For Pakistan, integrating the PL-17 with the stealthy J-35A — the fifth-generation fighter jet built by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) — could prove transformational.
Defence sources claim that the first batch of up to 40 J-35A stealth fighters could begin arriving in Pakistan within “the next few months,” according to reports from Janes, a highly respected international defence publication.
If realised, this twin-track upgrade — pairing the PL-17 with an operational stealth platform — would grant Pakistan a “first look, first shot, first kill” advantage in any future BVR battlespace standoff over Kashmir, the Line of Control, or the wider Indo-Pakistan air corridor.
While the PL-15E already gave the PAF a lethal BVR punch in May, the PL-17 is in an entirely different league.
Chinese industry sources say the PL-17’s design improves on its predecessor by integrating a powerful AESA active radar seeker, an inertial navigation system, GPS/Beidou updates, and a two-way data link — ensuring that the missile can track and manoeuvre aggressively even in contested electronic warfare conditions.
At nearly six metres long, the PL-17 is one of the largest air-to-air missiles ever developed for a modern fighter, requiring new structural mounts and special strakes on platforms like China’s J-20 “Mighty Dragon.”
In China’s doctrine, the PL-17 is not just meant to shoot down enemy fighters.
Its true role lies in targeting the critical force multipliers that underpin Western and Indian air operations: AWACS, tanker aircraft, and high-value ISR platforms like the E-3 Sentry, RC-135 Rivet Joint, or IL-78MKI tankers that feed the IAF’s C4ISR backbone.
In the South China Sea, Taiwan Strait, and East China Sea, the J-20’s ability to wield the PL-17 is viewed as central to Beijing’s goal of keeping US and allied surveillance aircraft at arm’s length — a template Pakistan could mirror in South Asia’s own complex terrain.
For the IAF, the nightmare scenario is obvious: stealth fighters like the J-35A or even upgraded JF-17 Block III or J-10C variants armed with PL-17s could engage from well beyond India’s radar horizon, putting Rafales, Su-30MKIs, and Mirage 2000s under threat before they can even lock onto the incoming threat.
The vulnerability extends to India’s critical Netra and Phalcon AWACS and its ageing fleet of IL-78MKI aerial refuellers — assets that, if neutralised, would severely degrade the IAF’s combat reach.
The PL-17’s range, believed to be double that of the current AIM-120D AMRAAM and MBDA Meteor (200km class), also positions it as China’s answer to the US Air Force’s upcoming AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM).
For Pakistan, fielding the PL-17 with the J-35A would elevate its deterrence to levels that could force New Delhi to urgently expand its own missile portfolio.
Options on the table for India include extending Meteor integration to more platforms, accelerating the Astra Mk3 development, or fast-tracking co-development of new BVR systems with France and Russia — potentially investing another USD 400 million–USD 500 million (RM1.9 billion–RM2.3 billion) over the next decade to regain lost ground.
Geostrategically, Islamabad’s PL-17 acquisition would mark a dramatic evolution in South Asia’s air combat balance, mirroring Beijing’s A2/AD strategy in the Western Pacific but applied to the Indo-Pak context — a shift likely to intensify India’s investments in next-generation radar, counter-stealth sensors, and electronic warfare.
For now, Chinese military sources confirm that the PL-17 has already undergone test launches and has reportedly entered limited operational service with frontline J-20 units.
This means any future conflict in the Indo-Pacific or South Asia will likely see these missiles deployed in real-world engagements — with Pakistan poised to become the first non-Chinese operator of the world’s longest-range operational air-to-air missile.
Should the PAF achieve full integration of the PL-17 on its future stealth fleet, the balance of power could tip, leaving the IAF to play catch-up in the unforgiving theatre of BVR air combat — where who sees first and shoots first often wins.
In the end, the Indo-Pakistan air rivalry appears set to enter a new phase — defined not merely by fighter count but by radar cross-sections, missile ranges, and kill-chain resilience in the face of rapidly advancing Chinese weapons technology that continues to reshape the regional security architecture, one missile at a time.