Long-range Export Version of Chinese Missile Led to Loss of Indian Aircraft Against Pakistan: IISS

“The unprecedented 88-hour conflict was the most significant, if restrained, military escalation between the two nuclear-armed countries in decades,” the report notes.

The Wire Staff

“The unprecedented 88-hour conflict was the most significant, if restrained, military escalation between the two nuclear-armed countries in decades,” the report notes.

long range export version of chinese missile led to loss of indian aircraft against pakistan iiss

In this screengrab from a video received on Jan. 26, 2026, Indian Army's Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter carrying the 'Operation Sindoor' flag along with its Rudra ALH-WSI helicopter and the Indian Air Force�s (IAF) Rudra ALH Mark IV helicopter perform a flypast in 'Prahar' formation during the 77th Republic Day Parade, in New Delhi. Photo: IAF via PTI

New Delhi: The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) has concluded that the export version of a Chinese long-range missile played a decisive role in the loss of an Indian fighter aircraft during its military conflict with Pakistan in May 2025. According to the Military Balance 2026 report, the "recovery of wreckage of a China Airborne Missile Academy PL-15E suggests that this long-range missile may have contributed to the losses" experienced by the Indian Air Force.

“The Aviation Industry Corporation of China’s official range for the PL-15E stands at 145 kilometres+, but as neither country’s combat aircraft went beyond its own airspace, engagement may have taken place beyond this range,” it concludes. According to a chart in the report, the PL-15E, the export version of a Chinese long-range air to air missile, has a range of 190 kilometres which exceeds the 150 kilometre range of the Meteor missiles carried by the Indian Rafales.

Source: The Military Balance 2026, IISS, page 220.

“It is unclear which BVR missile the Rafales were equipped with (the MBDA Mica or the Meteor), if Indian aircraft engaged Pakistani aircraft, and if their rules of engagement (ROE) even permitted Indian aircraft to engage,” the report observes. While Pakistani officials claimed several more hits, the report says that "Open source India imagery has verified the loss of one Rafale EH".

This engagement, the report notes, provided a "real world test of Chinese military technology". It also says that “The unprecedented 88-hour conflict was the most significant, if restrained, military escalation between the two nuclear-armed countries in decades.”

“India said it used MBDASCALP-EG land-attack cruise missiles and Safran AASM Hammer250 guided bombs launched from Dassault Rafale DH/EH aircraft to target the sites inside Pakistan. In response, Pakistan scrambled its combat aircraft – likely the Chengdu J-10CE Firebird and CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder Block III – resulting in what may have been the world’s longest beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air engagement to date,” the report states.

The IISS analysis suggests that the performance of these Chinese systems in actual combat will likely influence future regional arms procurement and defence strategies.

This article went live on February twenty-sixth, two thousand twenty six, at seventeen minutes past eleven in the morning.

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