The Chinese are known to be developing what is known as YJ-91 antiradiation missile. India, on its part, has joined with Russia to develop their Novator K-100 missile much the same way as the other highly successful joint BrahMos missile programme. With a range exceeding 200 km, it would provide a befitting reply to the Chinese challenge.

The evo lution of air-to-air missiles generally followed the same pattern as the platforms on which these were carried; namely, the aerial vehicles—mostly consisting of jet combat air superiority/multi-role fighters. Like the fighters which went through generational leaps in capabilities from first generation to present-day formidable fourth, fourth+ and the latest stealthy fifth-generation fighters, the air-to-air missiles also went through generational accretions in their operational capabilities. The early first generation missiles such as the US Sidewinders and the Soviet K-13 (Atoll) had infrared seekers with a narrow (30 degree) field of view, which required the attacker to position himself behind the target aircraft in the correct launch zone to have a chance of successful engagement. It was possible for the target aircraft to ‘break lock’ (cause the missile to lose track of the target aircraft) by carrying out simple manoeuvring. But the seeker technologies continued to evolve and the present generation missiles incorporate deadly combinations such as all-aspect seekers with active/semi-active radar homing, beam riding, infrared search and track (IRST), electro-optical, etc; mated to helmet-mounted sights and coupled with thrust-vectoring devices, with a view to continue to expand their ‘no escape zone’ capabilities.

Air-to-air missiles are broadly put in two groups. The first consists of missiles designed to engage opposing aircraft at ranges of less than approximately 20 miles (32 km), these are known as short-range or ‘within visual range’ missiles (SRAAMs or WVRAAMs) and are sometimes called ‘dogfight’ missiles because they emphasise agility rather than range. These usually use infrared guidance, and hence, are also called heat-seeking missiles. The second group consists of medium- or long-range missiles (MRAAMs or LRAAMs), which both fall under the category of ‘beyond visual range’ missiles (BVRAAMs). BVR missiles tend to rely upon some sort of radar guidance, of which there are many forms, modern ones also using inertial guidance and/or ‘mid-course updates’.

Even though both types of missiles are being developed by the leading nations/consortiums in the world, the advent of fifth-generation aircraft with inbuilt design features such as stealth, capability to super-cruise and long-range, highly capable active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, it is the BVR designs which are being pursued more vigorously. The aim is to achieve ‘first-look’, ‘first-shoot’ and ‘firstkill’ capability i.e. to engage and destroy enemy aerial targets even before they sense the presence of own predator aircraft. There are little more than just a handful of nations/group of nations which are engaged in the art of developing the stateof-the-art BVR missile systems. These include France (MICA), Israel (Derby), People’s Republic of China (P-12 or SD-10) and South Africa (Darter). Russia which has generally been in the lead in air-to-air missile technology has a number of examples such as the R-27, R-33 and R-77 (also known as ‘AMRAAMski) because of its performance which is comparable to or better than the US AIM-120 advanced medium range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM). A group of European nations which include Germany and the UK are developing the MBDA Meteor missile. India has recently joined this elite group of nations with its own under development BVR missile, called the ‘Astra’.

A quick look at the two main adversarial air forces in India’s neighbourhood would reveal a considerable increase in the BVR air-to-air missile arsenals in both People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) or the Chinese Air Force and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). China benefitted immensely when it imported Russia’s frontline fighters such as the Su-27s and later Su-30s in large numbers. Along with the platforms, the Chinese Air Force received a large but undisclosed number of BVRAMRAAMs from Russia such as the R-27 (AA-10 Alamo) and the R-77 (AA-12 Adder). And keeping up with its reputation, China must have reverse-engineered them to come up with its own version of BVR missile. The Chinese latest BVR missile PL-12 (SD-10) —to be discussed in detail later—could fall into that category. The PAF on the other hand reaped handsome rewards by joining (selectively) with the US for its global war on terror (GWOT). It was able to sign a contract for 500 AIM-120C-5 AMRAAMs to arm its US supplied F-16 C/D Block 52+ fighters. In addition, it will surely be the recipient of the PL-12 Chinese missile to go with its fleet of—jointly produced with China—JF-17 Thunder jet fighters.

What has the IAF got in its arsenal of BVR air-to-air missiles to offset the formidable challenge from its two main adversaries? First, along with its MiG-29 air-superiority aircraft, the IAF had received R-27 missiles which fall in the category of medium-range BVR missiles in two versions i.e. with IR heat seeking or semi-active radar homing seeker heads. However, Su-30 MKI and the upgraded to Bison standard MiG-21 aircraft can carry state-of-the-art R-77 (also known as RVV-AE) active radar seeking missiles. Su-30s can also carry the R-27 extended range (ER) BVR missiles. The IAF is also likely to get the French MICA dualuse (BVR + close combat) missiles as part of the upgrade package for its Mirage 2000 deal, signed recently at a cost exceeding $2 billion ( Rs. 10,000 crore).

As stated earlier, China and India are two countries in the region which are also embarked on developing their own BVR air-to-air missiles—PL-12 by the Chinese and ‘Astra’ by India. These are discussed in more detail below.

China: PL-12 (SD-10)

The PL-12 active-radar BVR airto-air missile became the highest priority air-to-air weapons programme for China’s military industry since 2002 in terms of effort and importance. It provides the PLAAF with a sophisticated domestic airborne weapon on par with mainstream Western Air Forces around the world. The new PL-12 active guided air-launched anti-aircraft missile uses the radar and datalink from Russia’s very capable Vympel R-77 combined with a Chinese missile motor (another shining example of Chinese capability to innovate/reverse engineer). Some sources claim the resulting combination has a greater range than the Russian missile, and a fire-and-forget active guidance (from R-77) capability comparable to the modern US AIM-120 AMRAAM.

The PL-12 has four engagement modes. To take the greatest advantage of its maximum range, it will use a mix of command guidance (via a datalink) plus its own inertial guidance before entering the active radar terminal guidance phase. The missile can also be launched to a pre-selected point, using its strap-down inertial system, before switching on its own seeker for a terminal search. Over short ranges, the missile can be launched in a ‘fire-andforget’ mode using its own active seeker from the outset. Finally, the PL-12 has a ‘home-on-jam’ mode that allows it to passively track and engage an emitting target, without ever using its own active radar or a radar from the launch aircraft. This capability is the foundation on which the capability of anti-radiation missile is developed. The seeker is connected to a digital flight control system that uses signal processing techniques to track a target. The missile’s warhead is linked to a laser proximity fuse.

The PL-12 is claimed to have an operational ceiling of at least 21 km, with a maximum effective range of 70 km and a minimum engagement range of 1,000 m. The missile has a 38+ g manoeuvring limit. According to Chinese claims, PL-12 is more capable than the American AIM-120 A/B, but slightly inferior than the AIM-120C. The PL-12 can be deployed by the Chengdu J-10, Shenyang J-8F, Shenyang J-11 and JF-17 combat aircraft.