Chandigarh: The clamour for the Indian Air Force to fast-track its long-pending requirement for 114 Multi-Role Fighters Aircraft (MRFA), initiated nearly a decade ago, is expected to gather momentum following Operation Sindoor, which exclusively involved its combat platforms in executing precision strikes across Pakistan.But, doubtlessly this din will be tempered by the limited number of fighters available globally that were capable of countering China’s lethal radar-guided PL-15/15E long-range beyond visual range-air-to-air missile (BVRAAM), which presented a daunting challenge in aerial warfare worldwide.Operating at speeds exceeding Mach 5, justifying NATO’s classification of it as ‘Thunderbolt-15’, the largely undetectable ‘silent killer’ domestic variant of the PL-15 has a 200-300 kilometre range, while its export version – the PL-15E – in use with the Pakistan Air Force on Chinese-origin JF-10C fighters, has a beyond-visual strike range of around 145 kilometres.For the Indian Air Force and other air forces around the world, the lurking PL-15/15E threat was ‘outed’ during ‘Sindoor’, with its maiden operational deployment by the Pakistan Air Force in a real-world military standoff.As evidence, the IAF Director General of Air Operations Air Marshal A.K. Bharti presented at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday, images of the debris of a PL-15/15E missile, including its relatively intact rear section that was recovered from Hoshiarpur in Punjab. He said the missile had missed its target, but did not clarify what this was or furnish additional details.Also read: Missile Found Intact In Hoshiarpur, Another Damages Home of Bathinda FarmerAnd while the PL-15’s employment in actual engagements during Operation Sindoor remains officially under wraps, discussed in hushed tones, given its strategic sensitivity involving Beijing, its overt and palpable presence in these hostilities has triggered concern not only in the IAF but amongst several other air forces.Several overseas newspaper and television reports, quoting unnamed intelligence and defence officials, revealed that at least one IAF 4.5 generation Rafale fighter was downed by a Pakistan Air Force-operated JF-10C fighter, following India’s early morning targeted strikes on alleged terror enclaves across Pakistan on May 7. The unstated postulation was that this fighter was armed with the PL-15E missile.In several other dispatches during the four-day-long Operation Sindoor, the Reuters news agency too quoted unnamed government sources in Kashmir claiming that three IAF fighters had ‘crashed’ in the region immediately after the May 7 raids.Furthermore, in its May 9 report, date-lined jointly from Washington and Islamabad, Reuters quoted two unnamed US officials as stating that a Pakistan Air Force JF-10C fighter had shot down an IAF Rafale fighter but was sketchy on details. The Pakistani Air Force, however, in its official briefing in Islamabad on May 12 on Operation Sindoor claimed to have downed five IAF fighters, including three of 14 Rafales deployed for the attack mission.The IAF has, so far, neither confirmed nor denied these assertions.But its Director General of Operations Air Marshal A.K. Bharti told reporters in Delhi on May 11 that aircraft losses were a part of combat, but declined to elaborate. He added that all IAF pilots were back home safe from their May 7 mission, but once again did not enumerate further, because Operation Sindoor was still ongoing and releasing such details would adversely compromise it.Alongside, the US Air Force has for long acknowledged the PL-15 as a ‘strategic concern’, especially as it outranged its AIM-120D BVRAAMs employed by its frontline fighters, as did the air forces of Japan, Australia and even Israel, amongst others. Military analysts believed that after thePL-15s recent debut, these apprehensions would result in all these countries upgrading their respective air-to-air missiles and active electronically scanned array or AESA radar countermeasures to thwart their collective vulnerabilities to the Chinese missile system.The IAF’s fightersConsequently, as the Indian Air Force endeavoured to make good its rapidly depleting fighter squadrons, down from a sanctioned strength of 42.5 to merely 30 squadrons presently – which included legacy platforms like MiG-21 ‘Bis’ and SEPECAT Jaguars – to field against collusive allies Pakistan and China, it would be seriously strapped in acquiring additional platforms with the verifiable capability of countering the PL-15 threat.Propelled by a solid-fuel rocket to attain speeds of around Mach 5, the PL-15 relies on its self-contained inertial navigation system (INS) combined with data link guidance from its launching aircraft or other supporting sensors, like airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) platforms.This missile’s initial flight phase allows it to cover long distances while maintaining course adjustments based on real-time updates, but without engaging its radar, thereby ensuring stealth and surprise. Thereafter, in its terminal guidance phase, 20-30km from its target, the missile activates its onboard AESA radar-seeker. These seekers, which emitted radar signals spread across a wide spectrum of frequency-hopping patterns, also made it difficult, if not impossible, for rival radar warning receivers to identify the attacking PL-15 until it was too late.Furthermore, the PL-15’s low probability of intercept AESA seekers were also capable of switching targets and remaining locked onto them even while faced with jamming in its penultimate phase. Military planners agreed that if used in large numbers or from surprise angles, the PL-15 could prove fatal in ways earlier BVR (beyond visual range) missiles were not.Given such deadliness, there were a handful of fighters which presented a decisive edge against PL-15s without giving away their position.These included Lockheed Martin’s costly fifth generation F-22 ’Raptor’ and F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters, whose overall low radar cross-section (RCS), networked sensors, high agility and classified electronic warfare (EW) suites were designed to survive and dominate in the contested BVR missile environment that the PL-15 presented.Eurofighter’s ‘Typhoon’ and Rafale, albeit with significant upgrades to its RBE2-AA AESA radar and SPECTRA EW system, too presented a challenge to the PL-15, according to aviation experts. The Rafale’s Meteor ‘no escape zone’ missile, for instance, with ramjet propulsion and a 150-200km range is also believed to be more than a match for the PL-15 but leaves a lot of disturbing questions unanswered if the above-mentioned news reports regarding the French fighters downing were eventually proven accurate. The Rafale’s Spectra EW system, AESA radar, and data link capability maximise the Meteor’s capacity in real combat, but once again operational outcomes of Op Sindoor remain opaque in the fog of war, precluding accurate assessments.Hence, the IAFs dilemma in its attempts to swiftly boost its fighter squadron numbers via the MRFA buy, as few of the eight fighter types that were vying for this tender, were likely to meet its possibly revised air staff qualitative requirements (ASQRs), even with plausible modifications and refits, to counter the danger posed by the PL-15.The prospective original equipment manufacturers contending for the MRFA programme included Dassault ( Rafale), Eurofighter (Typhoon), Sweden’s Saab (Gripen-E), Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation and Sukhoi Corporation (MiG-35’Fulcrum’ and Su-35 “Flanker-E respectively) and the USA’s Boeing and Lockheed Martin (F/A-18E/F, F-15EX ‘Eagle’ II and F-16V with 14 India-specific customisations).And, earlier this year, Russia added a ninth fighter to this number, by offering its fifth generation twin-engine Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter, one of which participated in the Bangalore air show in February. Notionally, the Su-57 with its reduced radar signature, advanced sensors, EW capabilities and agile thrust-vectoring is posited can potentially thwart the PL-15, but close strategic and political ties between Beijing and Moscow could complicate matters about transferring all the fighter’s capabilities to the IAF.The hugely expensive F-35s were on offer to the IAF from the US and senior veterans believed that these could end up being a ‘stand-alone’ purchase, much like the 36 Rafales were in 2016 via a government-to-government deal announced arbitrarily by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Paris, on similar grounds of operational necessity.In February this year, president Donald Trump had during Modi’s US visit declared that Washington was ‘paving the way to ultimately provide India with single-engine F-35s’, an offer endorsed soon after by US vice-president J.D. Vance.On a private trip to India in late April, Vance, who was one of the principal players in effecting the cessation of hostilities with Pakistan over the weekend along with US secretary of state Marco Rubio, had then told reporters in Jaipur that F-35s would ‘significantly’ enhance the IAFs ability to secure Indian airspace. Industry sources said that it was more than likely that similar considerations would apply to the F-22, in the event of the IAF opting for it.Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh had declared late last year that the IAF needed additional fighters as of yesterday, highlighting the criticality of timely platform procurements to sustain the air force’s operational readiness. Under prevailing circumstances, it is time for the Indian Air Force and the government to surprise everyone, as it did in launching Operation Sindoor, and boost India’s combat aircraft numbers, speedily to meet imminent security challenges.