For the first time in seven years Chinese J-16 lit up with a secret rocket of long range PL-17
The footage recorded the flight of four fighters of the Air Force Air Force Brigade during real combat exercises on November 25, 2023. The authors of the publication point out that for the first time in seven years the PL-17 rocket was in the frame, which was developed under the AAM program, which is very limited. Viewers write that PL-17 (in other PL-20 sources) is primarily intended for the defeat of expensive objects, such as filling planes and early warning planes (DLL).
The project Aam has displaced plans to create a PL-12 version with a jet engine or a competing PL-21 rocket, also equipped with a jet engine. Instead, a two -like rocket engine was selected in the new weapons, facilitating its technological development. As a result, the Chinese created an extremely large rocket for a class that reached 6 meters.
Maneuvering uses a combination of four small tail plumage and traction control systems, and the flight range exceeds 300 km, and the maximum speed - up to 5 thousand km/h. It is likely that it is done by a combination of a bilateral channel for transmitting data and AESA target, which is claimed, has high resistance to electronic counteraction. In real combat, information about the goals will receive from the Union of Early Warning, including satellites.
Experts say that despite the stated significant characteristics that cause serious concern in the US military, the status of these weapons is still unclear because the trials have been ongoing since 2020, and there is no confirmation of the official receipt of missiles. However, a photo depicting J-16 with large missiles shows that they are ready or close to ready, although it is possible that the Chinese have placed propaganda images as part of an information war.