{"id":85060,"date":"2026-06-22T12:20:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T12:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/06\/22\/can-chinas-latest-air-to-air-missile-take-on-its-us-equivalent-definitely-maybe-experts-say\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:37:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:37:31","slug":"can-chinas-latest-air-to-air-missile-take-on-its-us-equivalent-definitely-maybe-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/06\/22\/can-chinas-latest-air-to-air-missile-take-on-its-us-equivalent-definitely-maybe-experts-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Can China\u2019s latest air-to-air missile take on its US equivalent? Definitely maybe, experts say."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan \u2014 China\u2019s newest air-to-air missile, the PL-16, could vie with an equivalent advance by the U.S. military and give the People\u2019s Liberation Army an edge in any Asia-Pacific conflicts because of its increased travel distance and a second-wind feature, experts say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The PL-16 beyond-visual-range missile as described in social and trade media would answer Lockheed Martin\u2019s AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM) for the U.S. armed forces, analysts believe, and improve on previous generations developed in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They say China\u2019s missile boasts a long total flight distance estimated at 200 to 300 kilometers (124 to 186 miles) and dual-pulse or variable-thrust rocket motor technology that allow for a second burst of propulsion late in flight, the Indian defense news portal Indian Defence Research Wing said in a June 3 analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lockheed Martin\u2019s system is also expected to feature extra propulsion for flights beyond visual range and travel at least 200 kilometers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The PL-16\u2019s specs would let it chase large, slower-moving aircraft, said Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst for defense strategy and national security with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. That chase could be a battle changer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat matters at those long ranges is maneuverability in the terminal phase and guidance,\u201d Davis said. The PL-16 is designed, he said, to hit airborne early warning and control platforms, refueling tankers and reconnaissance aircraft, so \u201cthe likelihood of a kill, even at very long range is very high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe People\u2019s Liberation Army Air Force\u2019s strategy here is clear \u2013 take out the key combat enablers for the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy, as well as allied forces, and the U.S. and its allies can no longer project naval air power,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe JTAM was a response to the PL-15, so there is an interesting race between China and the U.S. on beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles underway,\u201d he added. \u201cThe key challenge is how quickly the U.S. can get JATM into production, because the Chinese will be moving very fast with PL-16 production.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s unclear whether Washington would jump into any war with Beijing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/asia-pacific\/2026\/06\/10\/the-us-usually-sells-weapons-to-taiwan-with-drones-expect-the-reverse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/asia-pacific\/2026\/06\/10\/the-us-usually-sells-weapons-to-taiwan-with-drones-expect-the-reverse\/\">over Taiwan,<\/a> a decades-old flashpoint, or in the South China Sea where American treaty ally the Philippines is wrangling for control of tiny islets with the Chinese. The U.S. military maintains bases in nearby Guam, Hawaii and Japan in case of an Indo-Pacific conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure (PL-16) is going to be a headache for bigger bombers, B52 and the likes, if in range, but I am not quite sure about other smaller, nimbler, faster platforms,\u201d said Enrico Cau, an associate researcher at the Taiwan Strategy Research Association think tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The missiles may fit adeptly into the bays of Chinese stealth fighters such as the J-20 and upcoming J-35, the Indian Defence Research Wing said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A J-20 aircraft that can carry four earlier-generation PL-15 missiles in its internal weapons bay would be able to take as many as six PL-16s, said Huang Chung-ting, associate research fellow with the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taipei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis means a J-20 can engage not only one or two more targets but also has a greater capacity to remain in the combat zone after the initial attack, rather than having to retreat after running out of missiles,\u201d Huang said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With no confirmation from Beijing about the PL-16\u2019s development, analysts and media outlets are relying largely on leaked, sometimes second-hand information including presentation slides shown at a Chinese military aviation seminar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A post to the image-sharing platform Imgur.com says the Chinese missiles would be four meters long, 203 millimeters in diameter and 200 kilograms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The PL prefix stands for \u201cPi Li\u201d, which is Chinese for \u201cthunderbolt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The PL-16\u2019s more than 10-year-old predecessor, the PL-15, can fly 200 kilometers, twice as far as the earlier PL-12 and more than three times the maximum distance of the oldest model, PL-11, according to the leaked presentation slides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cChina may indeed be developing a new air-to-air weapon that saves more (aircraft) bay space and allows the J-20 to carry more missiles \u2014 this general direction has a certain degree of credibility,\u201d Huang said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But he cautioned that information online today doesn\u2019t confirm the PL-16\u2019s specs, including its range and type of propulsion technology. Huang said the online material also cannot determine whether the PL-16 has been put into mass use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The PL-16\u2019s specs would let it chase large, slower-moving aircraft, one analyst said, though its effectiveness against smaller, faster planes is unclear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":120818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,16,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[392],"class_list":["post-85060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"7HZBGDNFP5HEFN5EUVXKFFZHMA","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/asia-pacific\/2026\/06\/22\/can-chinas-latest-air-to-air-missile-take-on-its-us-equivalent-definitely-maybe-experts-say\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Can China\u2019s latest air-to-air missile take on its US equivalent? 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