Japanese Experts study China's PL-15 Missile Technology in India

Japanese radar engineers and Electronic Warfare (EW) experts are reportedly the foreign security personnel given permission by India to take a closer look at the fragments of a PL-15 Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile found by Indian civilians.

According to Indian defense media, Japanese experts had the opportunity to take a closer look at one of the most advanced Chinese-made weapons systems and what technology makes it so dangerous.

Japanese experts want to take a closer look at China's advanced weapons systems to allow it to gain a deeper understanding of the country's military assets' weapons technology, while also ensuring its military's ability to deal with Beijing's military threats.

"The Japanese experts will receive data on Seeker Algorithm, Datalink Encryption and Electronic Countermeasures."

Seeker Algorithms are likened to the "brain" of a missile.

The algorithm on the seeker is a critical component that determines the ability of missiles like the PL-15 to detect, identify and track targets with high accuracy, especially in complex and densely populated air environments with electronic interference.

For long-range missiles such as the PL-15 that use AESA radar seeker, advanced signal processing algorithms help distinguish real targets from interference such as flares, chaff, or electronic decoys, thus reducing the chance of miss distance.

The algorithm's ability to perform target discrimination and adaptive tracking means the PL-15 can attack enemy aircraft that are protected by stealth technology , jamming , or are performing extreme maneuvers at supersonic speeds.

Seeker Algorithms are also important in the terminal homing phase , when the missile approaches the target and needs to make split-second decisions to adjust direction for maximum impact.

Meanwhile, the datalink system allows missiles such as the PL-15 to receive information in real time from fighter aircraft (such as the J-10C, J-20) or AEW&C systems such as the KJ-500, even after launch ( beyond visual range launch ).

Without strong encryption, missile datalinks can easily be hacked or disrupted by outside forces, allowing enemies to compromise targets, change the missile's direction, or confuse it with false information ( spoofing ).