The F-22 and F-35 Carry an Air-to-Air Missile That Tops Out at 185km — China’s J-20 Carries One That Just Hit at 200km in Combat

The F-22 and F-35 Carry an Air-to-Air Missile That Tops Out at 185km — China’s J-20 Carries One That Just Hit at 200km in Combat

In May 2024, a Pakistani Air Force J-10C fighter fired a Chinese-built PL-15 air-to-air missile at an Indian Air Force Rafale. It hit at a range of approximately 200 kilometers. That was the first combat-validated proof of the PL-15’s reach. The AIM-120D AMRAAM — carried by the F-22 and F-35 — has an unclassified range of 160 to 185 kilometers. China’s PL-15 is engineered for up to 300 kilometers in its non-export variant. The PL-15 uses a dual-…