There are no official specs for the PL-15. I think It has been cleared for export (PL-15E?) so we might get some export specs. Below are the specs for the SD-10A (PL-12 export version). PL-15 has a new motor (dual pulse rocket?), seeker (AESA?) but they may have reduced the speed. SD-10A is unusually fast for a missile of its class. The PL-15 touted a AIM-120D class missile.

Thanks. Looking at the spec tho. I somewhat feel that PL-15 might have similar dimension as the PL-12 But with the refinements you mentioned and that new fin configurations.

AIM-120D is rated at 160km and is 180mm diameter with a single-burn engine.

Not 180km anymore ? and well single burn engine means it use Boost-glide trajectory. You boost to apogee, and glide from there where your airframe will attempt to maintain near max L/D ratio.

None of the partner nations have an air delivered nuclear weapon in their inventory as they are reliant on US bombs. It’s just like saying F22 is not capable of firing a R77.
It’s a matter of integration a US bomb (under NATO control) on Europe aircraft, nothing to do with the warhead on the bomb. You wont be able to plug and play a non integrated bomb on the Rafale without going through integration with French help. Same would have been the case with Eurofighter.

Ra’ad missile on Mirage 3/5 could technically carry a tactical nuke, but that was integrated after almost 50 years of use and developing a whole lot of in-house infrastructure around that aircraft, hence didn’t need French help.

and your point being ? Archer’s point is that French wont care if India wants to integrate their own bombs. Maybe they will even help in the same manner as Iraqi Mirage having Russian RHAWS. It is clear that French have to be consulted for integration and matters like source codes etc. and i think French is quite independent on making their own nukes. Are they hosting US bombs ? German is one example but i believe French made their own warhead for ASMP.

They don’t need to fit inside the missile because AARGMs have MMW terminal guidance too, all it needs a rough steer from the energy of the transmissions,

Which they cannot capture in the first place due to the lack of suitable antenna. There is reason why radar related books mention that ARM is impractical in metric wave band.

or from the launch aircraft. The other problem with these large metric radars is that they tend to be stationary, so even a cruise missile can target them.

Yeah “Tend” maybe for HF. while VHF and L-band is pretty mobile.

Why not between AL-31F Design and 117 Design there is almost a 2 decade difference which is good enough time for materials to show up.

Please also remember that 117 Design has 80 % new components as mentioned by its Designer so practically a new engine without tinkering in the number of stages compared to AL-31 design.

Infact I wont be surprised in the next few years the 117 engine will superceed all the AL-31 engine that is operational as it end its life , It wont change the CG and it is practically Plug and Play design to replace the AL-31 plus use in newer projects like Hunter

The thing is. that there is 117S which weighs 1604 Kg. This engine is much newer than AL-31F Yet it doesn’t show any weight decrease. In fact it’s 84 Kg heavier. Logically i would expect some sort of “progression” until 117. Or is 117S is actually a different engine where “117” designation is just “re-used” ?

Unlike electronics tho. material science progresses rather slowly especially in field of aviation.

I’ll be honest tho that it’s kinda hard to believe. Maybe Pogosyan speak on 2 different engines. One being AL-31F in terms of thrust as for weight it’s for other engine (perhaps the 117S).

Being larger in diameter plus have a TVC. I doubt new material can make it any lighter than AL-31F. Even the figure of 1454 Kg (comparing it to 117S) Is already impressive.

The radar might have to be podded. or small in aperture. Which then brought us to Darin program.

Eventually it comes to the availability of space. the smaller space, means smaller aperture, thus higher frequency have to be sought. The following is my estimate on “30 cm” AESA. with 18GHz frequency. It is air cooled. Probably the one that can fit into Hawk trainer nose. Performance is comparable with MiG-21UPG’s Kopyo radar. But it can track more targets. Unfortunately tho i am unable to find any relevant simple weight model for the radar.

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Now waiting for delivery for the first low rate initial production unit. I assume it will be like the latest T-50 prototypes, but now with real RAM coatings, i guess it will be grey or dark grey in color.