Fan Huitao and his team, working on a '711' schedule, are credited with advancing China's air-to-air missile development to the fourth generation. The PL-15E, an export variant of the PL-15, is a fourth-generation beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile. Its extensive range, integrated with early warning systems, enables operators to engage targets from afar and secure the first strike in combat.
Fan Huitao, a scientist at the China Air-to-Air Missile Research Institute under AVIC, and his team worked on a demanding '711' schedule to boost the range of the PL-15 missiles. These missiles are reported to have brought down India's Rafale jets. Development took place in areas like the Gobi Desert.
The PL-15 is a fourth-generation beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, with the PL-15E as its export variant integrated into Pakistan's J-10CE fighter jets. Fan Huitao's contributions earned him recognition, including as a National People's Congress delegate, and he studied at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Henan Province's Luoyang.
The missile's key feature is its extensive range, allowing integration with early warning systems for distant target engagement and first-strike advantage in combat.