I know Rafale is a 4th Generation jet fighter and European countries did not like Rafale and made their better plane " Eurofighter" and noe are making more 5th/6th Generation fighters.
But why India is shouting loudly that their french Rafale plane will kill J-10, J-20 and JF-17 ??
How will you evaluate in missiles package and dog fight over sky ?
Clubs to spears, swords to axes, Rafales to Flankers... The point being they're all pretty even tools for fighting a war, its more so about the person (or pilot in this case) wielding the tools and how they leverage it to come out on top. Both our air forces are modernized, so its really about how we use/deploy our weapons.
It all boils down to asset integration (AEW/AWACS + ground radar + data link to build situational awareness, integrated air defense system), indoctrination (good formation flying as well as communication of bogies and targets), and good execution of counterair tactics. I might be biased, but I'd certainly think the PLA are coming out on top on all those fronts since we've built and integrated everything in-house - everything is made in China, so they 'speak the same language'... unlike the Indians who have to integrate French Rafales, Russian Flankers, Brazilian AWACS, and American transport aircraft into their combat air fleet. Our recent operation tempo also suggests our readiness levels are higher than the Indians, especially since they're only just taking delivery of their Rafales and integrating them to their fleet while we've been fielding our Flankers, J-10s and J-20s for a couple years already.
The day of the dogfight is practically over. Unless a pilot loses situational awareness or the skies over the Sino-Indian border are packed with aircraft Battle of Britain style, the chances of a visual merge between Indian and Chinese fighters is almost unlikely. The modern day midair skirmish will be beyond visual range. While the Chinese PL-15 BVR missile might not be as proven as the European METEOR or American AMRAAM, but considering how far along China has come with AESA radar technology I wouldn't say their capabilities might not be far behind from American or European BVR missiles.
Like I said it matters more about the tools and tactics used to fire off Fox-3 BVR missiles - that comes down to experience readiness. That's why the Americans invest so much into military exercises like Red Flag to give their warfighters real life valuable experience integrating all assets across the Air Force.
