The Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE) in Juniper Networks devices is the heart of the data plane, handling the actual forwarding of packets based on pre-computed forwarding tables. It provides several critical services to manage and control traffic flow, including policing (to enforce bandwidth limits for certain traffic types), stateless firewall filtering (to permit or deny traffic based on predefined criteria), and Class of Service (CoS) (to prioritize traffic to ensure quality of service for critical applications). The PFE utilizes both Layer 2 (MAC addresses) and Layer 3 (IP addresses) forwarding tables to make intelligent forwarding decisions, ensuring that packets are efficiently routed toward their final destination.