The PL-4 () was an

air-to-air missile The newest and the oldest member of Rafael's Python family of AAM for comparisons, Python-5 (displayed lower-front) and Shafrir-1 (upper-back) An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying a ...

(AAM) developed by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It was designed by the 612 Research Institute and the Zhuzhou Aeroengine factory. The first version, the PL-4A, was China's first

semi-active radar homing Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range Air-to-air missile, air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is ...

(SARH) AAM. It was developed into the

infrared homing Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is radi ...

PL-4B. The development program started in March 1966. The design may have been influenced by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

AIM-7D Sparrow wreckage from the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Prototype ground-testing to the original 1960s requirements was completed in November 1980, with the second phase of development starting in July 1981.Wood et al. (2020): page 17 The program was cancelled in 1984 due to obsolescence and, with the normalization of relations with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

- the availability of modern Western weapons.Wood et al. (2020): page 34 The PL-4 was intended to arm the

Chengdu J-9 The Chengdu J-9 (Chinese: 歼-9) was an interceptor aircraft that was cancelled during development in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was proposed in 1964 by the 601 Institute (Shenyang) as a higher-performing alternative to the Shenya ...

- which was cancelled in 1980 - and then the

Shenyang J-8II The Shenyang J-8 (Chinese: 歼-8; NATO reporting name: Finback) is an interceptor aircraft developed by the 601 Institute (Shenyang) in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was conceived in the early 1960s as a low-risk program based on e ...

. Issues with the J-8II's Type 208 radar limited SARH performance, and the missile's cancellation severely affected the aircraft's development.Wood et al. (2020): page 14

Variants

;PL-4A :SARH version ;PL-4B :IRH version

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pl-4 Missile Guided missiles of the People's Republic of China Air-to-air missiles of the People's Republic of China Weapons of the People's Republic of China Air-to-surface missiles of the Cold War