The PL-10 (,

NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...

: CH-AA-9), formerly known as PL-ASR (stands for PiLi-Advanced Short Range), is a short-range,

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 ...

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. It was designed by Dr. Liang Xiaogeng (梁晓庚) at the Luoyang Electro Optical Center, which is also known as the Institute 612 and was renamed in 2002 as the China Air-to-Air Guided Missile Research Institute (中国空空导弹研究院). Development of the missile commenced in 2004 for use on stealth fighters such as the J-20.

History

The development of PL-10 initiated in 2004, and the design was reportedly approved in 2010. The missile entered production in 2013. The chief designer of PL-10 is Liang Xiaogeng () of the Shanghai Academy of Science and Technology. Pictures of the PL-10, then known as the PL-ASR, appeared on the Chinese internet in 2008. It was observed mounting on a

PLAAF The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Pe ...

Chengdu J-20 The Chengdu J-20 (), also known as ''Mighty Dragon'' (), is a twinjet all-weather stealth fighter aircraft developed by China's Chengdu Aerospace Corporation for the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The J-20 is designed as an air ...

in 2015.

Design

The PL-10 is fitted with an advanced multi-element imagining infrared (IIR) sensor that identifies the target based on shape, giving it all-aspect targeting capability, longer target detection range, and enhanced resistance to chaff and flare. It's reportedly very resistant to jamming and electronic countermeasures. The missile is capable of

lock-on after launch Lock-on after launch (LOAL) is an ability of missile systems to lock-on to a target after being launched from a carrier vehicle. The term is normally used in reference to airborne weapons, especially air-to-air missiles. LOAL is an important part ...

(LOAL), giving it ability to update target data using datalink while in flight. The multi-element IIR seeker is capable of +/-90 degree off boresight angles and can be slaved to a

helmet-mounted display A helmet-mounted display (HMD) is a device used in aircraft to project information to the pilot's eyes. Its scope is similar to that of head-up displays (HUD) on an aircrew's visor or reticle. An HMD provides the pilot with situation awareness, ...

(HMD). This allows the pilot to track a target beyond the aircraft's radar scan envelope using the missile's high off-boresight capability, achieved by the pilot turning his head towards the target to lock-on, better known as "look and shoot". Flight is controlled by a thrust-vector controlled solid rocket motor and free-moving control wings on the missile's tail, which facilitate the missile to achieve turn capability of over 60Gs and high angles of attack. The central portion of the missile has long, thin strakes, which help maintain missile maneuverability in the terminal homing stage after the rocket motor stops firing. According to the assessment by

Royal United Services Institute The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi), registered as Royal United Service Institute for Defence and Security Studies and formerly the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, is a British defence and security think tank. ...

, the PL-10 provides comparable performance to European

ASRAAM The Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM), also known by its United States designation AIM-132, is an imaging infrared homing (heat seeking) air-to-air missile, produced by MBDA UK, that is designed for close-range combat. It is in s ...

and

IRIS-T The IRIS-T ("thermography, InfraRed Imaging System Tail/thrust vectoring, Thrust Vector-Controlled") is a medium range infrared homing missile available in both air-to-air missile, air-to-air and ground defence surface-to-air missile, surface- ...

missiles, while offering superior kinematic performances against AIM-9X. According to aviation researcher Justin Bronk, the overall capability of the PL-10 reaches an approximate parity with Western systems and surpasses Russian technologies.

References

;Bibliography * * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Air-to-air missiles of the People's Republic of China Military equipment introduced in the 2010s

History

Design

See also

References