The PL-21 or PL-XX is an
active radar-guided long range
beyond-visual-range 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 ...
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 List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
. It is considered comparable to the American
AIM-260 JATM, DARPA's Triple Threat Terminator (T3), and the Russian
R-37 (missile)
The Vympel R-37 (NATO reporting name: AA-13 "Axehead") is a Russian hypersonic air-to-air missile with very long range. The missile and its variants also had the names K-37, ''izdeliye'' 610 and RVV-BD (Ракета Воздух-Воздух БоР...
.
Development and history
In 2016, China successfully test fired a very long range
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 ...
, which was believed to be the PL-21. PL-21 is estimated to have a range of over 300 kilometers and powered by a ramjet engine.
Operators
;
*
People's Liberation Army Air Force
The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (ä¸å›½ç©ºå†›) 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 Peo ...
*
People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force
See also
References
;Bibliography
*
Air-to-air missiles of the People's Republic of China
Weapons of the People's Republic of China
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