PL-9
DK-9
The PL-9 [Pili = Thunderbolt, or Pen Lung = Air Dragon] is China's latest third-generation air-to-air fighting missile. It has infrared guidance and boasts omnidirectional attack capability and good maneuverability. Its supplier is China National Aviation Import and Export Corporation. Its all-round performance is said to be better than that of the AIM-9L/M Sidewinder missile, and comparable to the R-73 of Russia. Apart from its control surfaces the PL-9 is almost identical to the Israeli Python 3, which was developed from the AIM-9L. But the PL-9 has only about one-third the range of the Python 3. Israel sold China its 9-mile range Python 3 infra-red guided air-to-air missile in the late 1980s.
The PL-9 is used as a surface-to-air guided missile, desinated the DK-9, in the 390 missile and artillery combination air defense system unveiled in 1991 by Beifang Industrial Company. This complex includes a photoelectric sensor, IBIS ultra-low-altitude searching radar, 3C&I command station, 90 double 37 anti-aircraft gun, 702 anti-aircraft fire control system (including a radar and optical surveillance system, a friend-and-foe identifier, a data transmission system, and fire control computer). One complete system can cover an airspace of 3,000 square kilometers and take on 48 targets simultaneously. The "80" anti-aircraft artillery system is a less advanced system based on the 702 fire control system lacks the PL-9 surface-to-air guided missile.
As is well known, China ’s traditional arms export market includes Pakistan and parts of the Arab Air Force. For these countries, they will not accept weapons of Israeli in any way, so when China exported fighter jets to these countries, it faced the possibility of the exported PL-5B customers lack of interest, and the better-performing PP-8 customers reluctance to purchase. If equipped with foreign airborne weapons, it will not only increase the procurement cost of domestic fighter jets, let some profits be lost, but also cause dependence on foreign weapons and equipment.
Due to the above reasons, China developed the PL-9 series of air-to-air missiles on the basis of the Thunderbolt-8. The missile actually uses the Thunderbolt-8 technology, developed with double delta wings and rectangular tails, mainly used for Export. Among them, the PL-9C adopts multiple infrared guidance and digital technology, which is not only used for the matching of domestic fighters, but also developed a surface-to-air missile model, which has accumulated experience for the serial development of domestic air-to-air missiles.
However, PL-9 is the same as PL-8 in terms of weight and price. Therefore, it focuses on supporting the large number of troops and exporting the J-7B. China has transplanted PL-8 technologies such as indium antimonide devices to PL-5B technology. Above, the Thunder-5E air-to-air missile was successfully developed. Its performance can already be compared with the American AIM-9L, providing upgraded weapons for the J-7B series. In the new century, with the mass production of JF-17 aircraft, China has developed the PL-5E-2 air-to-air missile as a supporting weapon on the basis of the PL-5E. It uses a dual-element dual-color infrared seeker and laser. Advanced technologies such as proximity fuzes have improved overall performance, and are inconvenient for export and can also be used in the matching of second-generation fighters in active service.
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