The PL-12 (Chinese: 霹雳-12; pinyin: Pī Lì-12; lit. 'Thunderbolt-12', NATO reporting name: CH-AA-7[13]) is an active radar-guided beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile developed by the People's Republic of China. It is considered comparable to the US AIM-120 AMRAAM and the Russian R-77.[6]

PL-12
A model of an export version of the PL-12, SD-10A, (bottom-left corner) with a Pakistan Air Force JF-17 on display at the Farnborough Airshow 2010.
Type	Medium-range, active radar homing air-to-air BVR missile
Place of origin	People's Republic of China
Service history
In service	2005-present[1]
Used by	People's Liberation Army Air Force People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force Pakistan Air Force Myanmar Air Force
Specifications
Mass	180 kilograms (400 lb)[2]
Engine	Dual thrust solid fuel rocket[3]
Operational range	70–100 kilometres (43–62 mi)[4][5]
Maximum speed	Mach 4+[3]
Guidance system	Active radar[6]
Launch platform	Xi'an JH-7[7] Shenyang J-8F[8] Chengdu J-10[9] Shenyang J-11B[10] Shenyang J-15[2] CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder[11] FTC-2000G[12]

History

Development of the PL-12 (SD-10) began in 1997.[1] The first public information of the Leihua Electronic Technology Research Institute's PL-12 – then called the SD-10 – emerged in 2001.[14] Development was assisted by Vympel NPO and Agat of Russia.[15] Liang Xiaogeng is believed to have been the chief designer.[16] Four successful test firings were made in 2004.[15] The missile entered People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) service in 2005.[1]

Design

The early batches of PL-12 missiles reportedly used the 9B-1348 radar seeker designed for the R-77 missile. The development process was assisted by Vympel NPO and Tactical Missile Corporation and benefited from Russian technology transfers.[3] But as of 2018, the PL-12 was no longer reliant on Russian components for missile production.[3]

The guidance system comprises data-linked mid-course guidance and active radar homing for terminal guidance.[3] The missile uses Chinese rocket motor[14] and airframe.[17] The PL-12 may have a passive homing mode for use against jammers and AEW aircraft.[14] The maximum range is estimated to be 100 kilometres (62 mi).[18]

PL-12's overall dimension is larger than AIM-120 AMRAAM. Per PLAAF assessment, PL-12's capability sits between AIM-120B and AIM-120C, and the improved PL-12A is claimed to be comparable with the AIM-120C-4. The domestic version of the PL-12 features a variable-thrust rocket motor with a range of 70–100 kilometres (43–62 mi), while the export variant SD-10 features a reduced range of 60–70 kilometres (37–43 mi).[19] According to the Royal United Services Institute, the range performance of PL-12 stands between AIM-120B and AIM-120C-5.[20]

Variants

PL-12

Domestic version with 60[21] to 100 km[18] range.

PL-12A

Improved PL-12 with a modified seeker and digital processor. Reportedly fitted with passive mode for anti-radiation missions.[19]

SD-10A (ShanDian-10, 闪电-10)

Export version of the PL-12.[21]

SD-10B

Enhanced SD-10A with better anti-jamming capability.[11][21]

Operators

Current operators

 People's Republic of China

• People's Liberation Army Air Force
• People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force

 Pakistan

• Pakistan Air Force (PAF) - 475 delivered of 600 ordered as of 2019^[update][22]

 Myanmar

• Myanmar Air Force - 24 delivered of 60 ordered as of 2019^[update][23]

See also

• PL-15
• AIM-120 AMRAAM
• R-77
• TC-2

References

Bibliography

На других языках

[de] PL-12

[fr] PL-12

[it] PL-12

[ru] PL-12