Home Air Power Air-Launched Weapons PL-2

PL-2 SHORT-RANGE AIR-TO-AIR MISSILE

The PiLi-2 (PL-2) is a Chinese licensed copy of the Soviet R-13 (NATO codename: AA-2 Atoll) short-range air-to-air missile, which itself was a reverse-engineered clone of the U.S. AIM-9B Sidewinder. During the 1958 Taiwan Strait crisis, the Republic of China (ROC) air force F-86 fighters fired several AIM-9B missiles to the PLAAF MiG-15 fighters, marking the world’s first air-to-air battle using the air-to-air missile. The remains of an unexploded AIM-9B was recovered by the PLA during the battle, and it was later handed to the Soviet Union for further examination. Based on this example the Vympel Design Bureau developed the USSR’s first IR-homing AAM K-13.

Following the successful development of the PL-1 radar-homing AAM (Chinese copy of the K-5M), China obtained the K-13 technology from the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. Its Chinese copy known as PL-2 was introduced in 1967 by Luoyang-based 607 Institute. Batch production of the PL-2 began in 1970 at Zhuzhou Aero-Engine Factory and Xi'an Dongfang Machinery Factory. The missile was first used in combat in March 1966, when a PLAAF J-7 fighter fired two PL-2 missiles, one of which shot down a USAF AQM-34N Firebee unmanned reconnaissance aerial vehicle.

The improved PL-2A project began in November 1973, but the development was stopped in 1978 due to technical problems. The improved PL-2B was introduced by Hanzhong-based 202 Factory in 1978. Its production began in July 1975 and stopped in 1980. The missile was the standard short-range air-to-air weapon for the PLAAF and PLANAF during the 1970s/80s before it was replaced by the more capable PL-5 in the late 1980s.

Length: 2.99m
Diameter: 0.53m
Wingspan: 1.27m
Weight: 76kg
Warhead: 11.3kg HE blast/fragmentation
Propulsion: Solid rocket
Max speed: N/A
G Limit: N/A
Max effective range: 3km
Guidance: Infrared
Fuse: IR

This page was last updated 9 April 06