Home Navy Naval Missiles PL-9

PL-9 SHIP-TO-AIR MISSILE

The PLA Navy (PLAN) has installed the surface-to-air variant of the infrared-guided PL-9 missile on some of its Type 053 (Jianghu class) frigates as an ad hoc measure to improve their air defence capabilities. Most Jianghu class frigates rely on the anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) guns for air defence and they are highly ineffective against today’s high-speed, low-altitude planes. As a result, the PLAN upgraded some of the Jianghu class frigates with the PL-9 missile, which was originally developed as an IR-homing short-range air-to-air missile (SRAAM).

The PL-9 was first introduced in the late 1980s, with some of its technology originated from the Israeli Python-3 SRAAM. The missile is fitted with an all-aspects cryogenic liquid nitrogen gas-cooled seeker head unit utilising proportional navigation guidance techniques. The missile features a 60 degree off-boresight and is said to be capable of 35~40G manoeuvre. The missile’s general performance was estimated to be comparable to the U.S. AIM-9L/M Sidewinder.

Two PL-9 missiles are mounted on the turret of the Type 76 twin-37mm AAA. Because the turret is open, the missile can only be fired when the AAA gun is in remote-control mode to protect the gunner from the missile flame. The missile relies on the AAA fire-control radar to spot the target and is ‘fire-and-forgot’ once launched. The missile is manually reloaded and therefore takes long time to get ready again after each firing.

SPECIFICATIONS

Missile dimensions: Length 2.99m; Diameter 0.167m; Wingspan: 0.81m
Launch weight: 120 kg
Propulsion: Single stage solid propellant rocket motor
Operating altitude: Minimum 10m; Maximum 4,500m
Operating range: Minimum 1,000m; Maximum 15,000m
Maximum Speed: Mach 2
Guidance: all-aspects passive infrared
Warhead: 11.8kg HE
System reaction time: 10 seconds

This page was last updated 30 April 2006