The PL-5, whose name means Thunderbolt, is a Chinese infrared guided short range air to air missile designed and developed at the Luoyang Electro-Optics Technology Development Centre and produced at the Hanzhong Nanfeng Machine Factory. It drew on Soviet missile technology while resembling some Western designs, and it entered service in the 1980s. The design has been refined over time, with the latest PL-5EII variant adding dual band detection and laser proximity fusing, and operators across Asia, Africa and Latin America have adopted it, particularly for older fighter aircraft where its light weight and small size are an advantage over newer missiles. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Weapon ClassInfrared-guided air-to-air missile 1 Introduced Year Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category) Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia: PL-5
Infobox: production_date
1982
Lead section
The PL-5 was designed and developed at China's Luoyang Electro-Optics Technology Development Centre (EOTDC), also known as Institute 612; its design team members included Chen Jiali (陈家礼), Dong Chunfeng, Hu Rongchao (胡荣超), Huang Bin, Zhang Ming (张明), and Zheng Zhiwei (郑志伟).
Operated By: People's Liberation Army, Users section
China
Operated By: Egyptian Armed Forces, Users section
Egypt
View the SourceWikidata: PL-5
Wikidata Q1502795, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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