PL-5B
Contents
Description
PL-5B is a domestic heat-seeker AAM developed in PRC by Institute 612, Ministry of Aviation Industry (now Luoyang Electro-optics Technology Development Centre). A vast improvement over the previous model, the PL-2, with higher tracking rate and overload.
Vehicles equipped with this weapon
General info
Length: 3.128m
Maximum overload: 30G
Launch overload limit: 4G
Lock distance from rear-aspect:5.5km
Max range: 18km
Warhead: 4.76kg HBX, equivalent to 7.62kg TNT
Effective damage
The warhead of PL-5B was filled with 4.76 kg of HBX, equivalent to 7.62 kg of TNT and comes with proximity fuse that helps to blast enemy aircraft into pieces.
Comparison with analogues
At the same tier, AIM-9J and AIM-9P are very commonplace and PL-5B in many ways is similar to them in terms of the explosive mass and overload, which the latter is superior, while it also suffers the problem of launch overload limiter; Matra Magic R.550 is in most way better than PL-5B but in the right hands, they can be equally lethal.
Usage in battles
The best way to use PL-5B is do not trigger-happy on these missiles, 30G overload a 8kg TNT equivalent explosive mass and do seem wonderful at first glance; but this missile comes with drawbacks- its rather heavy overall mass of the missile itself as well as a launch overload limit at 4G. So pick up targets who is a least 1.5km apart and those that might not pay attention to their tail, with some distance this missile can do it jobs well on hitting its targets; very likely your target will not ever have the luxury to do a emergency landing at base, either they has been shattered by the missile or they barely gain control to the aircraft.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Higher explosive mass among the same tier IR AAMs that can make short work of enemies
- Whopping 30G overload
- Sufficient top speed
Cons:
- 4G launch overload limit that could be troublesome
- Somewhat less agile due to the overall high mass
History
PL-5B started its development during the 1970s in parallel with its "brother"- PL-5A SARM when Mainland China was in their crisis (the Cultural Revolution); while it has already done aerial simulation tests in September of 1972, it came into service in 1986 while the PL-5A was cancelled 3 years ago due to outdated technolog.
After 2 decades of development and the technologies learnt from foreign IR AAMs, CATIC introduced the latest export-intended version of this missile- PL-5EII, with a brand new multi-band tracker and be able to lock from front-aspect, enhancing this missile to a new level.
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the article about the variant of the weapon;
- references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- encyclopedia page on the weapon;
- other literature.
