PL-12

Description

The PL-12 (霹雳-12主动式中距离空对空导弹) is the first domestic ARH AAM developed by Mainland China and the third to be developed in Asia (First by NCSIST as the TC-2 and the second by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as the AAM-4 [Type 99]) as part of the efforts to modernize PLAAF into the 21st century. By 1990s, the utilization of ARH AAM in battle has already been evolving thanks to the scaling-down of electronics; USAF and most NATO countries acquired the AIM-120 series while a major threat to southeastern China, ROCAF would soon acquire French MICA and indigenous TC-2 against the growing fleet of Su-27SK/J-11 interceptors. The need for a domestic alternative also rose as J-8F and future J-10 series would need to carry such missiles to upgrade the air force, thus leading to Project No.12 (十二号工程) and further evaluations tested on J-8F in early 2000s. The new missile, now goes by the name PL-12 joined PLAAF service by 2006 and been carried by all new interceptors post-2010.

As one of the earliest accessible ARH AAM in game as part of J-8F's armaments, the late introduction of this missile and good carriers with modern avionics can utilize its overall capability very well even at long-ranges; but be sure to leave the missile for the most valuable or careless targets to help securing the victory.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• J-8F
• J-10A

General info

Missile characteristics
Mass	198 kg
Guidance	ARH+IOG+DL
Band	I
Lock range	16 km
Launch range	80 km
Maximum speed	4.0 M
Maximum overload	38 G
Missile guidance time	80 secs
Explosive mass	11.78 kg TNTeq

Effective damage

With around 11.8 kg TNTe of explosive filler in the warhead, while it might not have as large blast radius as some of its competitors, thanks to the proximity fuse onboard any missile approaching and hitting aircraft is very likely to disable enemy jets for good, if not blasting them back to the hanger right away.

Comparison with analogues

• AIM-120A/B - Less powerful rocket engine, overload and warhead
• R-77 - A missile also in PLAAF service with higher overload and slightly higher overall burn time
• MICA-EM - Much higher overload while having much less explosive content
• Derby and R-Darter - Lesser explosive content while having higher overall thrust
• AAM-4 -Very high explosive content and slightly higher overall thrust, while having much less overload

Usage in battles

When players are newcomers to the era of active radar homing, players need to consider one major factor: the carrier's speed. As physics always prove that the carrier which has much more initial velocity can reach out farther, this is also the case for PL-12; for the main feature of most of its carriers, be sure to go high and seeking for any targets which are within 40 km radius from the missile both for high or low targets. This also called for the situational awareness of players if they happen to spot the contrails of enemy interceptors or being to identify targets on the radar screen, let the datalink to do the work once the target has been locked and fired upon - guide the missile as far as possible before the onboard seeker turns on and track the intended target, depending on the action of the enemy, but in most cases they will meet a miserable end from the missile itself.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Long engage range than any previous SARH missiles
• Extremely high thrust
• Do not require further guidance once the seeker head is engaged
• Sufficient explosive content to cause extensive damage against enemy targets when near-miss

Cons:

• Relative short range to certain missiles
• Depending on the carrier, sometime only 2 missiles can be carried per flight

History

After the failure of PL-4, PL-5A SARH AAM and the introduction of Aspide-1A (or commonly known as A弹 [A-Missile] to Chinese community) for J-8II, Dong Bingyin (董秉印, 1939/8-2000/6/30), the new vice-director of Institute 014 (now China Air-to-Air Guided Missile Research Institute 中国空空导弹研究院 ) started the pre-development of a medium-range ARH AAM as the effort to keep the operation of radar development team of the institute; with only 800k CNY for budget, the institute brought in their new missile mock-up: the MR missile. The conclusion from a certification ceremony on December 1989 approved the further development of domestic BVRAAM by 1990; with some persuasion efforts to leaderships of armed forces and to the Chairman himself, as well as cooperation with CAC to have the missile as part of the weapon system for Project No.10 (十号工程, the future J-10). While the project faces challenges from Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (colloquially knows as 航天八院; CASC Institute Eight), the fall of the Soviet Union gave the chance for Institute 014 to overtake the project: after confirmation for the development of missile combined with pre-developments from MR missile and outsourcing components from foreign countries, Russia's Vympel (lit. Signal Flag) became the target for a visit of cooperation in July 1992 as the design bureau and their suppliers were in dire need for funding to their projects, as well as the salaries for their engineers; this was also the time when Dong decided to visit the suppliers instead, notably the Agat (lit. Agate; a gemstone) and eventually noticed the existence of the state-of-the-art BVRAAM of Russia: R-77. Knowing that the design features of R-77 was not the most ideal solution for BVRAAMs and facing Shanghai's challenges, the team has to lower the performance of key components for the time being to achieve combat capability and eventually earned the order by 1993, with key components imported from Russia before domestic alternatives were developed. Although facing overpriced quotations from Vympel, the investigation for downstream suppliers beforehand eventually led to a much economic quotation, to 2/7 of the original one.

The efforts for the import eventually fruited in 1997 with the project approved after a state experts evaluation as the Project No.12 (十二号工程). Instead of using the 9B-1348E seeker on R-77/RVV-AE, the team opted for the design of 9B-1103M seeker which would eventually used by R-77-1 in future as Agat still need further funding for their research while revising the circuit with intergraded circuit for better reliability and performance; way before the official commence of the project, the seeker was tested on November 1996. The aerodynamic design was also approved by Russian engineers even though 4 design schemes from them were provided. However the ground tests in 1997 proved the missile still needs further refinement and a deadline was set at 2003; Dong Bingyin, after almost a decade of efforts and restless lifestyle for the project, has used his single-way ticket to eternal rest due to heart attack in the morning of 2000/6/30, just after having a briefing for the project until midnight*. The new chief designer, Fan Huitao (樊会涛) did saw the finalization of Project No.12 on November 2005 with the successful dual target test on J-8F; although rumored to have production problems since its introduction in 2006, PL-12 eventually become the staple of modern time PLAAF/PLANAF since 2010s and now have been exported under the name SD-10.

*Note: according to records from colleagues, Dong travelled between Luoyang, Beijing, Chengdu and Zhengzhou between the 9 days from 6/21 to 6/29 for briefings and coordinating with CAC for J-10; a 1627 km route from north to south, multiple times in consecutive flights/rides between these cities.

Media

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See also

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