| PL-11 | |
|---|---|
| Type | air-to-air missile |
| Place of origin | People's Republic of China |
| Service history | |
| Used by | People's Republic of China |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 3.7 m (12 ft 2 in)[1] |
| Warhead | High explosive blast-fragmentation |
| Engine | Solid fuel rocket |
Operational range | 75 km (47 mi)[1] |
| Maximum speed | Mach 4[1] |
Guidance system | Semi-active radar homing[1] |
Launch platform | aerial |
The PL-11 (Chinese: 霹雳-11; pinyin: Pī Lì-11; lit. 'Thunderbolt-11') is a medium-range semi-active radar homing (SARH) air-to-air missile (AAM) developed by a subsidiary of the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology in the People's Republic of China. It is a development or copy of the Italian Aspide AAM, which in turn was developed from the American AIM-7 Sparrow. The PRC may have started license production of the Aspide using imported parts but the license was cancelled following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Development started in 1990,[2] and the first live-fire test occurred in 2002 from a Shenyang J-8 IIB.[3]