The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 555 Air-to-Air Missile
Panshan Group Headquarters.

"Medium-range air-to-air missiles?" Liu Tao learned about the equipment of the Chinese Air Force and immediately realized something that was very meaningful to him.

That is a medium-range air-to-air missile!
Medium-range air-to-air missiles have been standard equipment for fighter jets since their appearance because of their beyond-visual-range attack capabilities.

The development of domestic medium-range air-to-air missiles has gone through a process of self-research, cancellation, introduction, and then self-research. After more than 30 years, it has not yet borne fruit.

At present, China has developed a medium-range air-to-air missile named 'PL-4'. The research and development of this type of medium-range air-to-air missile began in 1966. The aerodynamic layout of the missile is similar to that of the US AIM-7D "Sparrow" medium-range air-to-air missile. It adopts a conventional layout of trapezoidal main wing plus triangular tail wing, and the guidance method is radar semi-active guidance.

Due to insufficient technical reserves, the development of PL-4 was extremely slow. It was not until 1984 that the first batch of complete missiles and launch equipment were produced. However, the performance level of PL-4 was only equivalent to that of the early models of AIM-7, which could no longer meet the needs of the Air Force. In 1985, the PL-4 project was discontinued and development was stopped.

When China introduced American fighter jets, it naturally also introduced a batch of medium-range air-to-air missiles. The reason why the PL-4 project was cancelled was because it was found that the performance of the PL-4 was far inferior to that of the Americans' medium-range air-to-air missiles.

It’s better to buy than to make!

The PL-4 project team invests a lot of research and development funds every year, but the output is not satisfactory.

Therefore, many people believe that instead of spending so much effort on the research and development of medium-range air-to-air missiles, it is better to directly purchase medium-range air-to-air missiles from the Americans.

Therefore, the PL-4 project was cancelled.

But by now, the prices of American weapons have risen a lot, and the current prices are so high that even Liu Tao can't help but feel a toothache when he sees them.

According to his understanding, the Air Force is reluctant to use air-to-air missiles during peacetime training.

Liu Tao felt that if he could develop an air-to-air missile, whether it was a short-range air-to-air missile or a medium-range air-to-air missile, it would be what the Chinese Air Force urgently needed.

Once we develop air-to-air missiles with advanced performance, the cost will certainly be much lower than importing them from the United States.

The combat effectiveness of the Chinese Air Force can also be greatly improved. Soon after Liu Tao submitted an application, a group of spare parts and technicians arrived at the Panshan Group headquarters.

The parts here include those for manufacturing short-range air-to-air missiles and medium-range air-to-air missiles.

Short-range air-to-air missiles, also known as close-range combat air-to-air missiles.

China has been equipped with close-range combat missiles for a long time, but it has not been taken seriously. Until now, China's domestic fighters and fighter jets are mainly equipped with aircraft guns. In several local wars in the 70s, air-to-air missiles played a pivotal role. In the Yom Kippur War, Israel shot down a total of 336 Arab aircraft. Except for 60 aircraft shot down by aircraft guns, the remaining 276 aircraft were all shot down by close-range combat air-to-air missiles. As the main weapon for seizing air supremacy, air-to-air missiles have greatly changed the previous air combat mode, and their performance has become an important factor in determining the outcome of air battles.

Therefore, China also began to develop air-to-air missiles. In the era of lack of airborne radar, the semi-active radar-guided air-to-air missiles imitated by China have always been in a state of having missiles but no machines.

As for the origin of close-range air-to-air missiles, all the close-range air-to-air missiles in the world originated from the American AIM-9B 'Sidewinder' air-to-air missile. In 1953, Ford Aerospace Communications Company and Raytheon Company of the United States successfully developed the AIM-1949B "Sidewinder" air-to-air missile based on the lead sulfide infrared detector invented by McLean in 9. The AIM-9B "Sidewinder" air-to-air missile seeker uses a non-cooled lead sulfide infrared detector, and the tail wing is equipped with an anti-roll gyro rudder. When rotating, it makes a harsh sound, similar to the sound of a rattlesnake's tail swinging at a high frequency, hence the name "Sidewinder". In the US military's propaganda, the Sidewinder air-to-air missile is like the mysterious moves used by martial arts masters in martial arts novels - as long as a move is made, the enemy will surely die.

The AIM-9B "Sidewinder" air-to-air missile became the standard equipment of the air forces of NATO countries as soon as it came out. It has been continuously improved since its invention, and many improved models have been born. The production volume has exceeded 10. The AIM-9B "Sidewinder" air-to-air missile became the standard equipment of the air forces of NATO countries as soon as it came out. In the early days, aircraft were used as its main carrier. Later, it was also installed on helicopters, armed vehicles, and even ships. It is the most commonly used air-to-air missile in actual combat.

When talking about the origin of China's close-range combat air-to-air missiles, we have to mention that when China first obtained the "Sidewinder" air-to-air missile, two groups of experts were immediately sent to help analyze and study it after learning that China had the "Sidewinder" air-to-air missile. When the experts returned to China, China allowed them to take away a full set of surveying and mapping drawings, test data and a wreckage to share the results. After obtaining the information, the Soviet Union's 134th Design and Research Bureau immediately began to imitate it, and produced the K-13 air-to-air missile in just one year. It transferred its production process and technology to China along with the MiG-21 fighter.

In April 1962, the production drawings and process documents of the K-4 air-to-air missile were delivered to Huaxia, along with two sets of ground test equipment and 13 live ammunition, and the imitation was fully launched. From 98 to 1962, the translation of more than 1963 technical data and product drawings was mainly carried out, and it was decided to start comprehensive trial production by building a general assembly production line at the Oriental Machinery Factory. The trial production work was carried out in an orderly manner, starting with the easy and then the difficult, in parallel, crisscrossing, and in September 2000, the steering gear, missile wings, solid propellant and charge engine were finalized. In October, 1965 sample missiles were assembled, with a sample missile of 9 meters, a diameter of 10 meters, a wingspan of 13 meters, a weight of 2.84 kilograms, a warhead weight of 0.127 kilograms, and a range of 0.609 kilometers.

After a series of tests, it was finally finalized for production. This short-range air-to-air missile was named 'PL-2' air-to-air missile. It was already 1970 at that time. The unit responsible for production was the Xi'an Oriental Machinery Factory, and later the Zhuzhou Engine Factory also joined in the production.

The PL-2 air-to-air missile has simple supporting equipment and can be used as long as the fighter is equipped with a ranging device.

However, due to the limitation of technology level, its maneuverability and resistance to sunlight and tracer interference are relatively poor, and it can only carry out tail-chasing attacks on subsonic bombers with relatively poor maneuverability. The Air-to-Air Missile Research Institute enlarged the missile's wings and rudders, improved the seeker's receiving sensitivity and reduced the proximity fuze delay time, and developed the PL-2-15. Then it increased the seeker's detection distance, improved the anti-interference ability, adjusted the fuze sensitivity and reliability, and developed the PL-2B air-to-air missile. This air-to-air missile was put into mass production in October 1981 as the main weapon of the J-10II fighter. At the same time, the J-7II fighter was widely equipped with the PL-7B air-to-air missile, which was imitated from the American AIM-9D captured on the battlefield in Vietnam.

However, the performance of these current short-range air-to-air missiles is unsatisfactory, and the gap with the short-range air-to-air missiles of the United States and the Soviet Union is very large.

(End of this chapter)