PL-4 (PL = Pi Li, 霹雳, meaning thunderbolt) is the first Chinese Semi-active radar homing (SARH) air-to-air missile (AAM), and it has an anti-radar derivative, which is also the first Chinese anti-radiation missile. However, neither entered Chinese service en masse, and both programs were eventually cancelled after very limited numbers had been built for evaluation purposes.

PL-4（PL = Pi Li，霹雳，意为雷电）是中国第一枚半主动雷达制导（SARH）空对空导弹（AAM），它有反雷达的衍生型号，也是中国第一枚反辐射导弹。但是，它们都没有大规模进入中国服役，在为评估目的制造了非常有限的数量之后，这两个项目最终都被取消。

 

Development

发展历程

 

PL-4 program began in March 1966, as the primary weapon that would be used by the proposed Chengdu J-9. The primary contractor was the 612th Research Institute of Chinese Aeronautical Ministry, more commonly known as the Luoyang Electro-Optics Technology Development Center (洛阳光电技术发展中心) nowadays, which became the China Air-to-Air Guided Missile Research Institute (中国空空导弹研究院) in 2002. The primary subcontractor for the propulsion was the 331st Factory, which would later become Zhuzhou Aero-engine Factory (株洲航空发动机厂). PL-4 is based on the American AIM-7D Sparrow IIIa AAM North Vietnam provided to China, after obtaining samples from downed American fighters during Vietnam War. However, barely two month after the program begun, Cultural Revolution started and due to this political turmoil, PL-4 program was disrupted to a complete stop, and it would not be until more than a decade later, well after the end of Cultural Revolution, would the program restart again.

PL-4计划始于1966年3月，是拟议中的成都J-9计划使用的主要武器。主要承包商是中国航空工业部第612研究所，现今更名为洛阳电光技术发展中心，于2002年成为中国空对空导弹研究院。该导弹推进系统的主要分包商是第331工厂，后来成为株洲航空发动机厂。PL-4是基于在越战期间北越从被击落的美国战斗机中获取的样本后，向中国提供的美国AIM-7D“麻雀”IIIA型空对空导弹。但是，在计划开始仅两个月之后，文化大革命就开始了，由于这种政治动荡，PL-4计划被彻底中断，直到十年之后，也就是文化大革命结束很久以后，这个项目才重新启动。

 

The rocket motor of PL-4 is designated as FG101, and is shared by another anti-radar derivative named Fenglei-7 (风雷7号). The revival of PL-4 was partially due to the decision to develop the anti-radar derivative in January 1979. The designer of the rocket motor was Harbin Ship Engineering Academy (哈尔滨船舶工程学院), the predecessor of Harbin Engineering University, 349th Factory was tasked to manufacture the propellant, 845th Factory was tasked for ground test, and 331st Factory was tasked for final integration. During the propulsion development, the contractor and subcontractors developed new manufacturing techniques, including improvements in installation, new rivet pins, graphite exhaust nozzle, and tolerance. A brand new heat processing method for integrated spin forming was adopted to achieve the high precision engine components, and this was achieved via the use of a special spin forming machinery set specially developed by the Beijing Nonferrous Metal Research Academy (北京有色金属研究院). Once the bottleneck of propulsion has been overcame, both programs went forward with ease, and but the conclusion of political turmoil, namely, the end of Cultural Revolution was an even more crucial contribution in the later development.

PL-4的火箭发动机命名为FG101，与另一个名为“风雷7号”的反雷达衍生型号共享。PL-4计划重启部分归因于1979年1月开发反雷达衍生型号的决定。火箭发动机的设计者是哈尔滨船舶工程学院，哈尔滨船舶工程学院是哈尔滨工程大学的前身，第349工厂负责制造推进剂，第845工厂负责地面测试，第331工厂负责最后整合。在推进系统开发过程中，承包商和分包商开发了新的制造技术，包括安装方面的改进，新的铆钉，石墨排气喷嘴和公差。采用了一种全新的整体旋压成型热处理方法，以实现高精度的发动机部件加工，这是通过使用北京有色金属研究院专门开发的特殊旋压成型机来实现的。一旦克服了瓶颈，这两个方案就轻松进行了，但是政治动荡的结束，即文化大革命的结束，对后来的发展更是至关重要。

 

PL-4A

 

With the development of the engine completed, all ground tests were subsequently completed in November 1980. The program proceeded to the second stage, starting in July 1981. Borrowing from the former-Soviet practice of developing two seekers for the same missile, which China considered a good idea, it was decided to develop two versions of PL-4, the SARH guided PL-4A (霹雳4甲), and the IR guided PL-4B (霹雳4乙). In addition to the original Chengdu J-9, PL-4 was planned to equip other Chinese aircraft as well.

随着发动机的研制完成，所有地面测试随后于1980年11月完成。该计划进入了第二阶段，即1981年7月开始。借鉴了前苏联为同一枚导弹开发两种导引头的做法。中国认为这是一个好主意，因此决定开发两种PL-4版本，即SARH制导的PL-4A（霹雳4甲）和IR制导的PL-4B（霹雳4乙）。除了最初的成都J-9外，PL-4还计划装备其他中国飞机。

 

By 1984, the first batch produced and ground maintenance equipment were sent to Chinese military for evaluation. Although the missile met its original requirement, th performance was not satisfactory because the requirement itself dating almost two decades ago was obsolete itself. Another factor that led to the eventual cancellation of PL-4 was that during the Sino-USA cooperation in the 1980s, China and US made a deal named project Peace Pearl, where Chinese Shenyang J-8 would be upgraded with American radars. Part of the deal included Chinese purchase of advanced version of AIM-7 Sparrow, making the PL-4 unnecessary. Additionally, China and Italy were also negotiating a deal on the Chinese purchase of Italian Aspide missile, another advanced version of AIM-7, which successfully completed in 1986, and this had further strengthened the Chinese decision to cancel the PL-4 program, which was finalized in 1985, terminating both PL-4A and PL-4B.

到1984年，第一批生产和地面维护设备已送交中国军队进行评估。 尽管该导弹满足了其最初的要求，但其性能并不令人满意，因为该要求本身可追溯到大约二十年前。导致PL-4最终取消的另一个因素是，在1980年代的中美合作期间，中美达成了一项名为“和平珍珠”计划的交易，中国沈阳J-8飞机将升级，并配备美国雷达。交易的一部分包括在中国购买高级版本的AIM-7“麻雀”（Sparrow）空对空导弹，从而使PL-4变得不必要。此外，中国和意大利还在就中国购买意大利“阿斯派德”（Aspide）导弹（AIM-7的另一种先进版本）进行谈判，该协议于1986年成功完成，这进一步促使了中国取消PL-4计划的决定。于1985年确定终止了PL-4A和PL-4B计划。

 

PL-4B

 

IR guided PL-4B (霹雳4乙) is the second member of PL-4 series, developed soon after PL-4A, but it actually entered Chinese service for evaluations earlier than the SARH guided PL-4A. The IR seeker borrowed directly and heavily from PL-2 series AAM, and adaptation of matured technology was the primary reason why its initial completion was faster than its SARH guided counterpart. Another advantage of PL-4B was that due to its IR guidance, the logistic was much simpler than PL-4A, which meant that the cost was also reduced accordingly. Furthermore, unlike PL-4A, most of the ground maintenance equipment of PL-4B was same or similar to that of other IR guided AAM in Chinese inventory, thus further simplifying logistics and reducing costs.

红外制导的PL-4B（霹雳4乙）是PL-4系列的第二个成员，紧随PL-4A研制成功，但实际上它比SARH制导的PL-4A更早进入中国服役以进行评估。红外导引头直接大量地借鉴了PL-2系列空对空导弹，而采用成熟技术是其最初完成速度比SARH制导同行更快的主要原因。PL-4B的另一个优点是，由于其采用IR制导，其后勤比PL-4A简单得多，这意味着成本也相应降低。此外，与PL-4A不同，PL-4B的大多数地面维护设备与中国库存中的其他红外制导空对空导弹（AAM）的地面维护设备相同或相似，从而进一步简化了后勤并降低了成本。

 

Despite its advantage, it was revealed during evaluation that the performance of PL-4B was not satisfactory. One of the primary drawback was that the 8 km range of PL-4B was simply too short, and offers no obvious advantage to other IR guided AAM China had. Coupled with factors listed above for PL-4A, PL-4B met with the same fate, ending being cancelled in 1985 along with PL-4A.

尽管具有优势，但在评估过程中发现PL-4B的性能并不令人满意。 主要缺点之一是PL-4B的8公里射程太短了，对其他IR导引的AAM中国没有明显的优势。 再加上上面列出的关于PL-4A的因素，PL-4B遇到了同样的命运，并于1985年与PL-4A一起被取消。

 

Fenglei-7

风雷-7号

 

Fenglei-7 (风雷7号) missile is first Chinese anti-radar missile (ARM), with Fenglei (or Feng Lei) meaning Wind (and) Storm. The abbreviated form of Fenglei-7 is FL-7, which should not be confused with the Chinese supersonic anti-ship missile FL-7, abbreviation for Feilong (Fei Long, 飞龙) meaning Flying Dragon. Fenglei-7 is an anti-radiation missile (ARM) derivative of PL-4 missile, sharing the same rocket motor, just like the way AGM-45 Shrike sharing the same rocket motor with AIM-7 Sparrow. In fact, PL-4 was mostly based on AIM-7 while Fenglei was mostly based on AGM-45. Just like AIM-7, complete samples of AGM-45 and AGM-78 Standard ARM missiles were also provided to China by North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, mostly from downed American aircraft, but some were unexploded rounds fired at anti-aircraft sites. Experience gained from Chinese air defense troops sent to help North Vietnam during Vietnam War made Chinese high command realized the need of ARM, but sample of AGM-78 were simply too rare, and the Chinese industrial capability was simply not adequate enough to reverse engineer something as advanced as AGM-78. As a result, China decided to develop its own ARM based on AGM-45, incorporating whatever technologies it could gain from AGM-78, based on the available Chinese industrial capability at the time. However, Fenglei-7 had a rocky start in comparison to PL-4. As with its American counterpart, China also decided to use the same rocket motor for both the AAM and ARM. Cultural Revolution delayed the program, and it was not until the general headquarter of the People's Liberation Army Air Force made requests to the Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND) twice, once in 1976 and the other in 1977, did the program finally gathers momentum. Form June 27 to June 28, 1976, under the direction of the 8th Bureau of the Machinery Ministry of the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China, the National Defense Industry Bureau of Heilongjiang held a conference on the planning of Fenglei-7. Different tasks were assigned to various establishments and factories at this two-day conference. Harbin Ship Engineering Academy (HSEA, 哈尔滨船舶工程学院), the predecessor of Harbin Engineering University was tasked with the design of airframe, control surfaces and engine, and the 349th Factory was tasked with manufacturing these parts, as well as the development of propellant. HESA and Harbin Industrial University were tasked to design the fuse, seeker and flight control system while 254th Factory was tasked to manufacture these parts. On October 28, 1978, Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China (CMC) formally gave its concurrence to develop Fenglei-7 ARM based on AGM-45, and additional assignment were given to the 349th factory and 254th Factory: the former was tasked to develop ground support equipment while the latter was tasked to develop the test equipment of the part it would manufacture.

风雷7号（Fenglei-7）导弹是中国第一种反雷达导弹（ARM），“风雷（Feng Lei）”的意思是风（和）风暴。凤雷7的缩写形式是FL-7，不应与中国的超音速反舰导弹FL-7混淆，后者是飞龙（Feilong，飞龙）的缩写，意思是飞龙。风雷7是PL-4导弹的反辐射导弹（ARM）衍生型号，共享同一种火箭发动机，就像AGM-45“百舌鸟”与AIM-7“麻雀”共享同一种火箭发动机一样。实际上，PL-4主要基于AIM-7，而“风雷”主要基于AGM-45。就像AIM-7一样，越南战争期间北越也向中国提供了AGM-45和AGM-78标准ARM导弹的完整样本，其中大部分来自被击落的美国飞机，但有一些未爆炸弹是在高空发射的。越南战争期间从中国派来防空部队帮助北越的经验使中国的高级指挥官意识到需要ARM，但是AGM-78的样本实在太少了，而且中国的工业能力不足以对某些东西进行逆向工程与AGM-78一样先进。结果，中国决定根据当时的中国工业能力，开发自己的基于AGM-45的ARM，并结合其可以从AGM-78获得的任何技术。但是，与PL-4相比，风雷7号（Fenglei-7）的起步很艰难。与美国同行一样，中国也决定AAM和ARM使用相同的火箭发动机。文化大革命推迟了该计划，直到人民解放军空军总司令部两次向国防科学技术工业委员会（COSTIND）发出请求，一次是在1976年，另一次是在1977年。该计划终于获得了动力。1976年6月27日至6月28日，在中华人民共和国国防部机械部第八局的指导下，黑龙江省国防工业局召开了风雷7号规划会议。在为期两天的会议上，将不同的任务分配给各个机构和工厂。哈尔滨工程大学的前身哈尔滨船舶工程学院（HSEA，Harbin Ship Engineering Academy）负责弹体，操纵面和发动机的设计，第349工厂的任务是制造这些零件以及开发推进剂。 HESA和哈尔滨工业大学的任务是设计保险丝，导引头和飞行控制系统，而第254工厂的任务是制造这些零件。1978年10月28日，中华人民共和国中央军事委员会正式同意开发基于AGM-45的风雷7号ARM，并分别分配给第349工厂和第254工厂。前者负责开发地面支持设备，而后者则负责开发将要制造的零件的测试设备。

 

In March 1980, two prototypes with FG101 rocket motor successfully completed its test flight at the Base # 31 of People's Liberation Army, with results meeting the original requirements. The same year, the State Council of the People's Republic of China (SCoPRC) and CMC formally designated Fenglei-7 a weapon to enter Chinese service by 1985, and the office of the National Defense of SCoPRC and People's Liberation Army General Staff Department designated Shenyang J-8 as the standard carrier of Fenglei-7. Additionally, in 1980, the 3rd Machinery Ministry of the Chinese Defense Ministry also recommended (and obtained permission) to add Xian JH-7 as the standard aerial platform carrying Fenglei-7. By the end of 1980, the pre-production series Fenglei-7 totaling nineteen has been built, designated as Batch "00". At the beginning of 1981, due to military budget cuts, the 8th Bureau of the Machinery Ministry of the Defense Ministry decided to cancel the Fenglei-7 production program, but many of the subsystems were allowed to continue as research and developmental (R & D) projects. The continuation of the most subsystem was partially due to the fact that the performance of Batch "00" is nearly identical to AGM-45 it was based on, which was not adequate enough to meet the former-Soviet threat China faced, so further development was needed for improvement by incorporating experienced gained from Chinese attempt to reverse engineer AGM-78.

1980年3月，两枚装有FG101火箭发动机的原型在人民解放军第31基地成功完成了测试飞行，结果达到了初始要求。同年，中华人民共和国国务院和中央军委正式指定风雷七号为1985年进入中国服役的武器，国防部办公室和中国人民解放军总参谋部指定为沈阳J-8是风雷7号的标准空中平台。此外，在1980年，中国国防部第三机械部还建议（并获得许可）增加西安JH-7，作为搭载“风雷7”的标准空中平台。到1980年底，已生产出总共19枚的预生产系列“风雷7号”，命名为“ 00”批次。 1981年初，由于削减军事预算，国防部机械部第8局决定取消风雷7的生产计划，但许多子系统被允许研发（R&D）项目继续进行。大多数子系统的后续部分由于“ 00”批次的性能几乎与其所基于的AGM-45相同，它不足以应付中国面临的前苏联威胁，因此需要进一步发展，需要结合中国尝试AGM-78逆向工程获得的经验来进行改进。

 

From 1978 onward, the 254th Factory completed two set of 10-cm high frequency (HF) radio fuse based on that of AGM-45, and later another 3 sets incorporating improvement from AGM-78. After indoor tests, field tests were conducted with the help of Unit 81032 and Unit 86001 of the People's Liberation Army in October 1982, with good results. On May 16, 1983, the R & D bureau of the Chinese Aerospace Ministry held an onsite evaluation at the 254th Factory, concluded that the design was successful. Development of rudder control mechanism of the missile begun in 1977, and the first batch of three were proved to either reaching or exceeding the requirement. Field tests of the rudder control mechanism of the missile begun in December 1981 and was completed by the end of 1982. On July 14, 1983, the Chinese Aerospace Ministry certified the development being successful and ready for mass production if needed. From 1978 onward, 254th Factory completed four seekers in two batches (with two in each batch), the first batch was based on that of AGM-45, and the second batch incorporating some technologies of AGM-78. On May 12, 1983, the Chinese Aerospace Ministry certified the design. In 1984, these three R & D projects were awarded the 3rd place in the Awards for the Great Science and Technologies given by the COSTIND. The importance of these projects, however, is that they would be later used on HQ-61 ARM developed later.

从1978年开始，第254工厂完成了两套基于AGM-45的10厘米高频（HF）无线电引信，后来又完成了三套结合AGM-78改进的引信。经过室内试验后，于1982年10月在中国人民解放军的81032部队和86001部队的帮助下进行了现场测试，取得了良好的效果。1983年5月16日，中国航天部研发局在第254工厂进行了现场评估，得出设计成功的结论。导弹方向舵控制部件的开发始于1977年，事实证明，第一批导弹的舵控制部件达到或超过了要求。导弹方向舵控制部件的现场试验始于1981年12月，并于1982年底完成。1983年7月14日，中国航空航天部证明了研制成功并已准备好在需要时进行批量生产。从1978年开始，第254工厂第二批完成了四个导引头（每批两个），第一批是基于AGM-45的，第二批则采用了AGM-78的某些技术。1983年5月12日，中国航天部对该设计进行了认证。1984年，这三个研究与开发（R＆D）项目在中华人民共和国国防科学技术工业委员会（COSTIND）授予的“重大科学技术奖”中排名第三。但是，这些项目的重要性在于，它们将在以后开发的HQ-61 ARM上使用。

 

After the initial preproduction series Batch "00", Fenglei-7 was terminated. All of the nineteen missiles produced when to the Test Flight Regiment of the People's Liberation Army Air Force for evaluation purposes, and it is believed that all Fenglei-7 missiles produced have been exhausted during these tests. According the evaluation, the performance of Fenglei-7 is nearly identical to that of AGM-45, only slightly better, but not much. Based on Fenglei-7 and the subsequent R & D projects branched out from it, China would later develop a successor based on HQ-61 SAM, incorporating all the expertise gained.

在第一批“00”批试生产之后，风雷7号停止生产。当时生产的19枚导弹全部送到中国人民解放军空军试飞团进行评估，据信，所有生产的“风雷七号”导弹在这些试验中已全部用尽。从评价上看，风雷7号的性能与AGM-45基本相同，只是稍好，但不多。基于风雷七号及其后续的研发项目，中国将在HQ-61SAM的基础上开发出一款后继产品，并将所获得的所有专业知识整合在一起。

 

PL-4
 

Type air-to-air missile

Place of origin China

Service history

In service 1964 to 1985

Used by China

Production history

Manufacturer Luoyang Electro-Optics Technology Development Center

Produced 1966 to 1985

Specifications

Weight 150 kg (PL-4A), 148 kg (PL-4B)

Length 3.235 m (PL-4A), 3.128 m (PL-4B)

Diameter 190 mm

Warhead 30 kg high explosive

Detonation

mechanism Impact / proximity

Engine Rocket

Propellant solid fuel

Operational

range 18 km (PL-4A), 8 km (PL-4B)

Flight ceiling 21 km maximum

Flight altitude 30 meter minimum

Speed ≈ Mach 2.2 – 2.25

Guidance

system Semi-active radar homing (PL-4A) and Infrared homing (PL-4B)

Launch

platform aerial

PL-4
 

类型 空空导弹

原产地 中国

服役历史记录

1964年至1985年服役

中国使用

生产历史

制造商 洛阳光电技术开发中心

1966年至1985年生产

规格

重量150千克（PL-4A），148千克（PL-4B）

长度3.235米（PL-4A），3.128米（PL-4B）

直径190毫米

弹头30公斤高爆药

起爆

机制 碰撞/迫近

发动机 火箭

推进剂 固体燃料

可操作的

射程18公里（PL-4A），8公里（PL-4B）

最高飞行高度 21公里

飞行高度 至少30米

速度≈马赫数2.2–2.25

制导

系统半主动雷达寻的（PL-4A）和红外寻的（PL-4B）

发射

空中平台