PL-5 air-to-air missile

The Chinese Pen Lung 5 (PL-5, Air Dragon 5) air-to-air missile (AAM), as is its PL-2 predecessor, is a copy of the U.S. AIM-9 Sidewinder infrared (IR) homing AAM. The PL-5B most resembles the AIM-9L .

Unlike the AIM-9L, however, the PL-5B seeker is cooled with compressed air rather than nitrogen. Compared to the earlier PL-2A, the PL-5B has compound-sweep canard foreplanes for greater maneuverability, higher speed, longer range and an improved IR seeker.

The PL-5B can be fired off...