Missile PL-10 (CH-AA-9)

The PL-10 (NATO reporting name CH-AA-9), originally designated PL-ASR, is a Chinese short-range air-to-air missile and the latest generation of China's within-visual-range missiles. Development began in 2004, and images of the missile under its PL-ASR designation appeared on the Chinese internet in 2008. The design was approved in 2010. Production started in 2013, and the missile entered service in 2015. The design may be partly derived from the South African A-Darter.

The baseline PL-10 uses a multi-element imaging infrared (IIR) seeker that images the entire target, giving all-aspect engagement capability. Imaging infrared seekers generally extend detection range and improve resistance to countermeasures, and the PL-10 seeker is reported to resist jamming and electronic countermeasures. The seeker can reportedly track targets up to 90 degrees off boresight. The missile can be slaved to a helmet-mounted display, so the pilot can fire at a visually sighted target outside the aircraft's radar scan envelope. It supports lock-on after launch (LOAL) and can receive mid-course targeting updates by datalink.

Propulsion is a solid-propellant rocket motor with thrust-vector control. Together with free-moving tail control surfaces, this allows turns exceeding 60 g and flight at high angles of attack. The warhead is either a blast-fragmentation or an expanding-rod type. Detonation is by laser proximity fuze or impact. The Royal United Services Institute has assessed the PL-10 as comparable in performance to the European ASRAAM and IRIS-T. The same assessment judged it roughly equal to Western systems and superior to Russian equivalents.

A variant replacing the IIR seeker with a miniature active radar seeker was first observed in 2022. It has a new radome that improves aerodynamic efficiency and extends range.

The PL-10 is in service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force. It is carried by the J-20 stealth fighter, which extends the missile from its side weapons bays for launch. The export version, the PL-10E, was offered first to Pakistan for the JF-17 Block III program, and the Pakistan Air Force operates the missile.