The PL-7 air-to-air missile

Air-to-air missile

An air-to-air missile is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid fuelled but sometimes liquid fuelled...

 (PL stands for Pi Li, "Thunderbolt" in Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

, the generic designation for all PRC air-to-air missiles) is the PRC version of the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Magic R.550 missile. It is a short-range, infra-red guided missile use by Chinese fighters

Fighter aircraft

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...

. It was designed by Wu Shendao, and produced at the Factory 331 (Zhuzhou Aeroengine factory) (中国株洲航空发动机厂).

Specifications

• Length - 2.74 m
• Diameter - 165 mm
• Wingspan - 0.66 m
• Weight - 89 kg
• Warhead - 12.5 kg
• Speed - Mach 2.5
• Range - 7 km
• Guidance - IR
  Infrared
  Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...