OVERSWEEPThe Interactive Flight Reference

PL-12

A white missile model labelled PL-12AE, with small mid-body wings and four tail fins, on a display at an air show
A PL-12AE mock-up at the Zhuhai Airshow, 2024.Photo: Z3144228. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (accessed 2026-10-27).

Drafted — not technically validated

Record revision 1 · China's first active-radar beyond-visual-range missile, exported as the SD-10 and carried by the JF-17.

Real-world weapon as described in public sources. Weights and dimensions change with the fins, fuzes and variant fitted; the data plate names the variants its figures describe, and differences are noted beside the number they affect. The record describes the weapon; it is not a guide to employing it.

PL-12 medium-range air-to-air missile, NATO CH-AA-7 "Adze" · PL-12 / SD-10, CH-AA-7 Adze

Type
Medium-range, active radar homing beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile [1]
Origin
China, with help from Russia's Vympel and Agat [1]
In service
Since 2005 [1]
Weight
180 kg (397 lb) [1]
Dimensions
Wikipedia gives no figures [1]
Warhead or payload
Wikipedia gives no figures [1]
Guidance
Data-linked mid-course guidance, then active radar homingHoming GlossaryNavigation: Flying to a station by keeping the bearing pointer at the top of the instrument without correcting for wind. In a crosswind it flies a curved path.Weapons: The technique whereby a mobile station directs itself, or is directed, towards a source of primary or reflected energy, or to a specified point.; early batches reportedly used the R-77's seeker [1]
Motor
Dual-thrust solid-fuel rocket [1]
Range
60 to 100 km for the domestic PL-12, at best; the SD-10A export version is shorter-ranged [1]
Carried by
  • JF-17 ThunderJF-17 Thunder AircraftA lightweight Pakistani–Chinese multirole fighter powered by the RD-93., as the SD-10 [1] [2]
  • Chinese air force and navy fighters [1]
Variants
  • PL-12A: modified seeker, motor and processor [1]
  • SD-10 and SD-10A: export versions [1]
  • PL-12C and PL-12D: did not enter service and led to the PL-15 [1]

China’s AMRAAM

The PL-12 is considered comparable to the American AIM-120AIM-120 AMRAAM OrdnanceThe active-radar "fire and forget" missile that replaced the Sparrow, carried by US fighters of every service since 1991. and the Russian R-77R-77 "Adder" OrdnanceRussia's answer to the AMRAAM, an active-radar missile steered by distinctive lattice tail fins.. [1] Development began in 1997 with help from Russia’s Vympel and Agat, test firings succeeded in 2004 and the missile entered Chinese air force service in 2005. Early batches reportedly used the R-77’s radar seeker, but by 2018 the missile no longer depended on Russian parts. [1] It is guided over a data link on the way out and by its own radar at the end. [1]

Exported as the SD-10, it is the beyond-visual-range missile of the JF-17JF-17 Thunder AircraftA lightweight Pakistani–Chinese multirole fighter powered by the RD-93., which carries it alongside the PL-5PL-5 OrdnanceA Chinese infrared dogfight missile descended from the Sidewinder via the Soviet K-13, carried by the JF-17.. [1] [2] It has been succeeded by the PL-15. [1]

Sources

  1. PL-12. Wikipedia (secondary source). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PL-12 (accessed 2026-10-27).
  2. CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder. Wikipedia (secondary source). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAC/PAC_JF-17_Thunder (accessed 2026-10-27).

Wikipedia articles are secondary sources and can change; they are cited with the date they were read. NAVEDTRA training manuals and budget justification exhibits are official US publications, but each describes the weapons in service when it was written.