LY-60

The LY-60/FD-60/PL-10/HQ-6/6D/64 is a family of Chinese missiles developed by the Shanghai Academy of Science and Technology, largely based on the Italian Selenia Aspide missile - itself based on the American AIM-7 Sparrow missile. There are four versions of the basic design, three of which are surface-to-air and one air-to-air.

Development of the LY-60 was precipitated by the Chinese requirement for a beyond-visual-range (BVR) weapons system. Directly copying the AIM-7 proved unsuccessful, after which China purchased a number of Alenia Aspide missiles from Italy. Due to the urgent need for BVR air-to-air missiles, PL-11 was given the priority. The very first batch of PL-11 was an Aspide assembled in China, but using Italian components, and it was accepted into Chinese service in the same year. However, hopes of locally manufacturing the missile under license collapsed after the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989.

The HQ-6 ("Red flag-6") was the second member of the LY-60/PL-10/HQ-6/6D/64/DK-10 family developed, but it entered service before the air-to-air version PL-10, despite an earlier start by the PL-10. The entire SAM system consists of four truck mounted radars (one search/surveillance radar and three tracking/fire control radars), one power supply truck, and six transporter erector launchers (TEL)s. The missile itself is directly derived from the air-to-air version PL-11. Unlike the Italian Aspide which utilizes containers as launchers, HQ-6 utilizes missile launching rails (MLR) instead, and each truck-mounted launcher has two MLRs/missiles. Specifications:

The PL-10 (Pi Li, "Thunderbolt") air-to-air missile was developed for the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), and is carried by Jian J-8B fighters. Although it was the first member of the LY-60/PL-10/HQ-6/6D/64/DK-10 series to be developed, it was actually the second member to become operational, after the HQ-6, the surface-to-air version.