Editing Python (missile) (section)

===Python-3===
[[File:Rafael Python 3 3.jpg|thumb|Python 3 missile under the wing of an Israeli F-15 Eagle.]]

The Python-3 is a much-improved AAM with all-aspect attack ability, higher speed, range, and performance. It performed well before and during the 1982 Lebanon War, scoring 35 (other sources claim 50) kills.<ref name="python5"/>

China's [[People's Liberation Army Air Force|PLAAF]] was quite impressed with this missile, and paid for licensed production as the [[PL-8 (missile)|PL-8 AAM]] in the 1980s.<ref name="SINOD"/> The program code named "Number 8 Project" (八号工程) and formally started on September 15, 1983. From March 1988 to April 1989, technology transfer to China was complete while license assembly and license built parts continued, and by the spring of 1989, the complete domestic Chinese built missile received state certification. The major supplier of the missile was Xi'an Eastern Machinery Factory (西安东方机械厂) located at [[Xi'an]], and China is also reported to have developed a helmet-mounted sight (HMS) system for the PL-8.<ref name="SINOD"/>

*Length: {{cvt|295|cm|in|abbr=on}}
*Span: {{cvt|80|cm|in|abbr=on}}
*Diameter: {{cvt|16|cm|in|abbr=on}}
*Weight: {{cvt|120|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
*Guidance: IR
*Warhead: {{cvt|11|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, active proximity fuse
*Range: {{cvt|15|km|mi|abbr=on}}
*Speed: Mach 3.5