OVERVIEW: The Python 5 is a short-to-medium-range, fifth-generation air-to-air missile featuring an imaging infrared seeker and a 11 kg blast-fragmentation warhead.

DETAILS: Developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the Python 5 entered service in the early 2000s as a successor to the Python 4. It incorporates a dual-band imaging infrared (IIR) seeker, full-sphere (360°) engagement capability, and lock-on after launch (LOAL) functionality.
These features allow the missile to engage highly maneuverable or even low-signature targets at short and medium ranges. Its thrust-vectoring control and aerodynamic design give it extreme agility, enabling high-G maneuvers in dogfights or when fired off-boresight. The missile is fully compatible with helmet-mounted sights and modern fire control systems, and it can engage targets in cluttered or high-countermeasure environments.

SPECIFICATIONS:
Length: 3 m
Diameter: 160 mm
Wingspan: 0.64 m / 640 mm
Weight: 105 kg
Warhead: 11 kg high-explosive blast-fragmentation
Guidance: Imaging infrared (dual-band IIR), LOAL & LOBL
Ceiling: >16 km

Range: 25+ km
Speed: ~ Mach 2

NOTES:
IOC: 2003
Platforms: F-15, F-16, F-35, LCA Tejas, JAS 39 Gripen, Kfir, and others
Operators: Israel, India, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Vietnam

SOURCES:
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems; Airforce Technology; Army Technology; Wikipedia; The Aviationist