Chinese air to ground weapons (missiles, PGMs, etc)

[Blitzo]

The one who posted these additional photos, @Crosshairs十字线, actually clarified in a discussion with @兰墨飞花_星海入梦日出烟燧 (who is the first one to post the excerpts of this academic paper on Weibo) that the listed specifications and performances with the <4 meters of length and <0.85 meters of diameter (which is from Segment 6.1 of the academic paper) are actually parameters from the base variant.

On the other hand, the specifications and performances listed by @Crosshairs十字线 in his Weibo post (~4.67 meters long, 600 mm wide, 400 mm high) are the parameters of the new variant, which was enhanced/upgraded from the base variant and is found in Segment 6.2 of the same academic paper (but not posted by him).

TL; DR - If this missile does exist (instead of being just a technical research/study model), then this missile would likely be a Chinese counterpart to the JASSM/LRASM.

Yeah, I had a read of the conversations and I came away with that as a possible conclusion (that there are two variants of it, one being a smaller IWB variant and one being a larger variant).

But to be honest I'm not fully sure if it's decisive but maybe that's my difficulty making sense of weibo formatting.

 

[Neurosmith]

An academic paper indicates that China is currently developing a stealth cruise missile designed to be carried in the internal weapons bays of the J-20 and J-35.

Via: @兰墨飞花_星海入梦日出烟燧 on Weibo.

If anyone is interested in the details, please check out his Weibo account and sorry, I can't share the link.
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Additional information from the academic paper:

Length < 4 meters
Diameter < 0.85 meters
Mass < 1300 kilograms
Top speed = ~Mach 0.73
Cruise speed = ~Mach 0.70
Range = ~1330 kilometers

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Is the AKF98A not compact enough for IWB integration aboard fighter-sized aircraft?

 

[Blitzo]

Is the AKF98A not compact enough for IWB integration aboard fighter-sized aircraft?

It is not compact enough.

 

[_killuminati_]

Most cruise missiles cannot take off at sea level under their own power either, and have a booster stage.
In theory, an air launched powered glide bomb with a booster can be surface launched.

The reality is that the distinction between the two are fairly small and there is no clear line.

Most glide bombs appear to have much wider wingspans relative to their length than most cruise missiles. I assumed a CM cannot glide very far if it's propulsion turns off.

 

[Black Wolf]

Serbian Fulcrum carrying CM-400 AKGs....

 

[Temstar]

In an interview where the recent CM-400 purchase was discussed, Vucic revealed that CM-400 did in fact take out S-400's radar in Pakistan's hands and he was shown the evidence:

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He also said Serbia managed to get a discounted price on them.

 

[Blitzo]

In an interview where the recent CM-400 purchase was discussed, Vucic revealed that CM-400 did in fact take out S-400's radar in Pakistan's hands and he was shown the evidence:
View attachment 175689

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He also said Serbia managed to get a discounted price on them.

While this is useful for the record, the most accurate way of interpreting this is that he has been told by evidence he believes to be reliable that CM-400 had managed to strike S-400.

The problem with evidence of course, is the quality of the intelligence, imagery and overall BDA.

That's not to say it didn't happen, but I caution people to this statement as if it is evidence of objective fact.

 

[00CuriousObserver]

I have the relevant parts of the interview translated here

An interview with Aleksandar Vučić about CM-400. He said a S-400 radar was destroyed by CM-400 (via JF-17).

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Does anyone here speak Serbian? I'm not sure if the "It was seen, of course, through their eyes, Chinese eyes, through satellites, where they managed to knock out the French radar" part is correct.

 

[MeiouHades]

Has the AKF-98 or any other stealth cruise missile entered service? They really need something to counter the JASSM/LRASM and the stealth Tomahawks

 

[ACuriousPLAFan]

Has the AKF-98 or any other stealth cruise missile entered service? They really need something to counter the JASSM/LRASM and the stealth Tomahawks

You meant counterparts, not counters. Bit let's talk about both of them.

Speaking of counterparts - Yes, of course they are in service.

The AKF-98 has been in service with the PLA since early-2024, if not earlier. Meanwhile, if the YJ-18C hasn't entered service, then it won't appear on the 9-3 parade last year either.

And these two missiles are the only ones that we in the OSINT circles know about. Who knows what else is still kept under wraps by the PLA.

On the other hand, speaking of counters - The PLA has been training its IADS against LO-type missile swarms for quite some years by this point. The array of LO practice target missiles resembling the JASSM and LRASM-type missiles shown during past exhibitions are one such example.