I think so.
054B/new generation frigate
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
I think so.
I am definitely curious about the CM-103 missile. CM or Cruise Missile indicates that it is a surface strike missile. Even though it looks like a ballistic missile, it is classified as a cruise missile, which can also indicate it takes a low radar horizon hugging flight profile. If it's a surface striker, is it antiship or land attack or both?
Since not every ship needs them, why not leave them slanted?
-no deck penetrations(literally any ship and land launcher can use it, and can be modified to do it quickly)
-no expensive modifications(add a relatively small and simple booster to an air-launched one and you're good to go)
Don't break that already works just fine, basically.
Also, I'd be careful which of the two missiles is actually more expensive, YJ-83K with its twin seeker, or YJ-18. I seriously suspect that it's the former.
it most probably isn't. While we didn't see it in use - we didn't see much of PLAN kalibr launches either (and we are certain those were bought).
We'll probably see it when the
We already have pics of the YJ-83B in naval operation. We need to go back and review all the YJ-83 firing pics to find out if more pictures slipped under our nose. This was taken months even before the missile was publicly announced and this is from a Type 056A doing exercises.
290km for an export missile sounds to me like a convenient figure to put in for MTCR good global citizen compliance. I would assume the domestic versions are over 300km.
This alone increases the stand off range of YJ-83 equipped ships, and allow them to hit land targets. Note that it mentions vertical launch.
I suspect the black band in the middle of the missile, which I saw on a number of YJ-83 firing pics recently, could be some kind of ground or surface scanning altimeter radar.
The length of the missile itself is around 5.15m, and with the booster at 6.86 meters. However this booster is for slanted firing. You would have to develop a new booster with a thrust vector, and cold launch the missile. Now I mentioned before the shorter U-VLS is likely 8m+ in total physical length or depth, with about 1 meter for the cold launch pop bottle, and the remaining 7 meters for the missile. So that could fit the 7 meter spec U-VLS, with 6.86 meters for the missile and booster and the cold pop launcher counted separately. The total missile weight and booster is 850kg, which is way less than the HHQ-9 at 1300kg, so there is room for a heavier booster.
But of course, there is always the chance that the VLS YJ-83B is currently only for export and the PLAN is satisfied with oblique or slant launch of the missile anyway.
The Russians have been showing the effective use of dual use antiship missiles, with Kh-35 Urans and Oniks being used to target Ukrainian arms depots and transportation centers with great effect. This is something that the PLAN might already be observing and taking notes.
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I am starting to see that this might be increasingly less likely despite that it would be easy to do. I suspect this alleged two stage hypersonic missile is dual use, can be used to target both ships and land. Its going to be the leading shoo in for the U-VLS land attack missile along with the YJ-83B, and used depending on the value and defenses of the target.
Hypersonics are expensive as of 2020s, often ridiculously expensive (easily multiple dozens of millions per shot). Very few targets are really worth it.
83 not only has a relatively weak warhead(also a wrong type of one), insufficient range and wrong optimization, but is also probably still far more expensive than this mission requires. It's fine for secondary capability for frigates, but for massed salvos it won't do.
I mean, even 3m14 (with ~500kg bomb equivalent warhead) is now showing itself to be too light for many types of targets (it recently took 3 attempts to finally shut down a railway bridge near Odessa - all 3 made good hits, just not enough kaboom).
Why are you assuming laughable American MIC prices are anything even relevant to what China is spending? Lol.
B/c it isn't only American in this case, and price doesn't come just from brands and RnD amortization.
Those things are just that expensive by themselves.
I fail to see how a land attack YJ-18 would address that problem. A land attack YJ-18 would have been a Chinese 3M14. Instead of trying to take out a target that three 3M14 would barely do, should have used a single hypersonic missile in the first place.