Chinese ATGM discussion

SanWenYu said:

What are the differences between "guided rockets" and "missiles powered by rocket motors"?

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If we be pedantic the latter doesn't necessitate a guidance. The terminology is super fuzzy and confusing on this matter. For example rocket artillery munitions are called missiles in some countries even if they are unguided. But we usually don't call rocket-artillery-size guided rockets missiles.

I would look at machine gun terminology too if you are after super confusing terminology.

There is a difference. For example an unguided Hydra rocket vs a laser guided one.

I was taught as a kid that a missile (导弹) is simply a guided rocket, I.e. 制导 + 火箭弹 = 导弹, or guidance + rocket = missile if translated into English. There are of course more varieties out there, as I have learned later, such as jet engine for power and inertia payload instead of explosive, etc. This definition has been with me for decades. To me a rocket munition (火箭弹) is unguided. Note I am using 火箭弹 which specifically means rocket powered munitions with the payload that is designed to kill or cause damage. This is to not mix up with the general term 火箭 that includes the types of rockets for cargo or crew payloads.

Now people have started using the term “guided rockets” referring to certain type of munitions. That is confusing to me. Perhaps there is difference between the meaning of missile in English and 导弹 in Chinese? But even PLA now has 制导火箭弹.

Traditionally speaking, rockets are unguided, relatively small and carried/used in relatively large quantities as an area weapon. Missiles tended to be larger, guided, used for precision strike and much more limited in numbers.

Guided rockets blurs the line between the two by adding precision guidance to rockets. The intended purpose of guided rockets are to significantly increase the precision strike loadout of attack helicopters and also to reduce the costs of each shot.

So the biggest practical differences between a guided rocket and a missile will be in terms of size and cost. Which in turn means bigger warhead and range for the missile.

The inception of guided rockets was at a time when the west enjoyed unchallenged full spectrum military dominance. So the focus shifted from winning the fight to saving money.

If we take the Ukraine-Russia war as an example, I really don’t rate the value of guided rockets due to the high threat of MANPADs. You need to get much closer to use a guided rocket compared to a dedicated ATGM never mind NLOS missile, which is where the general trend is moving towards.

So I think guided rockets are a bit of a dead end for manned attack helicopters, but they may be of great worth for unmanned platforms owning to the smaller size and weight.