Just a little more on YJ-62, make a note here, YJ-62 is far different from YJ-63, do not get them mixed up!
Chinese cruise missile development advances
Aviation Week & Space Technology
07/18/2005, page 31
Douglas Barrie
London
Beijing's ambitious guided-weapons funding continues to pay dividends for armed forces
Cruising Along
Chinese weapons development continues apace with progress in both the surface attack and air-to-air arenas.
Work on a turbofan- or turbojet-powered cruise missile is in the full-scale trials stage at least, while an active radar-guided air-to-air missile verges on series production.
Images of the cruise missile show the weapon being tested with a booster for ship or surface launch. Moreover, sled-tests are being conducted, likely intended to examine intake airflow and engine start-up characteristics.
China has a number of cruise missile-related programs underway. These include the YJ-62 long-range anti-ship missile, as well as air and ground-launched developments. The ground-launched program is associated with a transporter erector launcher that carries three missiles in launch tubes. A Tu-16 Badger bomber variant--sporting four rather than two weapon pylons--is also being produced for the Chinese air force. This derivative is believed to carry an air-launched cruise missile.
The acquisition of an extended-range strike capability is a priority for the Chinese armed forces, as Beijing seeks to bolster and modernize the country's military capability. While China was active in purchasing weapons systems from Russia and Israel during the 1990s, much of its inventory has become obsolescent.
Even as Russia and Israel have provided technology and technical assistance on some programs, China is moving toward an independent capability in guided-weapons development.
The extent of Chinese procurements overseas and apparent increasing success with indigenous developments has attracted concerns in the U.S. In the past few years, U.S. military officials and China critics in Congress have been sounding alarms over the pace of Beijing's military advances, fearing they could tip the balance of power across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader Pacific region.
A Chinese cruise missile is fired in a ground test (above).
A CASE IN POINT is the missile shown in the solid-propellant booster test, which Western experts believe is the YJ-62. That missile program has been underway for at least 10 years, and the YJ-62 may already have found a home. China's Project 052C guided-missile destroyers are fitted with two sets of quadruple missile launchers toward the rear of the ship. Two such vessels have so far been built. While no missile has been seen either housed on or being launched from these, the YJ-62 is viewed as a promising candidate. The missile appears to be 6-7 meters (20-23 ft.) long and may have a range of 108 naut. mi.
China has also displayed a turbofan engine technology suitable for cruise missiles. The WS500 was first shown at the Zhuhai air show in late 2004. Developed by the Chinese Gas Turbine Establishment, the WS500 is claimed to produce around 1,125 lb. of thrust. By comparison, the engine for the European Storm Shadow/Scalp produces 1,215 lb., and U.S. Tomahawk around 700 lb. However, it remains uncertain which engine the YJ-62 uses.
Guidance for the cruise missile also is still to be determined. It probably uses some form of inertial guidance augmented by mid-course corrections provided through a platform other than the launch ship. An active radar-seeker is the most likely terminal guidance option for the anti-ship version. Were a land attack variant also to be developed, then an electro-optical seeker would provide an alternative.
Integration of the PL-12 active radar-guided air-to-air missile on the J-10 appears to be underway. Missile is visible on aircraft's inboard wing station (right).Credit: CHINESE MILITARY FORUM
Alongside ambitions to improve its long-range strike capability significantly, China is also about to begin fielding an indigenously developed active radar-guided AAM, the PL-12/SD-10.
The beginning of this year saw the completion of initial development testing of the medium-range missile, using a Shenyang J-8II for radar-integration and firing trials. Integration is now underway on the Chengdu J-10 fighter, and the missile also is expected to be slated for the Chinese license-manufactured Su-27 Flanker, the J-11.
The PL-12 draws on Russian expertise--both Vympel and seeker-designer AGAT have been involved at various stages in the program. As of yet, no credible Chinese active radar-guided seeker has appeared, and the PL-12 almost certainly uses an AGAT seeker related to that of the Russian R-77 (AA-12 Adder) AAM. Published performance characteristics for the basic SD-10 indicate that--on paper--it is at least the equivalent of the U.S. AIM-120B.
Potential cruise missile test-launched in China
ROBERT HEWSON Editor Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons
London
● Photo assessed as a new antiship
missile
● Design is a candidate for an airlaunched
variant
● China’s missile industry no longer
just building weapons purely for
domestic customers
______________________
Amid continuing reports
of several developmental
cruise missile programmes
in China, new
evidence has emerged
of a previously unknown longrange
tactical missile system.
A photograph showing the test
launch of what is assessed as a new
anti-ship missile has been released
via the Chinese internet – a process
that is becoming almost routine for
the public disclosure of Chinese
defence equipment.
Except in its most basic aerodynamic
configuration, the new
missile bears little resemblance to
any current Chinese weapon,
although it may be an extremely
evolved development of an existing
system. The design has been optimised
for ship-board canister
launch. One clue to this is found in
other images from Chinese sources
that show the missile undergoing
rocket sled tests with its rear fins
folded. This design approach would
also be suited to any potential landbased
variant.
In the photograph of its groundlaunched
test, the new missile –
brightly painted for public exposure
– carries an indistinct ‘YJ’ designation,
denoting an anti-ship role. The
designation appears to be YJ-62 (at
least in part) and this accords with
reports from Chinese sources that
the YJ-62 is a new anti-ship missile
for deployment aboard People’s
Liberation Army Navy guided missile
frigates, such as the Luyang II
(improved Type 052) class.
However, the advanced design of
this notional ‘YJ-62’ does not fit
with the existing YJ-6/YJ-61
family of anti-ship missiles (also
known as C-601) which is a much
older and larger series of weapons
based on the 1960s technology of
the HY-2 (C-201). China has developed
a YJ-63 air-launched landattack
variant of the YJ-6 which
does look a little like the so-called
YJ-62 in terms of its basic shape,
but the new missile is much smaller
and lighter and clearly a far more
modern design.
The missile has a smooth cylindrical
main body with four folding
rear fins and an underslung intake
for a turbojet or, more likely, turbofan
powerplant. A compact rocket
booster is fitted to the tail unit.
It is not immediately clear
whether the missile has any pop-out
wings or additional lifting surfaces.
Less important for the anti-ship
role, this would be an essential element
if the missile was to serve in
the long-range stand-off/cruise
missile role. A weapon of this
design is clearly a candidate for an
air-launched variant.
China is known to have two or
three air-launched stand-off and
cruise missile systems in development
to equip its H-6 bomber
force.
It is possible that the missile
shares some genes with the
C-802/YJ-82 series – more specifically
with the advanced YJ-83
variant that has long been speculated
about. Chinese news reports
have shown images of missiles on
an assembly line marked ‘YJ-83’
that resemble this new YJ development.
At first glance this missile
would appear to have far more in
common with China’s YJ-8 series
rather than the YJ-6.
It is noteworthy that China’s
missile industry is no longer simply
building weapons purely for
domestic customers and has several
tactical missile joint development
projects under way on behalf of
export customers, such as Iran. The
appearance of this photograph
would not be the first time that a
new and unexpected missile design
has been developed and tested in
China under the direction of a thirdparty
customer
There is no indication of how
much progress the programme has
made or when this test launch
occurred. The controlled leaking of
data and photographs like this on to
the internet has now become an
accepted Chinese procedure. It is
driven both by a political/military
agenda and also by growing rivalries
within China’s overlapping
defence industry sector. ■
