ASN-301 / JWS-01 anti-radiation drone
The ASN-301 anti-radiation UAV launch vehicle is a Harpy with Chinese characteristics. On 30 July 2017, the Chinese People's Liberation Army held a military parade to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the army at the Zhurihe training base. Among the 27 ground teams, a strange-looking weapon has attracted high public attention. This is the anti-radiation UAV known as the radar killer. This was the first domestic appearance of a domestic anti-radiation UAV in China. At the Abu Dhabi Defense Exhibition in the past, China Aviation Technology Import and Export Co., Ltd. (CATIC) displayed the ASN-301 anti-radiation UAV launch vehicle model. When receiving enemy radar detection, it can autonomously attack ground radars, so it is called the "airborne radar killer."
The common denominator of the wars in the past three decades is that the Air Force has taken the first assault mission. The attacking party attaches great importance to the battle for electromagnetic superiority, especially anti-radiation/anti-radar operations. In the mid-1990s, Israel secretly developed a dedicated anti-radar drone. This drone is named after the eagle-shaped female demon in ancient Greek mythology "HARPY". Due to the good foundation of cooperation between China and Israel in the field of military equipment over the years. The PLA quickly learned about the technical status of the Harpy Anti-Radiation UAV through certain channels, and showed great interest. Israel immediately conducted a "friendly and frank" negotiation with China on this "interest" to buy 100 sets of "Harpy" drones at a unit price of $500,000.
The Harpy UAV is equipped with a navigation system which automatically determines the threat classification and attack sequence after receiving the enemy's radar signal. The warhead weighs 32 kilograms and is more powerful than the American HARM High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile. Using a laser proximity fuze, the end CEP is within 15 meters. The prefabricated fragment warhead can effectively destroy the antenna system of the ground radar.
As a small suicide attack drone, it is equipped with a high-explosive warhead. The nose of the aircraft is equipped with a broadband radar radiation signal detection antenna, and the rear is equipped with a high-explosive warhead. It can be launched from a truck and used to attack the radar system to blind the enemy's "eyes". The aircraft has a length of 2.5 meters, a wingspan of 2.2 meters, a maximum flight speed of 220 kilometers per hour, a endurance of 4 hours, and a range of up to 280 kilometers. After launching, it autonomously flies to the patrol area and can fly at an altitude of 4000 meters at a cruising speed of 180 km/h. The advantages are flexibility, long range, long endurance, wide anti-radar frequency band, high intelligence, strong survivability, and can be used all-weather. It uses ordinary car gasoline or aviation gasoline as fuel.
AVIC is the national authorized marketer of China's aviation products, so this also means that the anti-radiation UAV ASN-301 is officially put on the shelf for export sales. ASN-301 is China’s export-oriented anti-radiation UAV. It is similar to the domestically produced "Habi" that has been unveiled before. The launch vehicle is a 3×2 launcher with a total of 6 launch boxes.
The domestic model JWS-01 is usually stored in the vehicle launch box and can be carried by each vehicle. 6 UAVs, using rocket-assisted launch, plan to fly according to the scheduled route after launch, and start to detect the enemy's radar after reaching the target area. After finding the radar signal of the locked target radar, they complete the suicide along the opponent's radar wave attack. Compared with the original version, the localized version should be improved in key performance such as range, endurance and lethality.
According to the publicity materials on the defense exhibition site, the ASN-301 anti-radiation UAV has a length of 2.5 meters, a wingspan of 2.2 meters, a maximum flight speed of 220 kilometers per hour, a battery life of 4 hours, and a range of up to 280 kilometers. This type of UAV is used for full-time anti-radiation purposes, so the radar radiation signal detection antenna of the nose part has an excellent wide-frequency detection range, can detect the radar frequency band of 2-16GHz, and the search and detection range of radar signals is up to 25 kilometers. The ASN-301 anti-radiation UAV, as a suicide-attack UAV for radar, is equipped with a high-explosive warhead. After the warhead explodes, it can release 7,000 fragments.
Regarding the ASN-301 anti-radiation UAV exhibited by AVIC in Abu Dhabi, in fact, everyone should not only recall the "Harpy" imported from Israel in the 1990s, which is also China's anti-radiation UAV. The traceability of development. In fact, there is no taboo anymore. It has almost been made public on the Internet. In the mid-1990s, my country obtained the "Harpy" anti-radiation drone from Israel and became the first overseas user of "Harpy". Although the piston-powered "Harpy" flew slowly, it had a range of up to 500 kilometers. It was regarded as a secret weapon for combat against Taiwan in the 1990s and was a "radar killer" over the strait.
The ASN-301, which has been on the shelves and is about to be exported, is indeed the same as the "Harpy" UAV. It has a delta-wing aerodynamic layout. It is also launched from this 6×6 truck vehicle. The rocket boosts the launch. Plan the flight according to the scheduled route. After reaching the target area, it will start to detect the enemy's radar (even the "squatting" hovering in the sky). After finding the radar signal of the locked target radar, it will complete the suicide attack along the opponent's radar wave. ASN-301 is independent of the whole process. In addition to flying, locking, and "death" attacks, it can also be remotely controlled by the rear operator to control the anti-radiation UAV to complete the target selection and attack.
China’s introduction of the "Harpy" from Israel seems to have broken the balance of power, or perhaps because the power of the "Harpy" cannot be underestimated. Later, this cooperation between China and Israel was interfered by the United States. The upgrade of "Harpy" in 2004 failed to fulfill the contract. But later, the "Harpy" anti-radiation UAV was the same as the "Falcon" early warning aircraft and other military technology cooperation projects between China and Israel during the same period. The Chinese were very competitive, and the Chinese were able to break through technical difficulties and create weapons.
In 2004, the Harpy drone was shipped back to Israel for technical upgrades. At this time, the United States asked Israel to detain the drone and terminate the contract. Israel was forced to cancel the upgrade plan for the aircraft, but at the same time resisted the pressure and returned it all to China in 2005.
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