PL-16B / CM-102
The PL-16B variant will be 4 meters in length and 350 mm in diameter. With this new missile introduced into service as a long-range anti-radiation weapon. It will be used for going after ground and surface-based radar threats as well in the high-speed anti-radiation missile (HARM) role. Coupled with and flown on the J-16 is especially relevant is in developing suppression of enemy air defenses role.
CM-102 anti-radiation missiles equip combat aircraft and have a range of 100 kilometers. They are mainly used to attack enemy's various air defense, guidance, and fire control radars, and are used for air defense suppression. They have the advantages of long range, wide enveloping envelope, and high accuracy of hitting. The CM-102 anti-radiation missile adopts a side wing instead of the LD-10 delta wing. The advantage of the side wing is that the center of gravity of the missile and the center of lift will not change drastically with distance, speed, and altitude. Improve the missile's static stability, thus improving the maneuverability of missiles. The wings of the wings are smaller in size and smaller in wave resistance, which is conducive to rapid acceleration after the launch of missiles. In addition, the size of the missiles is small and they are easily installed in the fourth generation [is, 5th Generation, wtih Chinese characteristics] fighter jet internal bay.
The Chinese CM-102 Air Launched Supersonic Anti-Radiation Missile was unveiled at China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition 2014 (Airshow China 2014). It was being offered for export along with JF-17 Thunder Fighter Jet, JH-7A Flying Leopard fighter bomber aircraft for Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) role. It has maximum range of 100 km and it can carry a of 80kg with an accuracy of over 7m. The CM-102 Air Launched Supersonic Anti-Radiation Missile will empoy Passive radar homing with home-on-jam, GPS/INS.
In 2016, Chinese sources reported that China had developed a high speed anti radiation missile. The PL-16 performance was said to surpass the US AGM-88 anti radiation missile. Russian military officials also have been very interested in how the Chinese punctured the Aegis defense systems. The United States warship in 1960s and 1970s had difficulty coping with the Soviet anti-ship "saturation attack" from all sides.
The Type PL-16 Chinese high-speed anti radiation missile has anti-radar equipment for advanced defense system with a seeker frequency range 0.8 ~ 20GHZ. This is currently the most wide of all anti radiation missiles, to attack airborne, shipborne, vehicle and ground fixed radars. It is said to be the "radar killer".
That said, the US Aegis defense system is the key of the American radar system and provides very reliable performance. But a China PL-16 high speed anti radiation missile "saturation attack" might render it incapable of action. This will pose a serious threat to the US Aegis destroyers and aircraft carrier safety. Therere are rumors that Russia had a contract with China to exchange the SU-35 fighter for China's new missile technology, but China has rejected this request, and ultimately delayed the signing of the SU-35 aircraft contract.
Of course, increasing the range of the PL-16 in testing, if successful, would have the ability to accurately and quickly attack at a range of 120--250 km (formerly a range of 80 km or so) of the radiation target any valuable, enemy air warning, land-based large defense radar station will face a severe challenge. Therefore, this will be closely watching us, and instructed the relevant agencies have in-depth investigation.
Anti-radiation missile technology has a history of several decades, but it is still in the hands of a few countries. In the past, people thought that China did not possess this technology. When talking about it, it was often only thought of the US-made "Hamm" anti-radiation missile. In fact, it has been fully grasped. The Chinse military-listed Eagle 91 missile is classified as an anti-ship missile. It is actually an anti-radiation missile, but it has an anti-ship type. The 2016 Zhuhai Air Show was not the first time the CM102 anti-radiation missile participated in an airshow. The difference was that this time there was a new development. It was only a model. Now it became a physical object and appears next to the participating fighter planes, which means that it has already been researching models.
According to the display panel, it is a supersonic missile. This point can be seen from its appearance. The use of a wing fin at the rear of the middle of the missile body and an air rudder at the tail of the bullet not only helps to reduce the supersonic resistance, but also improves maneuverability. Well, maybe it can reach the maximum speed of 3 Mach. In addition, the wings of the wing are relatively small and have a small size, which is quite convenient for hanging into the built-in bullet chamber. Unfortunately, there were no parameters such as the length of the missile and the weight. However, from the physical display of the scene, this point is no problem.
From the field comparison, it is much smaller than the C802AKG missile, and it is also much smaller. The C802 has a length of 6392 mm, a diameter of 360 mm, and a weight of 715 kg. If it is of the empty type, its length should be only 5.145 meters and 530 kilograms, then observers speculated about 4 meters, 250 mm in diameter, and weigh less than 300 kilograms, even smaller than the American HARM. The performances introduced on the display panel are: Range 100 km, Warhead weight 80 kg, these two indicators are not worse than the American HARM, HARM's maximum range is 80 km, and the warhead weight is about 66 kg.
It is mainly used to attack the other party’s various air defense weapon system guidance and warning, and guide the radar, etc., in order to implement the suppression of the air defense system and provide protection for air operations. The other side either turned on the radar, recruited it to be destroyed, or the radar turned off. It couldn't fight against the air anyway.
The so-called anti-radiation missile is actually a radar suppression weapon. It tracks the signal emission source of the guidance or warning radar. So its core equipment: a passive guidance system, the working frequency of the guidance head can cover 2-18G frequency, which is equivalent to covering S. Radars to the Ku-band range basically involve all the frequencies used by modern fire-control radars, and beyond this range they either do not have the ability to guide attacks, such as meter radars, or do not have sufficient working distances, such as millimeter-wave radars. Existing passive radars do not actually have the ability to guide attacks.
It hits the standard radar target with an error of only 7 meters. It is an extremely high level for anti-radiation missiles. An 80-kilogram warhead is enough to destroy all types of guided radars, causing at least unrepairable damage to large-scale radars. It can usually be scrapped directly. In any case, the radar is completely out of combat.
From the numbering, it is a foreign trade model. The Xiaolong fighter has another new weapon that can absolutely restrain its opponents. In combat, as long as the radar of the other party is turned on, it is looking for a radar signal to find the radar and destroy it. These developments are absolutely good news for the Pakistan Air Force. It is absolutely full of joy.
the CM-102 anti-radiation missile is still beyond certain deficiencies and needs to be improved in the future. These deficiencies include the fact that the range is still close to the point of view, considering the 100 km range of the CM-102 anti-aircraft anti-radiation missile. The early models of the three generations of air defense missiles, such as the S-300PMU and the Patriot PAC-1, can be dealt with, but the improved models that deal with these missiles are still unable to handle. The range of the S-300PMU-1 and the Patriot PAC-2 has been raised to more than 150 kilometers. In this way, with a shorter range, the CM-102 may not be able to attack these missiles.
The seeker frequency is still relatively narrow. From the publicly available data, the CM-102 air defense anti-radiation missile passive guidance system covers the range of 2-20GHz, which is the SX band, and the frequency of most of the long-range air-defense radars is lower. The L-band and even the P and UHF and VHF bands are such that the CM-102 does not have the capability to combat these air-defence warning radars, thereby greatly weakening its combat capabilities. In comparison, the passive guidance system of the Hamm missile covers the missile system. The range is much greater, it can reach 0.8GHZ down, that is below the L band, so you can attack the long-range air defense warning radar, so the CM-102 may also need to expand its own passive guidance system capabilities, increase the scope of use, improve combat ability.
In November 2020 the Chinese Air Force released a propaganda video showing that the People’s Liberation Army’s J-11BS fighter plane carrying a new type of missile. Some US media believe that this may be an anti-radiation missile and an effective weapon against radar. China’s CCTV introduced the propaganda film, claiming that the film showed a new type of missile mounted on the J-11BS, and that the missile may be a new type of long-range air-to-air missile, capable of striking high-value targets such as tankers and early warning aircraft.
The "War Zone" column of TheDrive website published an article on 09 November 2020, commenting on China's new air-launched anti-radiation missiles that appeared on the Internet. The article claims that this new weapon looks a lot like the US "Radar Killer" Harm Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), and the latest photos show it appears under the wing of the J-11BS fighter.
Although there is no information on how this new type of missile works or its expected performance, the typical anti-radiation missile (ARM) works by tracking the radio waves of the enemy's surface-to-air radar system. Usually, these weapons need to fly at high speeds to ensure that they can hit the target before the enemy turns off the radar.
Andreas Rupprecht, an aerospace expert who studies the Chinese military, was the first to publish relevant news on 08 November 2020, claiming that he believed this was China’s new anti-radiation missile, and stressed that it was a long-awaited one. Model. The original source of this photo was a screenshot of a recent Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) pilot recruitment video, which was subsequently posted on Facebook.
The vertical tail of the J-11BS in the picture is concealed, which means that it is impossible to determine the unit of this fighter and whether it comes from the combat unit or the testing and evaluation agency. It is also worth noting that this picture apparently also shows for the first time a J-11BS fighter with a low visibility logo. This trend now seems to have dominated the frontline forces of the Chinese Air Force.
A potentially large anti-radiation missile is mounted under each wing of the fighter jet. The quality of this picture is poor and it does not reveal many details of the missile. It appears to have protruding cross fins in the middle and rear, very similar to the US military's AGM-88 "HARM" high-speed anti-radiation missile (HARM).
Ordnance Industry Science Technology predicted that it could be an improved version of the CM-102, a Chinese made-for-export anti-radiation missile. It may use the double-pulse solid rocket motor technology used on the PL-15 that may give it a much longer range. Observers quickly pointed out the similarities between this anti-radiation missile and another Chinese-developed missile, the CM-102, despite some important differences. It is worth noting that the fins of the CM-102 are cut rather than pointed, while the middle fins are thin and long. In addition, the CM-102 is also a missile developed by China for export, mainly for the JF-17 multi-purpose fighter, and it is not known whether it will serve in the Chinese Air Force.
This new weapon also has some of the same characteristics as the Indian Rudram-1 anti-radiation missile. Rudram-1 was tested and launched from the Su-30MKI fighter jet of the Indian Air Force on October 9, 2020. Like India, the Chinese Air Force mainly relies on anti-radiation missiles designed by the Soviet Union to perform the task of suppressing enemy air defense (SEAD). The most important of these weapons are the Kh-31P missile called AS-17 by NATO, and the Y F-91 missile made in China.
Moscow agreed in 1994 to provide China with the drawings needed to develop a variant of Kh-31P. Although the body and engine of the missile are considered similar to the prototype, it is reported that China has modified the seeker to meet local requirements. However, the basic Kh-31 can be traced back to the late 1970s. For China, it makes sense to develop a more modern, completely domestic successor model. In addition, the huge size of the Kh-31/Y J-91 makes it beyond the mounting capacity of the J-10 light fighter. The fighter may need this new type of anti-radiation missile to perform SEAD missions, just like the US Air Force’s own F-16 Wild Weasel squadron.
For a long time, people have expected the Chinese Air Force’s J-16 two-seat multi-role fighter (which is a further development of the J-11BS and is the most advanced fighter among all "flanker" aircraft) to play the role of SEAD and electronic attack. At this stage, the emergence of new anti-radiation missiles is not unexpected. In particular, this new type of anti-radiation missile may be equipped with the J-16D, which is a J-16 model designed to deal with enemy air defense systems (SEAD) and electronic warfare (EW). It is believed that it will be equipped with an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar with a special electronic warfare mode, and a wingtip electronic pod believed to be similar to the AN/ALQ-218 used by the EA-18G Growler.
However, in the past, it was expected that China's new generation of anti-radiation missiles would be a derivative version of the CM-102, or an air-to-ground version of the PL-15 air-to-air missile. As an over-the-horizon weapon, PL-15 may become a potential candidate for anti-radiation missile derivatives. It is possible to replace its air-to-air radar with a passive homing seeker to deal with air defense system targets. The PL-15 can be internally loaded on the stealth J-20 fighter, and the anti-radiation version can also be equipped with the J-20.
On the other hand, if this new weapon is indeed an anti-radiation missile, then China seems to choose a completely different development path. The new missile, if it is indeed an anti-radiation one, would be a perfect match for China's new electronic warfare fighter jet, rumored to be called the J-16D and derived from the J-16 fighter jet, Ordnance Industry Science Technology has reported. The J-16D is expected to be equipped with a large amount of electronic warfare equipment and still be able to carry necessary air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons, in addition to a wide selection of electronic warfare pods, the magazine said, noting that the large payload space could make the J-16D even stronger than the US Navy's EA-18G.
In any case, it seems that anti-radiation missiles will play an increasingly important role in the future Chinese Air Force, especially considering the continuous development of air defense capabilities of China’s main regional competitors, including India (whose air defense forces have S -400 surface-to-air missile) and Taiwan Province of China (the U.S. government approved an update to Taiwan’s Patriot PAC-3 missile in 2020).
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