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FL-3000 / 730C missile/gun integrated system

In 2008 China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation exhibited for the first time the FL-3000N ship self-defense missile weapon system, which has reached the world's leading level, at the 7th Zhuhai Air Show. Countries around the world have equipped more than 100,000 anti-ship missiles of various types with radar and optical homing guidance. With three attack modes: ship-to-ship, shore-to-ship and air-to-ship, anti-ship missiles have become lethal for naval surface ships. Threat. It has seriously affected the security of naval combat platforms and the execution of combat missions. Therefore, resisting the large-scale attack of anti-ship missiles and solving the survival problem of ships has become the primary task of the navies of various countries.

The new generation FL-3000N system developed by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation can effectively intercept various types of anti-ship missiles and deal with saturation attacks on ships launched by sea, air and land. FL-3000N is the nemesis of all types of anti-ship missiles. Its excellent anti-missile capability constitutes the last solid barrier to protect the safety of ships. It has become the coveted sword of all types of ships.

The FL-3000N missile has high speed, light weight, fast response, and high guidance accuracy. It can effectively intercept various supersonic and subsonic sea-skimming anti-ship missiles. The FL-3000N missile has two guidance modes: passive radio frequency and infrared imaging and full-range autonomous infrared imaging, which can easily cut down anti-ship missiles that attack in an active or passive manner. After the FL-3000N missile is launched, it locks on the target. After launching, the powerful firepower can resist the saturation attack of multiple targets at the same time. The FL-3000N weapon system is fully capable of meeting the requirements of the Navy against multi-platform operations in complex environments and meeting the needs of ship self-defense in current and future wars.

The FL-3000N weapon system is simple in composition, mainly including the armed control console (pictured on the right), launching system and barrels. A weapon control console can control the two launch systems of the bow and stern of the ship, forming a full range of multiple protections. The launch system is equipped with 24 missiles to provide continuous firepower strikes. The launch system is also available in 12, 8- and 4-mounted forms to meet the loading requirements of different ships. In addition, the existing sensors on modern ships can provide FL-3000N with information needed for combat. Therefore, FL-3000N can be fitted with various surface ships ranging from aircraft carriers to patrol boats, and become the flagship weapon of the navy.

At the Abu Dhabi Defense Exhibition (IDEX) in February 2017, China’s China Shipbuilding Corporation introduced the "bullet and gun in one" system for short-range terminal air defense of surface ships. Although there is no "physical" appearance in this integrated system of projectile and artillery, it has a high degree of technical maturity. 10 or HQ-10) composed of "cannon" and "bullet". In the display video of CSSC of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, it can be seen that this combination of projectile and artillery system is an upgrade and improvement on the basis of the 730 near-anti-cannon. On the basis of the original 730 near-anti-cannon turret, 6 FL near-anti-cannons are added on both sides of the turret. The long-range air defense missile launching tube, such a combination of projectiles and artillery, is complementary in performance and point-to-surface killing, which enhances the interception capability of incoming targets at the end and has a more excellent anti-saturation strike capability.

Compared with the original 730 near-anti-cannon, the photoelectric and radar parts on the upper part of the turret were removed and installed on the ship. This may be due to the increase in the FL-3000 missile launcher and the integrated system of the missile and gun to reduce weight and avoid interference. According to reports, the model of the photoelectric tracking device on the 730C missile and artillery system is OC8, the fire control radar is LR66, and the SR64A search radar is used to lock the target while stably tracking another target.

Through the LR66 radar, the detection distance of 2? RCS target is 16 kilometers, and the detection distance of 0.1? RCS target flying in sea skimming is 6 kilometers. By using OC8 photoelectric tracking device, the detection distance of 2? RCS target is not low. At 14 kilometers, the target of 0.1? RCS can be found at a distance of not less than 7 kilometers. Therefore, this 730C missile and artillery integrated system has the support of radar, photoelectric search device, and WCC-03 fire control station, and the reaction time to the target is within 8 seconds.

According to CSSC, the 730C revolving rapid-fire gun has 500 rounds on each side of the turret. The rate of fire is divided into three levels, 4000 rounds/min, 2000 rounds/min and 4000 rounds/min. The revolving gun can intercept missile-type targets with an effective intercept distance of 2500 meters by using APDS shelling and armor-piercing ammunition, with HE grenade against aircraft-type targets with an effective range of 3,500 meters, and hit ground targets up to 5 kilometers. It can be used against fighter jets. The interception range of other aircraft targets is 150-3500 meters, and the interception range of missiles and other targets is 150-1400 meters.

So on the whole, this 730C missile and artillery system has an effective interception range of 150-2500 meters for the revolving gun, and the interception range of the FL-3000 missile is between 2000-8000 meters, so on the firing boundary, 730 bullets The "cannon" and "projectile" of the cannon-in-one system not only complement each other's advantages in range, but also overlap in the range of firing, which enhances the ability to intercept targets.

Regarding the future development prospects of the 730C missile and gun integrated system, although the platform used at the Abu Dhabi Defense Exhibition is a certain type of destroyer, in the future, it is unlikely that the destroyers of the Chinese Navy will use 730C. After all, the current 1130 or 730 The "soft" combination of the near-anti-cannon and the Haihongqi-10 has a good effect, and there is no need to modify this "hard" combination of projectile and artillery in one system. Therefore, the largest market for the 730C missile and artillery combination system in the future is still overseas, especially on small and medium-sized ships. They are limited to the space on the ship and cannot be equipped with short-range air defense missiles and near-air defense guns at the same time. Then the 730C has a combination of missiles and guns. There are many advantages in platform suitability and performance.

Judging from pictures in 2012 of the newly released Type 056 frigate, the FL-3000 short-range air defense missile equipped with it may have integration limitations. However, with its deployment as a sign, China's terminal anti-missile has been successfully upgraded from the near-artillery stage to the missile anti-missile stage, which has achieved the same level of technology as the United States. Moreover, once the FL-3000 missile enters the international high-end ship-to-air missile and battleship upgrade market, it may enhance China's overall arms sales level and influence. First of all, the FL-3000 short-range air defense missile may have limitations in the integration of the missile body and the launcher.

he FL-3000 short-range air defense missile is a ship-borne terminal air defense missile developed by China based on the US-made "RAM" missile model. Its main task is to intercept the enemy's anti-ship missiles and combat aircraft at the end, and strengthen the terminal anti-missile capability of the water platform. At present, this type of anti-aircraft missile has developed five launchers: 24, 18, 12, 8 and 4 launchers. But in comparison, as the prototype of the FL-3000 missile, the US-made "Ram" missile has not developed such a rich series of equipment. The reason is not that the United States is backward in technology and concepts, but that China has a bottleneck in the integration of the FL-3000 missile body and launcher.

Looking back at the development history of the American-made "Ram" missile, it is not difficult to find that this type of missile is not a newly developed equipment. The missile it uses is actually a "Stinger" shoulder-mounted air defense with the infrared seeker of the "Cobra" air-to-air missile. missile. Therefore, the bullet diameter of the "Ram" missile is maintained at 127mm, which is similar to the "Stinger" missile. As a product of the development of the reference "Ram", China's FL-3000 missile is basically similar to the "Ram" missile in terms of missile size. However, when comparing the overall launcher of the two types of missiles, it is not difficult to find that the diameter of the launch tube of the "Ram" missile is smaller, and the volume of the entire launcher is also smaller. Although the U.S. military is currently mainly equipped with the 21-unit "Ram" missile launcher, its overall volume is actually more important than the 18-unit FL-3000 missile launcher equipped with the "Varyag" aircraft carrier.

For ship-to-air missiles, the transformation of the missile launching device from a launcher into a launching tube, and then from a launching tube to a vertical launch unit hidden inside the ship's hull, is two leaps in its development. A key technology that runs through these two leaps is the missile wing folding and system integration technology. As far as the aerodynamic layout of the missile is concerned, within a certain range, the larger the area of ??the wing, the more helpful it is for the missile to maneuver. But if you want to use the launch tube to launch, you must fold the wing. In this field, Western countries mainly use the two-stage folding method of the middle or the end of the wing, while Russia has developed the middle of the wing. , The three-stage folding method at the end, and comprehensively all aspects of technical performance, the western two-stage folding at the end is the most mature and effective technology. This technology can minimize the diameter of the missile with its wings folded under the minimum technical risk. There is no evidence that China has mastered this technology. Therefore, the FL-3000 missile uses the relatively old mid-section two-stage folding technology, which requires a larger launch tube to accommodate the missile with a larger diameter after the wings are folded. As a missile system that emphasizes overall integration, a larger launch tube will also affect the integration level of the overall system, which in turn restricts the technical level of the entire system.

Second, the FL-3000 short-range air defense missile makes China's terminal anti-missile level equal to that of the United States.

During the Third Middle East War in 1967, Egypt used the Russian-made "Mosquito" class torpedo boats to launch the "Styghe" anti-ship missile that sank the Israeli destroyer "Eilat", thus showing the world its anti-ship. The power of the missile, a brand new weapon. But in this regard, Western countries have shown a rare slowness. In the Falklands War in 1982, Argentina sank the British destroyer "Sheffield" with the "Flying Fish" anti-ship missile launched by the "Super Army Flag" attack aircraft. This incident not only completely changed the Western countries' anti-ship The silent attitude of the missile also showed the world a new tactical threat, namely the terminal anti-missile of warships. If you carefully study the defense concepts of major naval powers such as the U.S. and the Soviet Union, it is not difficult to see that its guiding ideology is offensive defense, that is, using various means to conduct a devastating attack on the enemy before the enemy launches an offensive, thereby reducing The degree of threat to yourself. But the problem is that the experience of the Falklands War shows that ship-to-air missiles are becoming more and more powerless against high-speed fighter jets that skimming at low altitudes. At this time, the defense capabilities of warships when passively attacked appear to be stretched, and this is precisely the end. The significance of anti-missile equipment.

The so-called "terminal anti-missile", at the beginning of the concept, was to intensively intercept and fire anti-ship missiles within the range of 3,000 meters from the warship and within the terminal strike distance of the anti-ship missile. The most representative equipment in this regard is the US-made "Phalanx", the Russian-made AK-630 and the Dutch "Goalkeeper" near-defense guns. The most common feature of these three systems is that they all use multi-barrel Gatling revolving cannons, which can achieve "explosive launch" in a short period of time, thereby improving design accuracy and interception success rate. However, in the later stages of the development of the "terminal anti-missile" concept, with the continuous improvement of anti-ship missile flight speed and low-altitude penetration capability, 3000 meters seemed too close for effective interception. The best way to intercept missiles at longer distances (3,000 meters to less than 8,000) is missiles, and this demand has led to the emergence of a new generation of short-range air defense missiles represented by "Ram". However, in terms of practical use, although the United States and Russia are both ahead of China in the development of new short-range missiles, Russia is too cautious in the research and development of new short-range missiles, which eventually caused China to surpass Russia through the development of FL-3000 missiles. Obtained a warship terminal anti-missile capability that was level with the United States.

As is well known, on the second batch of "Modern"-class guided missile destroyers imported from Russia, China required two Russian-made "Kashtan" artillery and artillery systems to replace the previous four AK-630 near-anti-aircraft systems. The advantage of this system is that its equipped AO-18K twin-mounted 6-barrel gun has a rate of fire of 10,000 rounds per minute, which can effectively intercept missile targets within 0 to 3000 meters. The SA-N-11 missile is equipped with It can effectively hit targets within 3000 meters to 8000 meters. This kind of match seems to be interlocking, but in fact it shows that Russia is not confident in the performance of short-range air defense missiles. It hopes that after the missile strikes and misses the target, it will be fired by artillery. This unconfident development method has undoubtedly greatly restricted the development of Russia's new short-range air defense missiles. In contrast, China and the United States have completely replaced the short-range anti-aircraft missiles with short-range anti-aircraft missiles. It can be seen that the short-range missiles of China and the United States can ensure that they can effectively destroy enemy missile targets within their optimal strike range of 3,000 meters to 8,000 meters. And the dual advantages of missile performance and development model undoubtedly determine that China has surpassed Russia and is leading the world with the United States in the field of new short-range missiles.

Third, if the FL-3000 missile is put on the arms sales market, the overall level of China's arms sales will be improved.

Since the Type 056 frigate was first released, almost all opinions believe that this type of warship will become the mainstay of Chinese warship arms sales in the future. However, the export prospects of the FL-3000 short-range air defense missile, which is an important equipment of the Type 056 frigate, and its impact on China's arms sales are much higher than those of the Type 056 frigate. This is mainly because if China pushes the FL-3000 missile into the arms sales market, it will not only fill an important gap in the export of China’s air defense missiles, but more importantly, the FL-3000 missile will enable China to compete with the world’s high-end warships to upgrade its arms sales.

Air defense missiles are not only self-use equipment that China has vigorously developed. In the world's major air defense missile arms sales, China is also vigorously promoting air defense missiles produced in its own country. But things are counterproductive. To date, China's "Red Flag" series of air defense missiles have not yet received a commendable large-scale order. The reason for this result is not that there are any problems with the Chinese missiles themselves, but that China has been struggling to promote the relatively small market demand when it has long-term lack of short-range tactical air defense missiles and its own air defense missile technology is not fully mature. Long-range air defense missiles with high technical content and relatively fierce competition. If FL-3000 is promoted to the international arms sales market, it will help to improve China's dilemma. FL-3000 relies on its small size and various systematic combinations, can be carried on warships of various tonnages, and even after simple technical upgrades, it can be deployed on land platforms as a response to high-intensity short-range air defense operations on land. Point anti-aircraft device. Its combat performance will undoubtedly be significantly higher than the current top Russian, British and French short-range point air defense missile systems.

Another wealth that the FL-3000 short-range air defense missile brings to China's arms sales is that China has the ability to carry out high-end upgrades to various types of warships from countries around the world. As mentioned earlier, FL-3000 represents a new short-range air defense missile that can replace the close-in artillery and become the main equipment for warships to conduct terminal anti-missiles in the new era. At present, warships of all countries in the world basically stay at the level of terminal interception of anti-ship missiles with near-defense guns, and for well-known reasons, the navies of many countries are facing increasingly serious threats from anti-ship missiles on the one hand, and on the other hand. However, it is absolutely impossible to obtain brand-new short-range air defense missiles from the United States or even Western countries, and this is undoubtedly a great opportunity for the development of arms sales for China. In the initial stage, China can export FL-3000 missiles to the navies of these countries (mainly concentrated in the Third World) to upgrade its warships to the latest anti-ship missiles. In the later stage, it can conduct arms sales with Western countries (mainly the United States) in terms of high-end upgrades of warships, so that China's arms sales system will gradually have the ability to compete with world powers.

For the Chinese Navy, the Type 056 frigate is undoubtedly a landmark warship. For the development of China's ship-to-air missiles, the FL-3000 missile is undoubtedly a milestone. The emergence of many Chinese naval equipment that are in line with the world’s advanced level may indicate that China’s naval armament research and development may usher in a period of explosive development after a long period of technological accumulation. Once China has a modern navy and effectively uses it, the impact on the Asia-Pacific and even the world's political, economic and military structure will be very far-reaching.