HJ-12E / Red Arrow-12E - Export
The export version of the HJ-12, the HJ-12E, saw its first delivery to an undisclosed foreign buyer in early 2020, NORINCO revealed in March that year, labeling the weapon as a high-end product. It was the first time a third-generation anti-tank weapon system developed by the Chinese company has been exported, NORINCO said in a statement, without disclosing the name of the buyer, the quantity purchased or the value of the deal.
At least in terms of appearance and performance, China's Red Arrow-12E and the American "Javelin" are not brothers, but they are almost the same. The Red Arrow-12E anti-tank missile made in China uses a top-attack warhead, which is precisely aimed at the two tanks of the Vietnamese Army T-90S/SK and T-54B, which are relatively weak and have not fully upgraded their technology. Aince the main purpose of the Thai Army's purchase of Red Arrow-12E is to make up for the absence of the Thai Army's equipment system caused by the lack of "Javelin", then comparison of the performance of these two third-generation individual portable anti-tank missiles C is a topic worthy of study. Since these two anti-tank missiles are both “third-generation” anti-tank missiles, they are both portable squad-level anti-tank equipment, and their performance is comparable.
Maybe the Chinese Red Arrow-12 needs to be more advanced. For example, in terms of projectile size, the Red Arrow-12E pre-packaged tube has a total length of 1150 mm, a diameter of 127 mm, a total weight of 15.7 kg for the package, and a total weight of 6.6 kg for the guidance module. For Javelin, the pre-packaged barrel has a total length of 1081.2 mm, a diameter of 126.9 mm, and a total combat weight of 22.3 kg.
In terms of tactical performance, the US-made FGM-148A "Javelin" has a nominal attack range of 4,000 meters during the day and shortens it to 2,500 meters at night, and in terms of roof penetration performance, the technical and tactical performance of the two products is also completely consistent, both reaching the level of static armor penetration of 1100mm/RHA.
To say that China's Red Arrow-12E is even "more advanced" than FGM-148A is mainly because the guidance system is slightly better than FGM-148A: after all, compared with "Javelin", there is only one shooter infrared imaging channel view Aiming, cooling type passive infrared guidance, no matter after launch mode, while the guidance mode of the Hongjian-12E is compound guidance. Not only is it equipped with a shooter infrared imaging channel similar to FGM-148A, uncooled passive infrared guidance, but also specially equipped with a CCD TV imaging channel, and the missile seeker even has certain image freezing and intelligent matching functions, in addition to the same It has the ability of "no matter after launch", and in some special cases, it can also achieve "take over after launch" and "control after half of the attack".
Compared with the FGM-148A "Javelin" which only uses passive infrared guidance mode, it undoubtedly has better adaptability and anti-jamming ability in a high-intensity confrontation environment when facing enemy tanks with soft and hard jamming measures. In a sense, it even has certain characteristics of "three and a half generations" anti-tank missiles. This is undoubtedly the advanced aspect of our Red Arrow-12E compared to FGM-148A "Javelin", not to mention that the guidance method is relatively backward. Still using the laser beam steering guidance, the "Kornet" anti-tank missile equipped by the Russian Army, which cannot be ignored after launch.
In March 2020 State-owned China North Industries Group Corporation (Norinco), a leading Chinese arms firm, delivered a batch of advanced portable HJ-12E anti-tank missiles to an undisclosed foreign buyer amid the pandemic of novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) in the first export case of this type of high-end weaponry, prompting Chinese analysts to note on 29 March 2020 that this showcased the company's reliability and its potential share of the market. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak that had brought difficulties in personnel exchanges since the Spring Festival holidays in late January and early February, Norinco was able to deliver containers carrying the missiles to foreign clients as of Wednesday, before the scheduled shipment date, according to a statement the company released Wednesday on its WeChat account.
It was the first time a third-generation anti-tank weapon system developed by the Chinese company has been exported, according to the statement. As the client was in urgent need of the missiles, the successful delivery had significant meaning for establishing Norinco's market position and further opening up the market, the company said. Norinco did not disclose more details on the deal in the statement, including the name of the buyer, the quantity purchased and the value of the deal.
The delivery demonstrated the Chinese arms firm's reliability and proved it can fulfill a contract even under seeming force majeure, overcoming difficulties and prioritizing the client's interest, a military expert who asked not to be named told the Global Times on 29 March 2020. This would win trust not only from the buyer for this deal, but also other potential clients, the expert said, noting the product would also get a chance to shine on the international market. China does not attach political premise to arms sales. China provides not only affordable and easy-to-use weapons, but also advanced and sophisticated ones.
Since the performance of the Red Arrow-12E is so outstanding, the next question is obvious: When will the Chinese People's Liberation Army Army be able to equip this individual weapon with powerful anti-armor capabilities? The PLA — whether it is a heavy brigade, a medium brigade or a light brigade — actually urgently needs equipment similar to the US FGM-148A "Javelin". The main anti-tank firepower of the class is still equipped with the PF-98 120mm anti-tank rocket launcher that occupies two combatants. Although this type of anti-tank rocket launcher has a good armor-piercing ability, it is said to be enough to penetrate the frontal armor of a typical third-generation main battle tank. But on the one hand, the carrying performance is poor, and there are many super-long, super-wide, and super-heavy parts. On the other hand, its technical and tactical performance is not very outstanding at present, especially when firing armor-piercing projectiles. This distance is very dangerous in a high-intensity confrontation environment.
At the same time, the existence of PF-98A has also reduced the firepower density of the PLA's fully equipped infantry squad to a certain extent: don't forget, the US Army's armed infantry squad has 2 M249 squad machine guns plus 3 M203/ The 320-type 40mm grenade launcher, and the PF-98A of China's military infantry squad is equipped in the establishment table, and requires two shooters to operate (the shooter does not have a gun, and the deputy shooter is recommended not to carry a gun). As a result, the PLA infantry squad compared with the US military is seriously insufficient. Therefore, it is still very necessary for China to install a portable weapon similar to the FGM-148A "Javelin" of the US military, which has a longer attack distance and is ignored after launch.
According to the official WeChat account of China North Industries Co., Ltd. in 2020, the Red Arrow-12E, an individual portable anti-tank missile, "overcame the impact of the 'new coronavirus' pneumonia epidemic" and successfully completed the delivery task to a buyer in a certain country. First of all, it needs to be emphasized that although according to the description on the WeChat account of North Industries, this business has already reached the stage of paying first and delivering the goods, which can be regarded as really "completed", but this mysterious "buyer" in the end was still a matter of opinion. But this is not surprising. After all, China's military trade contracts, especially those for tactical weapons, have always been kept secret from the outside world. There were two main directions for speculation as to the buyer of this big business. The first is the Royal Thai Army, and the second is the Egyptian Army.
Transaction information showed that the buyer may be Thailand. If the Royal Thai Army bought the Red Arrow-12E anti-tank missile, then it was a wise military purchase choice. After all, as far as the current army equipment system of the Thai army is concerned, it can be said that there are "precedents and deficiencies".
Saying "there is a precedent" means that the Thai Army just received a battalion of Chinese-made VN-1 infantry fighting vehicles last year, and the A/FT-07D anti-tank missiles made in China were delivered with the vehicles. A vehicle-mounted anti-tank missile weapon system that is quite cheap, has good performance, and is very cost-effective (in fact, it is also a part of the infantry squad in a sense). A good Red Arrow-12E itself is a very normal thing.
As for "there are missing items", the batch of US-made M1126 "Striker" armored vehicles previously equipped by the Thai Army. Although the M1126 armored vehicle does not have any decent vehicle-mounted weapon stations and vehicle-mounted anti-tank firepower, the vehicle-mounted infantry squad has an FGM-148A "Javelin" anti-tank missile launcher that is not included in the organization list and is thrown on the vehicle. down. Although the Thai Army is equipped with a battalion of M1126, it has never seen the news of purchasing the FGM-148A "Javelin". In the case of "missing equipment", it is a wise choice to purchase the Hongjian-12E, which has similar performance and may be cheaper.
And in terms of the tactical requirements of the Thai Army, the armored force of the Vietnamese Army next door is quite a threat. Let’s not mention that it has been mentioned several times last year. The 201st Armored Brigade of the General Staff under the direct command of the General Staff (equipped with T-90S/SK main battle tanks and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles). Rao is the T-54/55 tank equipped by the ordinary armored forces of the Vietnamese army. Last year, with the technical support of the Israeli company, it began to upgrade the "super jacket" explosive anti-armor. Tank missiles (estimated to be the equipment of division or brigade anti-tank units, unknown) face these large numbers of opponents equipped with heavy explosive anti-armor, and their serial armor-piercing warheads are obviously not enough.
The performance of FGM-148A and Hongjian-12E is good, but it's still the same sentence: too expensive. Taking the FGM-148A "Javelin" as an example, Ukraine spent more than 40 million U.S. dollars and only bought about 400 of them. The average price of one missile is as high as hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars. Taiwan also bought "javelins", and the price was even higher than that in Ukraine.
Although the Red Arrow-12E may be a little cheaper than "100,000 US dollars", it is estimated that it is not much better. Even in order to meet the needs of large-scale equipment, a cheaper "day-type" is needed (The thermal imaging channel may be canceled). But even so, the number of Red Arrow-12s that have been confirmed to be installed in the Chinese People's Liberation Army Army is very limited, and some units only list them as optional equipment. The price of Hongjian-12 is high, and it is rumored that one shot exceeds one million yuan.
For the Hongjian-12 anti-tank missiles to fully enter the Chinese People's Liberation Army Army and replace the PF-98A anti-tank rocket launcher, it seems that the PLA may have to continue to wait.
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