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Thunder-1 (LT-1) 7712 laser-guided bomb

During the Vietnam War, China sent high-altitude artillery units to Vietnam to support the Vietnamese people in their fight against the United States. In the air defense operations, China’s Aid Vietnam troops saw the excellent tactical technical performance of laser-guided bombs, and also obtained the Paveway-1 laser guidance on the battlefield. The wreckage of the bomb was analyzed and studied. The design idea, the conductor system, the working law and the action process were found out. This laid the foundation for the preliminary technical preparations for the development of laser-guided bombs in China.

In 1977, the relevant departments officially approved the development of China's first generation of laser-guided bombs, and named the 7712 laser-guided bomb, which was later called Thunder-1 (LT-1). According to the relevant information, the 7712 laser-guided bomb is basically the same as the Paveway-1 in terms of overall layout and conductor system. It adopts the wind-marking laser seeker, which is composed of the front-end wind-marking laser positioner and the rear electronics. a cabin composition, wherein the wind-marking laser positioner is equipped with an optical system and a four-quadrant photodetector to complete the detection, recognition and capture of the laser signal, and form an angle between the target line of sight and the axis of the vane, and then pass it to the control system, which controls the deflection of the rudder surface and eliminates the bomb trajectory deviation, allowing the bomb to hit the target accurately.

The advantage of the wind vane seeker is that the structure is simple, the reliability is high, and the cost is low. However, its guiding law is speed tracking guidance. Under the condition of attacking the ground moving target and the ground wind speed, the guidance precision is poor, and the guidance is further. The system's anti-interference ability, sensitivity and other indicators are also low, which limits its scope of use, so we see that the current generation of laser guidance systems is basically no longer used.

According to relevant information, the 7712 laser-guided bomb seeker has a laser capture distance of not less than 4 kilometers, a terminal guidance distance of not less than 3 kilometers, a field of view of 25 degrees, a laser system wavelength of 1.064 micrometers, a system placement height, and a horizontal placement. It is 900-7000 meters, when it is submerged: 1000-6000 meters, when it is placed on the upper side, it is 100-1000 meters, the bombing speed is 700-1200 kilometers, 7 hours, and the guidance precision (ground irradiation fixed target) is 5 meters. The bomb is 3.68 meters long, with a diameter of 0.377 meters and a weight of 490 kilograms.

The development of the 7712 laser-guided bomb has been carried out in two stages: the development of the prototype machine and the development of the engineering prototype. The wind tunnel blow test of the wind head, the full-air blow test, the program-controlled bomb air test, the seeker sea surface pull test, and guidance A number of large-scale tests, such as head-to-air flight test and airdrop target test. In 1985, the 7712 laser-guided bomb was used for the first target test. Two projectiles were placed by the strong one, and the ground was irradiated with the target. Once successfully, the bomb successfully captured the laser signal in the air, and the seeker and control mechanism subsequently The corresponding action was carried out to achieve laser guidance, but the accuracy of the hit failed to meet the predetermined requirements.

Due to the weak domestic economic technology and the reduction of national defense funds, the North China Industrial Company introduced the 7712 laser-guided bomb to the international market under the name of LT-1, looking for international partners to improve this. The type of laser-guided bomb, but failed to find the user, the relevant work ended. Therefore, the development of the 7712 laser-guided bomb was finally put on hold, and the design of the equipment was not designed. However, through the development of this type of laser-guided bomb, the scientific and technical personnel of China have mastered the principle and technology of the laser-guided bomb and obtained certain engineering experience. It laid the foundation for the development of a new generation of laser-guided bombs.