QW-18 MANPADS / Qianwei-18 / Vanguard-18

QW-18 is a new all-weather man portable shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile system, with excellent anti-interference function of the infrared, to attack the enemy to all low-altitude, low altitude strikes, and speeds of 300 m / s following a variety of flying target. QW-18 biggest feature is the use of a dual-band passive infrared seeker, the target plume and skinning two heat detection, in order to firmly lock the target.

The Qianwei-18 is improved from the Qianwei-11. It is understood that the Qianwei-11 individual air defense missile is 1.477 meters long, weighs 10.68 kilograms, has a total weapon system weight of 16.9 kilograms, a shooting height of 30-4000 meters, a combat slant range of 500-5000 meters, and a transition time of 10 seconds between marching and combat. . Because the Qianwei-11 individual air defense missile adopts the design of laser guidance and proximity fuze, it greatly improves the strike accuracy of cruise missiles.

The Qianwei-18 missile is 1.526 meters long, the weapon system weighs 18 kilograms, the minimum firing height is reduced to 15 meters, and the range is the same as the Qianwei-11. The more advanced Qianwei-18 adopts a dual-band infrared passive seeker, which can not only accurately sense the two heat sources of the target tail flame and the skin, but also has a strong anti-jamming capability, and the strike accuracy has been further improved. In terms of targets such as cruise missiles, fixed-wing aircraft, and helicopters, the threat level is greatly increased.

In terms of launch tube, Qianwei-18 and Qianwei-1 have a lot of similarities, but there are big differences in accessories such as batteries and condensate tanks for cooling the seeker, and this is one of the characteristics that distinguish them. The QW18 portable air defense missile is a typical third-generation portable air defense missile. The missile uses many advanced technologies and has extremely powerful anti-jamming capabilities. "Qianwei" 18 adopts dual-band infrared passive seeker, which can sense two heat sources of target tail flame and skin, thereby firmly locking the target. Therefore, QW-18's anti-jamming capability and sensitivity and accuracy have been enhanced, making it more suitable for countering anti-cruise missiles and supersonic targets.

Compared with the Qianwei-11, the weight of the Qianwei-18 has increased again, and the weight gain is not small. The weight of the whole system has reached 18 kg, of which the launch tube weighs 4 kg and the power supply and firing mechanism weighs 1.7 kg. However, although the weight of the system has increased, the missile's range has basically not changed, it is still 5000 meters, the firing height is also 4000 meters, and the missile's flight speed has not changed, still 600 meters per second. However, the minimum intercept height of the Qianwei-18 was reduced to 10 meters, which basically blocked the low-flying limit of ultra-low-altitude targets.

The biggest feature of QW-18 is that it adopts dual-band infrared passive seeker to detect two heat sources of target tail flame and skin, thus firmly locking the target. Therefore, QW-18's anti-interference ability is very strong. Sensitivity and accuracy are the strongest among the current domestic missiles of the same type, and they are also in a leading position internationally.

The QW18 missile seeker is indeed a different way of designing it. It neither adopts the infrared imaging method that is not fully mature in China, nor does it blindly imitate the expensive composite guidance of foreign countries. Instead, a dual-band induction device is directly used under the fairing, and two air windows of 3-5 and 8-12 microns are used to simultaneously detect the heat source from the tail flame of the aircraft engine and the aerodynamic heating of the skin.

At present, the main method of interference for the attacked aircraft in self-defense is to use the method of throwing flares to avoid the opponent's infrared guided missiles. At present, the QW18 missile is taking advantage of the single spectral characteristic and strong thermo-optic effect of the photoelastic. When technical conditions permit, only the design of the seeker is improved, and the existing interference methods can be effectively carried out. Countermeasures. It has achieved an anti-jamming capability similar to that of the fourth-generation missile.

QW-18 system can combine with other air defense weapons to form a complete air defense system, such as the combination of anti-aircraft missile and artillery weapons systems; can also be converted into air to air missiles and small vessels in the configuration on the ship-air missiles and so on.

After the launch of Qianwei-18, due to its advanced performance and convenient use, it did not take long to open the international market. According to some news from the international media, the Qianwei-18 has been exported to at least three countries and regions. The first was imported from Libya during the Qaddafi period.

During a trip by Col. Gadhafi’s security officials from Tripoli to Beijing in July 2011, they met with officials from three state-controlled weapons manufacturers: China North Industries Corp. (Norinco); the China National Precision Machinery Import & Export Corp. (CPMIC); and China XinXing Import & Export Corp. The Chinese companies offered the entire contents of their stockpiles for sale, and promised to manufacture more supplies if necessary.

The Chinese apparently offered Col. Gadhafi’s men the QW-18, a surface-to-air missile small enough for a soldier to carry on his shoulder – roughly similar to a US Stinger, capable of bringing down some military aircraft. The United States estimates there were as many as 20,000 surface-to-air missiles in Libya when NATO began its operations to aid rebels in ousting Gadhafi.

Later, after the Libyan turmoil, these missiles were scattered everywhere. It is said that in Libya, Qianwei-18 has a record of shooting down MiG-23, but there is no corroboration of relevant information. Then there was the SK-18 launcher of the Qianwei-18 in the hands of the Hamas armed forces in Palestine, but no complete projectile body and launch tube appeared.

After Libya, it was introduced by the Thai Marine Corps. The bomb is highly evaluated in the Thai army. It is mainly easy to disassemble. It only has three parts: a launch tube with a bomb, a power firing device and a condensate tank, which are taken out of the box. Operators can fight immediately after installing it. Moreover, the seeker's capture of small targets is very reliable. According to the shooting video of the Thai Marine Corps, it can be proved that the seeker of the Qianwei-18 can capture the signal of the Hellfire-sized air-to-surface missile, as long as the target speed does not exceed 300 meters/ Seconds, the bomb can have a higher probability of interception.

The Qianwei-12 exhibited at the Zhuhai Air Show in 2018 is already claimed to be able to resist 8 infrared decoys at the same time. In terms of missile life, it can be stored for 10 years at a time if it is well preserved.

On 27 November 2019, the Uzbek Army disclosed to the media a batch of new equipment that the Uzbek Army had received in recent years. One of the portable air defense missiles attracted the attention of major military media and netizens. According to the photos of Uzbekistan media, the launch module of the air defense missile has the SK-18 mark, which can be confirmed after comparison and identification. This is the foreign trade product launched by China's Aerospace Xinle Company: Qianwei-18 portable air defense missile. It is not as famous as the Fei Crossbow-6, but the number of exports is actually quite large.

The weapons and equipment exported by Chinese military industrial enterprises have always been very popular among Middle Eastern countries. They are very popular with the equipment exported by our military industrial enterprises, and even the Middle East and other countries assist the Libyan National Army. Weapons, there are also products produced by our military enterprises. Recently, the National Army released a set of pictures. The weapons shown in the pictures are the Qianwei 18 portable air defense missiles used by our military industrial enterprises in foreign trade. Some sources said that the National Army’s use of the Qianwei 18 portable air defense missiles posed a great threat to the Turkish Air Force, and it was calimed that even Turkish pilots once refused to continue to fight.

Analysts believe that the National Army led by Haftar has very rich experience in the use of air defense missiles. They have used air defense missiles to shoot down many UAVs of the militia. Therefore, after the National Army is equipped with Qianwei 18 air defense missiles, they can set up air defense missile positions to carry out split-wave strikes on Turkish F-16 fighters, which can effectively increase the hit rate of air defense missiles. Sources said that after the National Army updated its air defense equipment, Turkish pilots repeatedly refused to fight. They believed that such air defense missiles were a great threat to their fighters. Because the pilots refused to fight, the Turkish mercenaries encountered great difficulties in ground operations, and they continued to frustrate in the offensive.