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QW-3 MANPADS / Qianwei-3 / Vanguard-3

At the 4th Zhuhai Aerospace Expo in 2003, various types of missiles developed by China were exhibited. Compared with QW-4, which is just a simple promotional material, QW-3 exhibits real objects, which makes people feel that the missile is closer to completion. On the whole, QW-3 is a bit deviant compared to other family members. Both the guidance method and the projectile structure are very different. It is vaguely familiar, especially the FLS-1 close defense system composed of QW-3 missiles, which immediately reminds us of the joint development of the Ram (RAM) missile system by the United States and Germany.

From the perspective of weight guidance, QW-3 has already departed from the category of portable air defense missiles and should be used as a light air defense missile. First of all, the guidance method of QW-3 is very distinctive. He uses semi-active laser guidance. It can be said that it is not the way the infrared bomb is fired. The author checked the information and found that among the surface-to-air missiles in service in the world, the laser semi-active guidance method has not been adopted, and the QW-3 can be said to be the only one.

So, what are the benefits of adopting this non-launch method? The advantage is great, the laser semi-active guidance method has the high precision and anti-interference ability that the infrared guidance method does not have. From the data with a hit accuracy of up to 1m, we can see the huge benefits of this guidance method. Among the laser guidance methods, the semi-active method is the most difficult. From the close-up photos of the seeker, it can be seen that the QW-3 adopts a gyro-stabilized type, which is also the most difficult one of the semi-active laser methods. It can be said that the QW-3 adopts a more difficult method, because He requires the optical system and detection system to be stabilized by a gyro, with a large dynamic field of view, a small instantaneous field of view, high precision and complexity, but the advantage is that it can attack small targets with high mobility. The United States also uses this method in the "Hell-fire" and "Young Animal" air-to-surface missiles. We can use it for air-to-air missiles. It can be said that while breaking through this technology, the blue is better than the blue. The seeker tracking rate of QW-3 is 15?/s. This number is slightly lower than other types of portable missiles, which is slightly disadvantageous for attacking high-altitude and highly maneuverable targets. But the low-altitude target has limited maneuverability, and this shortcoming is not obvious.

Since the seeker in the laser semi-active guidance method relies on the laser echo reflected by the target to track, unlike the ordinary non-imaging infrared guidance method, it can only detect the high-heat wake and the limitation of the rear fuselage heating skin. The real omnidirectional attack capability, not the 270? false omnidirectional infrared bomb. It is also not subject to interference from infrared tracer bombs and electronic jamming systems. As long as the photoelectric/thermal imaging tracking system of the weapon can keep up with the target, the target cannot escape once it enters the attack range. QW-3 can be separated from the radar system or completely rely on infrared thermal imaging and optical tracking systems, without electromagnetic radiation, effectively avoiding the threat of anti-radiation missiles. The system has good concealment and strong survivability.

The QW-3 missile has a length of 2100mm and a weight of 23kg. From the appearance, the QW-3 is a portable missile with a super-caliber booster. The layout of the front section is basically similar to that of the QW-1, with a pair of movable rudder surfaces mounted on it. On the steering engine compartment at the front of the missile body, there is a trapezoidal folding tail fin at the rear of the main missile body. The wing area is larger than that of the QW-1, forming a "-X" canard aerodynamic layout. The booster section also has two pairs of folding tail wings. In the launcher, the front projectile body is placed with the same caliber of the adaptor (dump) and booster. From the comparison of the exhibits, the bullet diameters of QW-3 and QW-1 are the same. But after this improvement, QW-3 can be said to be a shotgun replacement.

In addition to the advancement of the guidance system mentioned above, the use of new booster engines has greatly improved the flight performance of the missile. The maximum flight speed of the missile has been increased from QW-1’s 600m/s to 750m/s, and the maximum range has reached 8000m. The range is 800m, and the firing height ranges from 4m to 5000m. From the data, it can be seen that the combat airspace of the QW-3 is significantly higher than that of the portable air defense missile, and it is close to the point defense missile level of the British Longsword and the European Roland. The low boundary also makes hovering helicopters nowhere to escape. And it is lighter. The system is simpler, and because of the use of semi-active laser guidance, the guidance equipment and launching device are set flexibly, the guidance equipment is light and simple, and only the illuminator is needed to meet the requirements for dealing with multiple targets. It is convenient, flexible, and cheap.

Among the portable missiles, the most worrying thing is its warhead. Due to the limitation of volume and weight, the warhead of general portable missiles does not exceed 2 kilograms. In the actual combat of portable air defense missiles, the missiles often hit the target and cannot be destroyed. This has been changed on QW-3. Thanks to the addition of boosters, the warhead can be made larger. From the exhibits, you can see that the warhead of QW-3 is longer than the QW-1 next to it. It is much larger. According to reports, the weight of the QW-3's warhead is several times that of the QW-1, and it has been changed to the same continuous rod type as the RAM. The power is greatly improved and it is very suitable for attacking cruise missiles. For the target, the fuze initiation method is laser close bomb + bump bomb, the warhead killing radius is 3 meters, and the guidance accuracy of 1 meter is enough to destroy solid flying targets, and its single-shot kill rate is greater than 85%.

QW-3 can accelerate to the maximum flight speed in a short time after installing a high-power booster. From the point of view that the minimum effective distance is only 800 meters, the boost section has fallen off within 800 meters, and because at the speed given by the boost, the main engine can use a propellant with a slightly lower thrust but a longer working time to make the missile fly. The speed maintains a high average value, especially at the end of the flight. The missile has enough kinetic energy to deal with the maneuvering target. This has been confirmed by the manufacturer. They stated that the flight speed curve is very straight.