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YJ-18 / Yingzhe-18 / Eagle Strike 18 - CH-SS-NX-13

The YJ-18 anti-ship missile is a Russian 3M-54 Klub with Chinese characteristics under modern conditions. It is the main anti-ship missile of China’s navy’s new generation of main warships. It is an advanced state-of-the-art that has been strengthened in terms of range and penetration in response to the future maritime combat situation. missile. It is widely equipped on 052D Aegis ships and 0.55 million tons destroyers. It is launched by a common vertical launch of 850mm caliber cold and hot. It combines the advantages of subsonic anti-ship missiles for sea-skimming penetration, long range and high accuracy. And the superiority of supersonic anti-ship missiles with great power and strong defense penetration, it has become a "perfect missile" with sea-skimming, high subsonic flight in the cruise section, and supersonic penetration at the end.

Although cruise missiles have historically been mainly used for ground attacks, today's cruise missiles are still the most effective means of long-range strikes against enemy warships. In the foreseeable future, the outcome of naval battles will largely depend on which side has the most advanced anti-ship cruise missiles.

A grand military parade was held in Beijing on 01 October 2019 to mark the People's Republic of China's 70th founding anniversary. China said the parade, the country’s most important political event of the year, which featured more than 15,000 troops marching through part of Tiananmen Square as jet fighters trailing colored smoke soared overhead, was not meant to intimidate any specific country. But it was a message to the world that China’s military prowess is growing rapidly, even as it faces mounting challenges. Military Parade Deputy General Manager Tan Min, at a press conference the week before the parade, 'All the weapons exhibited in the parade active service.' had used. This statement shows that the aircraft is actively used by the Chinese armed forces.

One weapon featured was a new generation of anti-ship missiles called YJ-18. China unveiled YJ-18/18A anti-ship cruise missiles in the National Day military parade in central Beijing. The long-range submarine-launched and ship-based missiles are domestically designed and built, and they are the mainstay of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy's anti-ship deterrence force.

After the Chinese Eagle Strike 18 missile is fired vertically from the carrier-based vertical launch system, it turns quickly by using its tail gas rudder, and the solid booster section is thrown away after completing the boost mission; Then the turbojet engine at the rear of the missile body is ignited to make the missile enter a constant cruise stage and fly 180 kilometers at a speed of 0.8 times the speed of sound. After the fuel is exhausted, the turbojet engine is thrown away again; the separated front body is An independent "small missile", the missile is propelled by a solid rocket motor, can fly at 2.5-3.0 times the speed of sound, and has a range of 40 kilometers; at this time, the missile mainly relies on the huge kinetic energy when hitting the target to increase its power.

Anti-surface ship missiles generally have a maximum range of about 40 kilometers when intercepting ultra-low-altitude targets. Such missiles are extremely difficult for the defending ship to intercept. Therefore, the Eagle-18 has a high penetration probability and hit rate. From the appearance , it is somewhat similar to the Longsword-10 missile equipped by the People's Liberation Army , but it is obviously different after careful comparison.

It is said that the Eagle-18 can evade the air defense firepower of enemy ships by implementing turning maneuvers with a gravitational acceleration of 10G, and can "defeat the U.S. Navy’s Aegis air defense system and destroyers." This capability will enable the United States And Japan ’s dream of relying on the Aegis system to play a key role in the future Japanese or US theater missile defense system has been hit hard.

British media speculated that the Eagle -18 is estimated to use a very mature relay inertia plus terminal active radar guidance, and the carrier can use the data link to correct the missile's trajectory to change the missile's attack trajectory or target. As long as it hits an Eagle Strike-18, its huge impact of 3 times the speed of sound and nearly 300 kilograms of high explosive energy is enough to make an "Aegis" warship incapable of combat. It is said that the bomb also has an anti-radiation function, even if it explodes at a distance of 50 meters from the enemy ship, it can destroy 60% of the enemy's shipboard electronic systems.

On 19 September 2013 some Chinese media websites released a clip showing the PLA had been successful in making a Eagle Strike missile dubbed YJ-18. It will travel at subsonic speed initially, and at Mach 3 when approaching the target within last 46 kilometers. What's amazing is that the missile can change its path showing 'S' pattern making it hard to intercept, even for Aegis class ships as claimed by the report.

According to a research report released by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, based in Washington, in October 2015, the academy has also developed a cutting-edge supersonic anti-ship missile, which the report refers to as YJ-18, which can strike its target at a speed of up to Mach 3, or 1 kilometer per second. The report said the YJ-18 had already been deployed on Type-052D guided-missile destroyers and Type-093G nuclear-powered attack submarines and will be installed on the Type-055 guided-missile destroyer that is under construction.

"The deployment of the latest YJ-18, together with the YJ-12 and YJ-100, has enabled the Navy to deter any foreign navies from approaching its defense areas," a strategy researcher in the PLA, who asked not to be named, told China Daily 10 November 2015. "Compared with anti-ship ballistic missiles, the YJ-18 and YJ-12 will prove to be more useful, because even though ballistic missiles have a longer range and larger destructive power, their launch preparations are more complicated and their use is more likely to escalate a conflict," he explained. By contrast, anti-ship cruise missiles like the YJ-18 are easy to use and more defensive in nature, the researcher said, adding that China has become one of the top developers of anti-ship cruise missiles in the world. "Few countries have developed advanced anti-ship missiles over the past decade as China has done," he said.

Cui Yiliang, editor-in-chief of Modern Ships magazine, told China Daily 10 November 2015 the YJ-18 represents the development trend of next-generation anti-ship cruise missile. It has high intelligence and good flight control and can perform sophisticated maneuvers to avoid detection and interception. Their remarks came in response to interest in the YJ-18 generated by a research report released by the Washington-based US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in October 2015. According to the report, the missile has a cruise speed of 966 km/h throughout most of its 540-km range. When it is about 37 kilometers from its target, the warhead will accelerate to a superfast speed of up to Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound.

"The YJ-18's supersonic speed and long range, as well as its wide deployment on PLA Navy platforms, could have serious implications for the ability of US Navy surface ships to operate freely in the Western Pacific in a contingency," the report said. Yin Zhuo, director of the PLA Navy's Expert Consultation Committee, told China Central Television that no one has succeeded in intercepting a sea-skimming missile even if it is flying at a subsonic speed, so taking down a missile flying at Mach 3 will be very difficult.

In April 2015, the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence confirmed that China has deployed the YJ-18 antiship cruise missile (ASCM) on some People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy submarines and surface ships. The YJ-18’s greater range and speed than previous Chinese ASCMs, along with its wide deployment across PLA platforms, would significantly increase China’s antiaccess/area denial capabilities against U.S. Navy surface ships operating in the Western Pacific during a potential conflict.

The YJ-18 probably will be widely deployed on China’s indigenously built ASCM-capable submarines and newest surface ships by 2020, and China could develop a variant of the YJ-18 to replace older missiles in its shore-based ASCM arsenal. This paper assesses the capabilities of the YJ-18 and describes the implications of its wide deployment for U.S. forces operating in the Western Pacific. The YJ-18 most likely follows a sea-skimming flight path as it approaches its target. By flying only a few meters above the sea, the missile attempts to evade detection by surface radar until it breaks the radar horizon 16 to 18 nm from its target.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the YJ-18 has a range of 290 nm. The YJ-18’s predecessor on many Chinese submarines, the YJ-82, has a range of about 20 nm. China’s C4ISR infrastructure might be insufficient to generate and fuse the targeting information necessary to take advantage of the YJ-18’s assessed range. According to the Department of Defense, “It is … unclear whether China has the capability to collect accurate targeting information and pass it to launch platforms in time for successful [antiship missile] strikes in sea areas beyond the first island chain.”

The Yingzhe-18 anti-ship missile was developed by the Third Academy of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation in the mid-1990s. It was finalized around 2013 and entered service around 2014. The Eagle-18 anti-ship missile is very similar to the Russian 3M54E Crabbe missile, so it is called the Chinese version of the Crabbe missile.

The Yingzhe-18 anti-ship missile is a sub-supersonic long-range anti-ship cruise missile equipped by the Chinese Navy. It adopts a vertical launch mode. The so-called "sub-super-combination" is to first use the ultra-low altitude cruise mode when approaching the target, using turbojet or turbofan engines as the power, and the speed is about 0.8 Mach. When the missile enters the search and capture phase, the turbojet engine at the back end will automatically fall off. With the help of the rocket engine, the front stage speeds up to about Mach 2.5 to Mach 3 for supersonic sea skimming attacks. This not only can achieve a longer range, but also has a high penetration probability and hit rate, which greatly increases the difficulty of the opponent's interception. The Eagle-18 anti-ship missile not only has the advantages of long subsonic missile range and low take-off mass, but also has the performance of supersonic missiles at high speed and easy penetration. To a certain extent, it represents the future development direction of anti-ship missiles.

The advantages of these anti-ship cruise missiles include more complex missiles, longer range, better stealth performance, greater maneuverability, and lighter and more compact designs. Based on these factors, we have evaluated the most dangerous level of anti-ship cruise missiles currently in service, which has a considerable impact on naval warfare.

Prior to the Zircon missile service, China's YJ-18 was considered among the most advanced anti-ship cruise missile deployed by modern surface warships. The missile has been equipped with Chinese navy destroyers 052D and 055. The 055 can carry more than 100 missiles. The YJ-18 missile was first deployed in 2015 and stands out among modern anti-ship cruise missiles for its long range and speed. Most of the YJ-18 missiles cruise at subsonic speeds, accelerating to Mach 3 in the final stages of approaching the target. That's fast enough to tear most warships in half, which could be more destructive than the missile's own 300-kilogram warhead. Combined with advanced electronic warfare countermeasures and high maneuverability, this makes the YJ-18 missile extremely difficult to intercept and poses a serious threat to enemy surface ships.

The YJ-18 projectile body can be divided into 3 parts. The first part is the booster, the second part is the wing, and the third part is the warhead. They are independent of each other and not a whole. The booster is mainly used to propel the missile to the initial height and speed; the wing part is similar to the pylon, with the warhead hung underneath, it is like an unmanned aerial vehicle with straight wings and cross-tail rudder at its front end. In the cruise phase, the wing part helps the missile to achieve subsonic speed, long-distance flight, and low-altitude sea-skimming penetration.

When it reaches the end of the attack, the YJ-18 missile will climb to altitude, and then the wing will throw the warhead out. The warhead part has a Mach cone shape that is standard for supersonic missiles. The maximum flight speed can reach Mach 1.8. It can perform snake-like maneuvers and lock. The warship attacked. The YJ-18 missile achieves the integration of subsonic and supersonic speeds, and at the same time has excellent performance such as a large range of 600 kilometers and end penetration of Mach 1.8.

At the same time, because it uses a general-purpose missile barrel to launch, it can adapt to both surface and underwater launch methods, and it can also be used on 039B conventional submarines and 093 series nuclear submarines.

According to reports, the YJ-18 missile is more than 8 meters long, weighs more than 2 tons, has a range of about 220-540 kilometers, a warhead load of about 140-300 kg, a cruise speed of Mach 0.8, and a supersonic flight stage that can reach 2-- At Mach 3, it has kinetic energy nearly 3 times the speed of sound at the end of the attack. The minimum flying height is 5 meters. It can be launched by the vertical launch system of Type 052D and Type 055 destroyers. It can also be carried on Type 093 nuclear attack submarines and Type 039 conventionally powered submarines.

The YingJi-18 anti-ship missile adopts a relatively large in-line projectile with a sharp cone-shaped warhead; the middle section is cylindrical and the tail is cylindrical; the middle of the projectile is equipped with a pair of folded flat wings, after launching Expand; the air inlet of the abdominal turbofan engine is buried, the tail of the missile behind the air inlet is equipped with a cross-shaped folding wing, and the solid rocket booster is connected in series behind the tail nozzle of the turbojet engine; the shape of the missile before launch is a cylinder of about 0.5 meters diameter.

According to the media, the new technology used by the Yingzhe-18 anti-ship missile is as high as 70%. The use of digital, automated, and intelligent flight control and guidance technology has improved the "intelligence" of the missile and made the missile more effective in attacking the target. , The ability to resist electronic interference is stronger. This type of missile has the characteristics of "underwater launch and sub-super combination", and also has the world's first adaptive ultra-low-altitude sea-skimming flight technology, which makes the sea-skimming flight altitude lower and more difficult to detect. At the same time, because of its kinetic energy nearly 3 times the speed of sound at the end of its attack, a single missile can severely damage destroyers with a displacement of more than 5,000 tons, which will greatly enhance the ability of multi-directional three-dimensional missile attacks on enemy surface ships. Foreign media called the Eagle-18 "the most perfect anti-ship missile."

The YJ-18A missile is an improved version of the YJ-18. It is a new type of submarine-launched and ship-launched anti-ship cruise missile developed by China. This National Day military parade is the first appearance. The head of the team said in an interview that the Eagle-18/18A ship/submarine missile is a microcosm of the People’s Navy’s anti-ship weapons development, marking the improvement of the Navy’s anti-ship capabilities. Its special shape and combat capabilities mean the Navy Missile launches tend to be more diverse and comprehensive.

An important feature of the submarine-launched Eagle-18A missile is that it can be ignited directly underwater. In order to achieve safe underwater ignition, an opening is reserved for the missile nozzle at the end of the carrier, and multiple high-pressure air nozzles are designed around the opening, so that when the missile booster is ignited underwater, a continuous bubble environment can be formed near the nozzle, and the booster is more It is close to working in the air, so that the thrust is more stable during the entire water exit process, and the underwater disturbance of the missile + carrier combination is reduced. These optimized designs enable the Eagle-18A to "hide well" while the entire system is shorter, lighter, and more reliable than the Russian 3M54E "Crabbe" missile. After the missile comes out of the water, the carrier opens and falls off in two pieces like a satellite fairing. After the missile and the carrier are separated, the flight process of the YJ-18A is similar to that of the ship-launched YJ-18. This type of missile has the ability to adapt to sea conditions at an ultra-low-altitude sea-skimming flight, with a minimum sea-skimming height of 5-7 meters. It has achieved the ultimate in supersonic anti-ship missiles, and is lower than the interception of the US "Sea Sparrow" and "standard" missiles. Still low, the sea-skimming penetration capability is greatly enhanced.

The deployment of the YJ-18 and YJ-18A missiles shows that the Chinese navy has a strong anti-ship capability and is capable of repelling any enemy at sea. China's 2017 National Science and Technology Award was awarded the National Science and Technology Progress Special Award by a submarine missile weapon system of the Third Academy of Aerospace Science and Industry of China. This missile is the Eagle Strike 18 two-speed anti-ship missile that has already been equipped in large quantities by the Chinese Navy.

At the same time, it is learned that the missile is a large series of missile systems, which adopts the form of "one bomb with multiple types". According to the target, it is divided into anti-ship type and land attack type. According to the launch vehicle, it is divided into ship-launched and submarine-launched. Including naval surface ship vertical launch model, submarine torpedo launch model, submarine vertical launch model, shore-based anti-ship model, and ship-launched, submarine-launched and shore-based long-range cruise missile models. Before the US's new generation of LRASM long-range anti-ship missiles came into service, China's Eagle-18 missile was currently the most advanced and powerful anti-ship missile in the world.

Although the Eagle Strike 18 missile is very mysterious, its same missile has a good record. In addition to hitting Syrian land targets, it has even sunk submarines. The Indian Navy had creatively used the same type of Eagle Strike 18 missile to sink a submarine. On August 15, 2013, India had just accepted the modification, and a new Russian-made "Kilo" class 877EKM Sindurak Shak was clustered. The submarine had an accident while loading the newly equipped Club missiles. Two Club-S submarine-launched anti-ship missiles were fired by mistake. One hit the dock and the other exploded in the torpedo tube, eventually sinking the submarine itself. As a result, India became the first country in the world to sink its own submarine by a submarine-launched missile.