Tempest II
PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2007
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plawolf from Sinodefenceforum translates the interview of the missile engineer from the video:
For those who don't speak Chinese, here is a brief summary of what was said in that video.
The interview is with an Engineer Zhang, who is one of the engineers on the project team that developed the CM-400AKG.
Key Missile stats:
-Range: 100-240km
-Speed: Up to 5.5M
-Diameter: 400mm (zhang did not say if this is with or without fins, but I think it's pretty obvious that this is without fins)
-Length: 5.2m
-Weight: 900kg (approx)
-Guidance: Inertia + Terminal, Terminal guidance methods include: Passive Radar, IR or Visible light (I assume he meant TV guidance).
Other useful bits include repeated emphasis that the missile's entire flight is within the atmosphere (so this isn't an air launched ballistic missile).
Interestingly, when asked to give examples of the kinds of targets the CM-400AKG might be used against, Zhang listed mostly land based high value fixed targets, like command centers, bridges, air defense radar, or even ship borne radar.
With everyone jumping on the 'carrier killer' bandwagon, it appears that the anti-radiation element of this missile's capabilities have been completely overlooked, but I think that the fact that this missile can be configured to be used a 240km M5.5 anti-radiation missile is by far the biggest and most important revelation from the whole interview (maybe the whole air show). The PLA is still relying mainly on YJ82s and YJ62s for AShM work because the CM-400AKG is not primarily an anti-ship missile.
Instead of calling the CM-400AKG a 'carrier killer' a far more appropriate nickname might be 'patriot killer'.
Considering China's access to Russian S300 missile systems and the specs of the missile, if Pakistan also has the ARM version of the CM-400AKG, its impact on the balance of military power in the region could be profound as could potentially allow them to field an effective counter against the best SAMs deployed in the region.
The fact that China seemed to have developed an IR sensor that can function at up to 5.5M speeds is another small but important revelation that makes an ASBM seem more credible.