Airshow China 2002 - China's air-defence boost
ROBERT KARNIOL JDW Asia-Pacific Editor
Zhuhai
Additional reporting CHRISTOPHER F FOSS JDW Land Forces Editor
London
China's Aerospace Science and Industry Corp is some two or three years from completing the development of a combined very-short-range air-defence system known as the FLG-1, say company officials.
Marketing material displayed during the exhibition shows a possible system configuration of one mobile air-defence system with twin-quadruple missile launchers fitted on top of a wheeled vehicle, with this supplemented by three twin-barrelled small-calibre anti-aircraft guns.
The host vehicle appears to be based on a 4 x 4 version of the China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) WZ 551-series chassis, a 6 x 6 variant of which has been in service with China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) for some years.
The platform features an unmanned roof-mounted turret, on either side of which are mounted four missiles in the ready-to-launch position. Between the banks of missiles is an electro-optical package, while mounted on top is what appears to be a surveillance radar. In concept, this fire unit is very similar to the German STN Atlas Elektronik ASRAD system in service with the German Army that is installed on a Wiesel 2 tracked armoured chassis.
The company says the FLG-1 has been in production for more than two years and can launch missiles using either infra-red (IR) or laser semi-active homing guidance systems. "The system performs integral command-and-control and possesses high operational effectiveness," according to company material. "It is mainly used for important area defence to intercept air-raid targets such as armed helicopters, attacking aircraft and cruise missiles."
This represents the first indication that China has developed a laser-guided missile, boosting system effectiveness through the availability of a faster weapon that is much more difficult to jam. For some years the China National Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation has been marketing a complete series of IR homing 'fire and forget' surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), including the HN-5, QW-1, QW-2 and FN-6 systems.
While the SAM would be used to engage targets at ranges up to 5km, the system's towed anti-aircraft guns would be used to engage close-in targets. These appear to be twin 25mm weapons, which, in turn, are a further development of an older NORINCO twin 23mm system based on the Russian ZU-23-2. It is not known whether these would be laid on to their target by remote control, or whether the fire unit will pass these key target information - such as speed and direction.
Some years ago, the PLA started to deploy a combined gun/missile system called the NORINCO Type 95. This is armed with four 25mm guns and four QW-2 SAMs. Beyond the new land-based missile-gun combination currently in development, the modular design can also be adapted for use by naval vessels, say company officials.
Specifications
Vehicle:
Weight: less than 11t
Maximum speed: 95km/h
Maximum range: 600km
IR homing guidance missile:
Slant range: 800-5,000m
Altitude: 30-3,000m
Missile velocity: 600m/s
Laser guidance missile:
Slant range: 800-6,000m
Altitude: 10-4,000m
Missile velocity: 750m/s
Source: China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp
Artist's impression of the FLG-1 combined very-short-range air-defence system
(Source: R Karniol/Jane's/ China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp)
NORINCO has developed at least two self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery guns (SPAAG), the Type-80 twin 57 mm (similar to the older Russian ZSU-57-2) and several versions of a 37 mm system. All of these are based on a modified tank chassis. As of 1997 there were no known exports. The WZ-551 6x6 APC chassis has been proposed as the basis for the HN-5C and PL-9 fire-and-forget SAM systems but the production level is not known
The EFR-1 naval fire control radar is an I-band doppler system with moving target indication processing and cassegram antenna, and is reportedly linked to a TV tracker. The China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation claims it has a target acquisition and tracking capability out to over 30 km on a target of 2 m cross section. Recent Chinese military radars have reportedly included the ST-312 manportable battlefield surveillance radar, the REL-2 shipborne air warning radar, and a trailorborne 3-D radar. This is in addition to reports of a target acquisition radar on a tracked armoured fighting vehicle to operate with the quad-25mm SPAAG (self-propelled anti-aircraft gun) system, and a F30 fire-control radar system with a combined SAM/AAA system and TV/optical backup systems. Chinese radars displayed at the CIDEX-2000 defence exhibition reportedly included the CLC-1 search and track radar for the PZ-95 SPAAG system, the CLC-2 search and target acquisition radar, and the CLC-3 active/planar array radar.
China's Aerospace And Defence Industry - December 2000
Это из раных кусков 05-Dec-200
