The Chinese military industry has created several types of portable anti-tank missile systems of the third generation, which are analogs of the American FGM-148 Javelin.
HJ-12 (Hong Jian 12 or Red Arrow 12) china advanced man-portable anti-tank guide missile system pic.twitter.com/aog9a7CHzy
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The most famous of them is the Red Arrow-12 ("Red Arrow-12"), which has been in mass production for 6 years. Last year, it was reported about the beginning of export deliveries - Algeria purchased the first batch.
Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army of China have repeatedly demonstrated the capabilities of this complex. For example, during one of these displays, a Type 59 medium tank was destroyed. The rocket hit the back of the turret and ignited the fuel.
Judging by the published characteristics, these ATGMs can easily cope with modern well-armored vehicles. For this purpose, ATGMs weighing 17 kg are equipped with tandem warheads with armor penetration up to 1100 mm.
In addition to tanks, IFVs, APCs, BRMS and self-propelled guns, it is possible to defeat low-flying helicopters and other aircraft. Variants with high-explosive warhead have been developed.
It was also reported that the homing heads can be of two types - television and infrared. In the first version, the maximum range is 4000 meters, in the second, which is equally effective both during the day and at night, 2000 meters.
High accuracy is provided by a special sight, which has a built-in thermal imager. The weight of this device is 5 kg.
Also, at the weapons exhibitions held in China, other complexes operating on the principle of "shot-forget" were demonstrated. For example, the TS-01, which looks different from the Red Arrow-12 with a different design of wings and rudders.
In 2018, the TL-4 ATGM was introduced with a 24 kg missile capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 6000 meters.
Another development from the Middle Kingdom is called QN-202, its feature is a multi-purpose rocket with a thermal imaging guidance head, which weighs only 1.2 kg and can hit 2000 meters. It is designed to disable light armored vehicles, for which it is irrational to spend expensive ATGM.
Alexey Moiseev
