The Chinese army has commissioned HJ-12 anti-tank missiles, which are called copies of the American Javelin. This became known thanks to photos from the exercises, which the command of the Tibetan Military District published on Wechat.
China first showed the HJ-12 anti-tank complex in 2014. It works on the principle of "shot and forgot", like the American Javelin. This means that the infrared homing head captures the target even before the launch.
Last year, Norinco, the manufacturer of the HJ-12 , announced the start of exporting complexes abroad. But whether the Chinese army itself uses the HJ-12 has not yet been known for sure.
The command of the Tibetan Military District last week published a photo from the exercise on Wechat, in which a soldier carries an anti-tank missile. In it, the Chinese media recognized the HJ-12. The length of the rocket is 1.25 meters, and the diameter is 13.5 centimeters. Its range is four kilometers during the day and two at night.
The HJ-12 can penetrate up to 1100 millimeters of steel armor. This is enough to break through the armor of any main battle tank in the world. So, the durability of the T-14 armor is about 900 millimeters. In addition to tanks, the HJ-12 can attack small ships and helicopters.
The development of their own anti-tank missiles is being carried out not only in China, but also in India. Earlier, we wrote about the tests of the Indian portable controlled MPATGM, which can hit targets at a distance of 2.5 kilometers.
Vasilisa Chernyavtseva
