C-701
Encyclopedia
The C-701 is a Chinese missile that is roughly comparable to the American AGM-65 A/B/D/H Maverick
air-to-surface missile
. However, the C-701 is smaller and has less than half the weight of the AGM-65 A/B/D/H Maverick
.
, the missile was eventually developed into a air-to-surface missile
that can engage various targets. When used as an anti-ship missile, its intended targets are boats with 180 ton displacement or less, such as missile
or torpedo
armed FAC
, patrol boat
s, and gunboat
s.
There are two types of guidance: the Fire-and-forget
mode and the command mode. The first type of guidance enables the aircraft/boats/vehicles to get out after launching, providing greater safety while the second type enables the operator to change targets after launching, or to terminate the attack if needed. The television
seeker of the missile can be replaced by either an imaging infrared
seeker or a millimetre-wave radar seeker. A version with a radar seeker (not the millimetre-wave radar seeker) designated as C-701R has also been displayed in public.
seeker and after that, the version after that was the one with millimetre-wave radar
seeker (C-701R).
Although the existence of the last two versions has been reported for a long time, it was not until the six Zhuhai
Airshow
held near the end of 2006 did these report have been officially confirmed by the Chinese government in public. All of the versions are offered for export.
air-to-surface missile
which is only launched from air, C-701 can be launched from various platforms from air (both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft) and surface (which includes both land/vehicles and ships/boats), but the missile cannot be launched from submarine
s yet.
When the missile is deployed on land and ships, the standard ground launcher is consisted of 4 rectangular box launching/storage containers with two atop the other two, and the entire 4-round launcher is fixed at 15 degrees elevation. Two of such launchers form the backbone of the missile battery with a total of 8 missiles, with a total weight less than 2 tons.
The C-701 (or its Iran
ian derivative, the Kowsar
) may have been employed by Hezbollah fighters to attack and damage the INS Hanit
during the 2006 Lebanon War. The much heavier C-802
is more often reported to have been the weapon used, but this is possibly based on the initial exaggerated damage assessment; apart from destroying the steering, the direct damage caused by the missile hit seems to have been fairly light and the ship was witnessed to have completed the return to base on its own power. Based on the operational history of the Harpoon missile which is a rough equivalent to the C-802, the latter missile would have most likely caused considerably heavier damage.
. Following the tradition of Silkworm missile
, a land-based version with the lowest requirement is also developed for this missile: as the missile is stored in a controlled environment in a warehouse on land, the salinity, temperature and relative humidity requirements for the missile itself are greatly reduced. Because it is designed and deployed on land, the associate C4I systems can be located separately: the distributed system prevents electromagnetic interference, and if the C4I system is attacked, the distributed nature of the FL-10 would greatly reduce casualties and damage. FL-10 was revealed to the public at Zhuhai Airshow with the seeker of the TV guided version.
AGM-65 Maverick
The AGM-65 Maverick is an air-to-ground tactical missile designed for close-air support. It is effective against a wide range of tactical targets, including armor, air defenses, ships, ground transportation and fuel storage facilities....
air-to-surface missile
Air-to-surface missile
An air-to-surface missile is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft and strike ground targets on land, at sea, or both...
. However, the C-701 is smaller and has less than half the weight of the AGM-65 A/B/D/H Maverick
AGM-65 Maverick
The AGM-65 Maverick is an air-to-ground tactical missile designed for close-air support. It is effective against a wide range of tactical targets, including armor, air defenses, ships, ground transportation and fuel storage facilities....
.
Design
Although originally designed as an anti-ship missileAnti-ship missile
Anti-ship missiles are guided missiles that are designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming type, many use a combination of inertial guidance and radar homing...
, the missile was eventually developed into a air-to-surface missile
Air-to-surface missile
An air-to-surface missile is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft and strike ground targets on land, at sea, or both...
that can engage various targets. When used as an anti-ship missile, its intended targets are boats with 180 ton displacement or less, such as missile
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
or torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
armed FAC
Fast Attack Craft
Fast Attack Craft are small, fast, agile and offensive warships, that are armed with anti-ship missiles, guns or torpedoes. These are usually operated in close proximity to land as they lack both the sea-keeping and all-round defensive capabilities to survive in blue water. The size of the vessel...
, patrol boat
Patrol boat
A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties.There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, or police force, and may be intended for marine and/or estuarine or river environments...
s, and gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
s.
There are two types of guidance: the Fire-and-forget
Fire-and-forget
Fire-and-forget is a third-generation method of missile guidance. The military uses the term for a type of missile which does not require further guidance after launch such as illumination of the target or wire guidance , and can hit its target without the launcher being in line-of-sight of the...
mode and the command mode. The first type of guidance enables the aircraft/boats/vehicles to get out after launching, providing greater safety while the second type enables the operator to change targets after launching, or to terminate the attack if needed. The television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
seeker of the missile can be replaced by either an imaging infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
seeker or a millimetre-wave radar seeker. A version with a radar seeker (not the millimetre-wave radar seeker) designated as C-701R has also been displayed in public.
History
The C-701 was developed by the China Precision Machinery Import Export Co or CPMIEC. The air-launched television guided version (C-701T) was the first to appear, while the surface launched version followed. The third version to appear was version with the imaging infraredInfrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
seeker and after that, the version after that was the one with millimetre-wave radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
seeker (C-701R).
Although the existence of the last two versions has been reported for a long time, it was not until the six Zhuhai
Zhuhai
Zhuhai is a prefecture-level city on the southern coast of Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in the Pearl River Delta, Zhuhai borders Jiangmen to the northwest, Zhongshan to the north, and Macau to the south. Zhuhai was one of the original Special Economic Zones...
Airshow
Airshow
An air show is an event at which aviators display their flying skills and the capabilities of their aircraft to spectators in aerobatics. Air shows without aerobatic displays, having only aircraft displayed parked on the ground, are called "static air shows"....
held near the end of 2006 did these report have been officially confirmed by the Chinese government in public. All of the versions are offered for export.
Deployment
Unlike the American AGM-65 MaverickAGM-65 Maverick
The AGM-65 Maverick is an air-to-ground tactical missile designed for close-air support. It is effective against a wide range of tactical targets, including armor, air defenses, ships, ground transportation and fuel storage facilities....
air-to-surface missile
Air-to-surface missile
An air-to-surface missile is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft and strike ground targets on land, at sea, or both...
which is only launched from air, C-701 can be launched from various platforms from air (both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft) and surface (which includes both land/vehicles and ships/boats), but the missile cannot be launched from submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s yet.
When the missile is deployed on land and ships, the standard ground launcher is consisted of 4 rectangular box launching/storage containers with two atop the other two, and the entire 4-round launcher is fixed at 15 degrees elevation. Two of such launchers form the backbone of the missile battery with a total of 8 missiles, with a total weight less than 2 tons.
The C-701 (or its Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian derivative, the Kowsar
Kowsar
Kowsar is a medium-range, land-based anti-ship missile made by Iran. It can defeat electronic jamming systems and "cannot be thrown off course", according to Iranian officials....
) may have been employed by Hezbollah fighters to attack and damage the INS Hanit
INS Hanit
The INS Hanit is a Sa'ar 5-class corvette of the Israeli Navy that was built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in 1994...
during the 2006 Lebanon War. The much heavier C-802
C-802
The Yingji-82 or YJ-82 is a Chinese anti-ship missile first unveiled in 1989 by the China Haiying Electro-Mechanical Technology Academy , also known as the Third Academy...
is more often reported to have been the weapon used, but this is possibly based on the initial exaggerated damage assessment; apart from destroying the steering, the direct damage caused by the missile hit seems to have been fairly light and the ship was witnessed to have completed the return to base on its own power. Based on the operational history of the Harpoon missile which is a rough equivalent to the C-802, the latter missile would have most likely caused considerably heavier damage.
FL-10
FL-10 (FL = Fei Long / Feilong, or 飞龙 in Chinese, meaning Flying Dragon) is the cheaper coastal defense version of C-701 anti-ship missileAnti-ship missile
Anti-ship missiles are guided missiles that are designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming type, many use a combination of inertial guidance and radar homing...
. Following the tradition of Silkworm missile
Silkworm missile
The Shang Yo or SY-series , and the Hai Ying or HY-series were early Chinese anti-ship missiles. They were derived from the Soviet P-15 Termit missile.The HY-1 and HY-2 received the NATO reporting name Silkworm...
, a land-based version with the lowest requirement is also developed for this missile: as the missile is stored in a controlled environment in a warehouse on land, the salinity, temperature and relative humidity requirements for the missile itself are greatly reduced. Because it is designed and deployed on land, the associate C4I systems can be located separately: the distributed system prevents electromagnetic interference, and if the C4I system is attacked, the distributed nature of the FL-10 would greatly reduce casualties and damage. FL-10 was revealed to the public at Zhuhai Airshow with the seeker of the TV guided version.
C-703
C-703 is the millimeter wave (MMW) guided (homing) version of C-701. Originally revealed in the 2002 Zhuhai Airshow, the missile had a 8-mm MMW seeker. In the 2008 Zhuhai Airshow, a 4-mm MMW seeker was also been developed. It was rumored that C-703 was specifically developed for export customers such as Iran.Specifications
- Length: 2.507 metre
- Diameter: 0.18 metre
- Wingspan: 0.587 metre (0.45 metre when folded)
- Weight: 100 kg
- Warhead: 29 kg (semi armor-piercing)
- Speed: > 0.8 MachMach numberMach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
- Cruise altitude: 15 - 20 metre
- Kill probability: > 95%
- Developer: China Aviation Industry Corporation