Yao Jianing， 2016-12-02
BEIJING, Dec. 2 (ChinaMil) — The website of the US bimonthly The National Interest published an article titled China’s Mach 6 Monster Air-to-Air Missile Could Make the US Air Force Come in for a ‘Crash Landing’ on November 28, claiming that the Chinese military has apparently test-fired a new very-long-range air-to-air missile. If reports were accurate, the new weapon could hit US aircraft at twice the range at which the Americans can shoot back.
Images depicting the new missile under the wing of a Chinese air force J-16 fighter circulated in November 2016. The J-16 reportedly fired at least one of the missiles, successfully striking an aerial target, according to the article.
China has developed air-to-air missiles at a pace at least as rapid as its development of fighter aircraft. The new very-long-range air-to-air missile, or VLRAAM, appeared suddenly. Foreign observers apparently don’t even know what the Chinese call the new munition, the article said.
Technical data on the missile is hard to come by, but the photos Beijing has allowed to leak do at least establish the weapon’s dimensions, which hint at the missile’s capabilities. In the photos, the VLRAAM is clearly around a third the length of the J-16, giving the munition an overall length of around 20 feet (about 6 meters) and a diameter of roughly a foot, according to the article.
In any event, the weapon is much more substantial than is the US military’s own longest-range air-to-air missile, the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile. The AMRAAM is just 12 feet long and seven inches in diameter. The latest version of the American missile, the AIM-120D, reportedly boasts a maximum range in excess of 90 miles (about 145km), according to the article.
According to the article, the new Chinese munition closely matches the dimensions of Russia’s K-100 air-to-air missile, which has been in halting development for 25 years now but could, in theory, hit targets as far as 200 miles from the launching plane, the article said.
To achieve its apparent long range, the Chinese VLRAAM reportedly relies on a powerful rocket motor that can propel the munition at “hypersonic” speeds of up to Mach 6 , 50% faster than the AIM-120D’s own top speed.
Launched by a fighter flying as high as 50,000 feet, the Chinese missile could climb to an altitude of around 100,000 feet and glide in the thin air for more than a hundred miles before descending to strike its target, according to recent studies in Chinese scientific journals, the article said.
Moreover, Beijing’s VLRAAM reportedly features an active electronically-scanned array seeker with optical back-up and mid-course satellite guidance ¬¬– truly state of the art for an air-to-air missile. The AIM-120D makes do with an older-style, and less effective, mechanically-steered radar, according to the article.