"The Chinese YJ-12 supersonic anti-ship missile." Topic

"Pictures of YJ-12, one of china's latest anti-ship missile, fitted on a Chinese Navy (PLAN) Xian H-6G bomber have recently emerged on the Chinese internet meaning this new generation missile may have entered operational service.

Existence of the YJ-12 came to light in early 2013, when its first picture emerged. The missile appears somewhat similar in design to the Russian Kh-31 air to surface missile or even closer in shape to the US made GQM-163A Coyote which is a supersonic sea skimming target.

Like the missiles mentioned above, the Chinese missile uses ramjet technology: Airbreathing jet engine using the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air, without a rotary compressor. It allows missiles to reach very high speeds…"

Full article here
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Amicalement
Armand

Of course it looks a lot like the Kh31 or BQM-163… The Coyote is supposed to be a training drone representing the Kh31, and was originally built from Kh31 airframes!

Kill the Spear Carrier, not the Spears. As impressive as Kh31s are, it would be doubly so if the PLAN was operating a speed sled like the Backfire instead of the Badger.

"China's new high-speed maneuvering warhead is a "great concern" because it appears designed for use with both nuclear and conventional Chinese military forces, a Pentagon intelligence official said Thursday.

Lee Fuell, a technical intelligence specialist with the Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center, said during a congressional China commission hearing the recently tested hypersonic glide vehicle "is basically a ballistic missile-launched system that gets the target—or gets the payload fast and high, pitches over, dives to hypersonic speed, and then basically just glides to the target."

"At this point, we think that's associated with their nuclear deterrent forces," Fuell said. "Of great concern would be if they were to apply the same technology and capability with a conventional warhead or even just without a warhead because of the kinetic energy that it has."…"

Full article here.
link

Amicalement
Armand

No sane person is going to launch one if it has a ballistic missile launch profile.

People on the wrong end of a little red button will soil themselves if there's a ballistic missile launch profile without a month's warning!

"No one will fire a hypersonic missile because it too closely matches a nuke launch." Well, the real problem is thinking that someone is that rational, especially when they have access to destabilizing weapons.

You can't count on someone on the other end operating in the same mindset as you. No one ever thought two economic powers so closely entwined would go to war over the assassination of a cousin fourth removed, but then WWI happened. Rationality only works if you're operating in the same framework.

There are elements of the Chinese military leadership who would welcome a final war with the West in order to mark the beginning of the new Hegemony. And yes, they've made these remarks publicly and in detail – not just bombastic, but actual written papers and doctrine for their military academies. If Central Leadership can't keep those folks on a leash, then it all boils down to a tactical COCOM with access to inter-theater weapons like the DF-21 and hypersonics. To the best that we can tell, China does NOT practice a Personnel Reliability Program. Your reliability is likely based on how good a Party Member you are, which doesn't screen for crazy.

To the best that we can tell, China does NOT practice a Personnel Reliability Program. Your reliability is likely based on how good a Party Member you are, which doesn't screen for crazy.

Which is very odd, because even the Soviets ran something comparable to PRP.

Gotta make sure you don't have a theater commander or lower trying to start a war without orders!

The Soviets <> The Chinese. Other than a bare resemblance in their Communist roots, there are significant differences in their political models alone. And yet we have the Premier making nice-nice with all the powers around him, and then his immediate GOFOs are making saber-rattling sounds. Who's on First?