War Museum of the Chinese Revolution … In this part of the tour of the Military Museum of the Chinese Revolution, we will get acquainted with the ballistic, cruise and anti-aircraft missiles available here. Among the aircraft with jet and piston engines on display on the first floor of the museum, there are ballistic and cruise missiles. DF-1 and DF-2 ballistic missiles rise above the aviation equipment presented on the ground floor, almost resting against the ceiling.
The Soviet ballistic missile R-2 had much in common with the R-1 missile, which in turn was created on the basis of the German V-2 (A-4). To increase the range in the R-2, a warhead separating from the rocket body was used. In addition, a lightweight aluminum alloy fuel tank was used to reduce weight. The new RD-101 engine was lighter and had increased thrust. To improve the accuracy of the hit, the control equipment was supplemented with a lateral radio correction system, which reduces the parallel drift of the rocket. In the standard version, the R-2 had a high-explosive warhead weighing 1500 kg, equipped with 1000 kg of TNT. The length of the rocket was 17.7 m, the maximum diameter was 1.65 m. The rocket with a launch weight of 20.4 tons had a firing range of up to 600 km.
In December 1957, within the framework of military-technical cooperation, a production license, a complete set of documentation and several missiles were transferred to the PRC. The Chinese version was named DF-1 ("Dongfeng-1", East Wind-1). The first missile brigade with Soviet R-2s was formed in 1957, and the first missile division, loudly called strategic, appeared in 1960. At the same time, the PRC began to form the "Second Artillery Corps" of the PLA - an analogue of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces.
By 1961, the PLA already had several regiments equipped with DF-1 missiles, which were aimed at Taiwan and South Korea. However, the technical reliability coefficient of the DF-1 was low and did not exceed the value - 0, 5. In other words, only 50% of the missiles had a chance to hit the target. Given the low firing accuracy and high-explosive warhead, DF-1s were relatively effective against large cities. The first "Chinese" short-range ballistic missile remained essentially an experimental one, but the Chinese managed to accumulate the necessary knowledge and train personnel. The operation of the DF-1 in the PRC continued until the end of the 1960s.
The DF-2 was the first Chinese ballistic missile produced in significant quantities and equipped with a nuclear warhead (YBCH). It is believed that during its creation, Chinese designers used the technical solutions used in the Soviet P-5. The rocket is made single-stage with a four-chamber sustainer liquid propellant rocket engine. Kerosene and nitric acid were used as propellants. The DF-2 had an accuracy of fire (KVO) within 3 km with a maximum flight range of 2000 km, this missile could already hit targets in Japan and in a significant part of the USSR.
The DF-2 rocket was launched from a ground launch pad, where it was installed during prelaunch preparation. Prior to that, it was stored in an underground or solid reinforced concrete shelter and was taken out to the starting position only after receiving the appropriate order. In order to launch a rocket from a technical state corresponding to constant readiness, it took more than 3.5 hours. On alert there were about 70 missiles of this type.
On October 27, 1966, the BR DF-2 was tested with a real nuclear charge, having flown 894 km, it hit a conditional target at the Lop Nor test site. The DF-2 was originally equipped with a 20 kt monoblock nuclear warhead, which, given the large CEP, was very modest for a strategic missile. In the mid-1970s, it was possible to bring the charge power to 700 kt. DF-2 missiles were in the missile brigades stationed in the west, north and northeast of the PRC until the mid-1980s. After decommissioning, the DF-2 was used in various experiments, and for testing the radars of the early warning system for a missile attack.
In 1960, the USSR adopted the P-15 cruise anti-ship missile. It had a sustainer two-component liquid-propellant jet engine, which used self-igniting fuel when in contact with an oxidizer TG-02 ("Tonka-250") and an AK-20K oxidizer (based on nitrogen oxides). The engine worked in two modes: acceleration and cruise. On the cruising phase of the flight, the rocket flew at a speed of 320 m / s. The firing range of the first modifications of the P-15 anti-ship missile system reached forty kilometers. On the P-15 rocket, an autonomous guidance system was installed, with a radar or thermal seeker, an autopilot, a radio or a barometric altimeter, which made it possible to keep the flight altitude within 100-200 meters above the surface. The high-explosive cumulative warhead weighing 480 kilograms ensured the defeat of warships with a displacement of more than 3000 tons.
In addition to the 183R missile boats and several hundred missiles, China received technical documentation for the P-15M anti-ship missiles, which made it possible in the early 1970s to establish their serial production at the aircraft plant No. 320 in Nanchang. In the PRC, cruise missiles received the designation SY-1; in addition to missile boats, they were armed with frigates of project 053 (type "Jianhu"), created on the basis of the Soviet TFR, project 50, and coastal missile units. The first modification of the Chinese anti-ship missile system with a liquid-propellant jet engine entered service in 1974.
At first, the operation of the SY-1 was very difficult, the Chinese clearly lacked experience, knowledge and production culture, and the quality of missile manufacturing was very low. There were frequent cases of fuel and oxidizer leaks, which, upon contact, ignited spontaneously, which led to explosions and fires.
Taking into account the complexity of operation and the danger of using rockets with liquid-propellant rocket engines operating on a caustic oxidizer and toxic fuel, the PRC developed the SY-2 anti-ship missile system with a solid fuel engine. But at the same time, the firing range was less than that of a rocket with an LPRE.
Further development of Chinese anti-ship missiles was focused on increasing the speed and range of flight, jamming of the seeker and the power of the warhead, which led to the creation of the HY-1 series of missiles.
HY-1 missiles were armed with the Chinese destroyers of the project 051 and coastal divisions. Improved versions with a new active radar seeker were designated as - HY-1J and HY-1JA. Missiles of this type carried a cumulative warhead weighing more than 500 kg. The launch of a rocket from a carrier ship or a ground launcher was carried out using a solid propellant booster.
The modernization of the HY-1 guidance system and an increase in geometric dimensions led to the creation of the HY-2 (C201) anti-ship missile system. Thanks to larger tanks, the flight range increased to 100 km. But at the same time, the increased capacity of the tanks increased the dimensions of the missiles, making it impossible to place them on ship launchers. For this reason, the HY-2 anti-ship missiles were used only on coastal missile systems.
On the RCC HY-2, created in the 1980s, ampouled tanks with fuel and an oxidizer were used. Thanks to this, the fueled missiles could be at the starting position for a long time. It also facilitated their maintenance and reduced the risk for settlements. Increased power solid-propellant boosters were used to launch the HY-2 family of anti-ship missiles.
The HY-2A rocket was equipped with an infrared seeker, and the HY-2B and HY-2G were equipped with monopulse radar seeker, and the HY-2C was equipped with a television guidance system. The probability of hitting a target in the event of its capture by a radar seeker in the absence of organized interference was estimated as 0, 7-0, 8.
The use of an improved radio altimeter and a programmable controller on the HY-2G modification allowed the rocket to use a variable flight profile.
Chinese specialists have squeezed out everything that is possible from the basic design of the Soviet anti-ship missile P-15, creating a line of sea, air and land-based cruise missiles. Thanks to the introduction of various improvements and an increase in the capacity of the tanks with fuel and oxidizer, it was possible to significantly increase the firing range. The introduction of various types of target guidance systems not only improved noise immunity, but also diversified the options for use for various purposes. In particular, thanks to the use of passive radar seeker, it became possible to defeat operating ground and ship radars.
After the implementation of the program to improve reliability and safety, on the basis of the HY-2 anti-ship missile system in 1977, a modification of the YJ-6 was created, the carriers of which were the long-range H-6 bombers. Compared to the HY-2, the YJ-6 has a slightly smaller length and launch mass.
This version of the anti-ship missile system, which was put into service in 1984, could hit targets at a distance of up to 100 km, the probability of hitting a target in the absence of interference by Chinese specialists was estimated at 0.7.
In the mid-1980s, the C611 (YJ-61) aviation anti-ship missile system, created on the basis of the later HY-2 models, entered service. The air-launched missile had a lighter mass, and it did not have launch boosters. Compared with the early models of Chinese liquid anti-ship missiles, which were carried by long-range bombers H-6, the S611 missile has become easier to use and safer. The launch range increased to 200 km, the probability of hitting the target was increased due to the use of anti-jamming seeker. The C611Y modification is equipped with a new guidance system built on a solid-state element base. After being dropped from an aircraft, the rocket flies according to a pre-prepared program, only at the final section using an active radar seeker to search for a target.
The rocket carrying a warhead weighing 300 kg on the marching section has a speed of about 320 m / s, at the final stage of the flight it can exceed the speed of 400 m / s. The minimum flight altitude is 50 meters. Air-launched liquid-propellant anti-ship missiles of the C611 family are still part of the armament of the N-6 naval aviation aircraft, but are gradually being replaced by safer models with solid-propellant, turbojet and ramjet engines.
In addition to serial products, the museum's exposition has a model of an experimental supersonic anti-ship missile system HY-3. The HY-3 rocket used the warhead and seeker from the HY-2G anti-ship missile. The launch took place with the help of four solid-propellant boosters.
Two propulsion ramjets, running on kerosene, were launched after reaching a speed of 1.8M and accelerated the rocket to a speed of more than 2.5M. The firing range was 150 km. Due to the excessive complexity and low technical reliability, the production of the HY-3 anti-ship missiles was limited to an experimental batch.
On the ground floor, among the armored vehicles and various artillery systems, launchers with anti-aircraft missiles of the HQ-2 anti-aircraft complex, which is a Chinese version of the Soviet S-75 air defense system, are displayed.
In the 1950s, Kuomintang Taiwan and communist China were virtually at war. Over the Formosa and the adjacent territory of the South China Sea, real air battles regularly took place between jet fighters of the Air Force of the People's Republic of China and the Air Force of the Republic of China, led by Marshal Chiang Kai-shek. After both sides suffered significant air losses, large-scale battles between Chinese and Taiwanese fighters ceased, but the Americans and the leadership of Taiwan closely monitored the increase in the military power of mainland China and regular flights of high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft RB-57D and U-2C began over the territory of the PRC. in the cockpits of which the Taiwanese pilots were sitting. The high-altitude scouts were provided to the island Republic of China as part of US gratuitous aid. If the Kuomintang tried to reveal the PLA's preparations for the invasion of Taiwan, the American intelligence services were primarily interested in the progress of the implementation of the nuclear program in the PRC, the construction of new aircraft factories and missile ranges.
Initially, high-altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft Martin RB - 57D Canberra were used for flights over the mainland of the PRC. This aircraft was created by Martin on the basis of the British bomber Electric Canberra. The single-seat reconnaissance aircraft had a flight altitude of more than 20,000 m and could take photographs of ground objects within a radius of up to 3,700 km from its airfield.
From January to April 1959, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft made ten long raids deep into the territory of the PRC, and in the summer of the same year, RB-57D flew twice over Beijing. The top Chinese leadership was very sensitive to the fact that foreign aircraft could fly with impunity over the country's territory and Mao Zedong, despite his personal hostility to Khrushev, asked for the supply of weapons that could interfere with the flights of Taiwanese reconnaissance aircraft. Although by that time relations between the USSR and the PRC were already far from ideal, Mao Zedong's request was granted, and in an atmosphere of deep secrecy, five fire and one technical division of the SA-75 Dvina, including 62 11D anti-aircraft missiles, were delivered to China.
As part of the SA-75 "Dvina" air defense missile system, the V-750 (1D) missile defense system was used with an engine running on kerosene; nitrogen tetroxide was used as an oxidizer. The rocket was launched from an inclined launcher with a variable launch angle and an electric drive for turning in angle and azimuth with the help of a detachable solid-propellant first stage. The guidance station was capable of simultaneously tracking one target and aiming up to three missiles at it. In total, the anti-aircraft missile division had 6 launchers, which were located at a distance of up to 75 meters from the SNR-75.
In the PRC, the positions of the SA-75 air defense system were placed around important political and economic centers: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xian and Shenyang. To service these anti-aircraft systems, a group of Soviet specialists was sent to China, who were also engaged in the preparation of Chinese calculations. In the fall of 1959, the first divisions, served by Chinese crews, began to carry out combat duty, and already on October 7, 1959, near Beijing, at an altitude of 20,600 m, the first Taiwanese RB-57D was shot down. As a result of a close rupture of a powerful fragmentation warhead weighing 190 kg, the aircraft fell apart and its fragments were scattered over a large area. The reconnaissance plane pilot was killed. According to the radio intercept station, which controlled the negotiations of the deceased RB-57D pilot, until the last moment he did not suspect about the danger, and the tape recording of the pilot's negotiations with Taiwan was cut off in mid-sentence. The PLA command did not disclose information that the spy plane was shot down, and the Taiwanese media reported that the RB-57D crashed, fell and sank in the East China Sea during a training flight.
American experts ruled out the possibility that a weapon capable of shooting down air targets flying at an altitude of more than 20 km appeared in the PRC, and in the early 1960s, six Lockheed U-2C high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft appeared in the Taiwan Air Force. The U-2C aircraft could conduct reconnaissance from an altitude of more than 21,000 m. The flight duration was 6.5 hours, the speed on the route was about 600 km / h.
However, flights over mainland China were associated with great risks. In the period from November 1, 1963on May 16, 1969, at least 4 aircraft were shot down by anti-aircraft missile systems. At the same time, two pilots successfully ejected and were captured. Two more U-2Cs were lost in flight accidents, after which the raids of high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft from Taiwan ceased.
At present, the wreckage of one of the U-2C high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft is on display at the Military Museum of the Chinese Revolution. There are also launchers of the HQ-2 complex with anti-aircraft missiles. Although the later models outwardly have much in common with the first Chinese air defense system HQ-1, unfortunately there is no such missile in the exhibition hall.
However, this did not mean that the violation of the air borders of the PRC had stopped. In addition to the invasion of airspace from Taiwan, several American combat aircraft were shot down over Chinese territory during the Vietnam War. Whereas Phantom pilots violated the border mostly by accident, the AQM-34 Firebee drones deliberately ventured deeper into Chinese territory.
In 1966, on the basis of a package of documentation received from the USSR in the PRC, its own analogue of "Dvina" was created - the HQ-1 air defense system. However, in terms of its capabilities, this complex no longer fully met the requirements of the military. Since in the 1960s, military-technical cooperation with the Soviet Union was practically curtailed, China lost the opportunity to legally get acquainted with Soviet innovations in the field of air defense. But the Chinese "comrades", with their characteristic pragmatism, took advantage of the fact that Soviet military aid was coming through the territory of the PRC by rail to North Vietnam. Soviet representatives have repeatedly recorded the facts of the loss during transportation through Chinese territory: radars, elements of anti-aircraft missile systems and anti-aircraft missiles.
After Chinese specialists gained access to the more advanced Soviet S-75 Desna air defense systems and C-75M Volga air defense systems and B-755 air defense systems delivered to Egypt, China created the HQ-2 air defense system with a guidance station operating in 6 -See the frequency range. The new complex had an increased firing range and improved noise immunity. Currently, the PRC continues to operate the HQ-2J air defense system built in the second half of the 1980s. But as new complexes with solid-propellant missiles arrive, the Chinese analogue of the S-75 is withdrawn from their operation.
