Until the second half of the 60s of the last century, most Western naval specialists treated guided anti-ship missiles (ASM) with disdain, not considering them an effective means of armed struggle at sea. At that time, the Soviet Union managed to get ahead of the United States in the field of guided missile weapons, armed with anti-ship missiles on coastal complexes, submarines, destroyers, boats and bombers. And although the first Soviet missiles were far from perfect in a number of parameters, their successful use during the 1967 Arab-Israeli armed conflict subsequently gave rise to a real "missile naval boom."
The most widespread at that time domestic anti-ship missiles P-15 had a sustainer two-component liquid-propellant jet engine. It used self-igniting fuel in contact with the oxidizer TG-02 ("Tonka-250") and the oxidizer AK-20K (liquid nitric acid oxidizer). The engine worked in two modes: acceleration and cruise. On the cruise 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.
An autonomous guidance system was installed on the P-15 rocket, which included a radar or thermal homing head (GOS), an autopilot and a barometric or radio altimeter, which made it possible to keep the flight altitude within 100-200 meters above the surface. The high-explosive cumulative warhead (warhead) weighing 480 kilograms was designed to defeat warships with a displacement of more than 3000 tons.
Launch of the P-15 anti-ship missile system from the Project 183R missile boat
The P-15 anti-ship missile system along with the carriers for the 183R missile boats were widely exported. They were in service with the Navy: Algeria, Egypt, Cuba, North Korea and Indonesia. In addition to boats and missiles, China received technical documentation for the P-15M anti-ship missiles, which made it possible in the first half of the 70s to set up their serial production at the aircraft plant No. 320 in Nanchang. The production of anti-ship missiles in China was severely hampered by the "cultural revolution". The repressions against the intelligentsia and the general decline in the culture of production at that time greatly limited the possibilities of Chinese science and industry in the field of creating modern weapons.
In the PRC, the P-15 missiles were designated as 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.
ASM SY-1 in the museum exposition
At first, the operation of the SY-1 was very difficult, the Chinese clearly lacked experience, knowledge and production culture, and the manufacturing quality of the first anti-ship missiles was very low. There were frequent cases of fuel and oxidizer leaks, which, upon contact, ignited spontaneously, which in some cases led to explosions and fires.
In the late 70s, an improved version of the SY-1A anti-ship missile was created in the PRC. The main differences from the earlier model were the use of a new impulse noise-immune seeker and a radio altimeter. In the modification of the SY-1A rocket, it was possible to get rid of leaks and achieve the possibility of a sufficiently long-term storage of the anti-ship missile in a fueled form. Success in improving the reliability and safety of storage, transportation and use of the SY-1A missile made it possible to create on its basis the first Chinese air-launched anti-ship missile system YJ-6, which was carried by long-range N-6 bombers. This version of the anti-ship missile system could already 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.
ASM SY-2
Taking into account the complexity of operation and the danger of using rockets with liquid propellant engines operating on a caustic oxidizer and toxic fuel, the PRC developed the SY-2 anti-ship missile system with a solid fuel engine. However, the launch range of SY-2 missiles did not exceed 50 km, in this regard, in the 80s, an attempt was made to create the SY-2A anti-ship missile system with a turbojet engine (TRD). However, at that time for the Chinese industry, mastering the production of a small-sized turbojet engine with a high degree of reliability proved to be a difficult task. Therefore, the development and production of new modifications of missiles with a simple and inexpensive rocket engine continued.
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 missiles. In general, the Chinese specialists followed the Soviet path of improving the P-15 anti-ship missiles, but made much further progress in this direction. At a time when new designs of modern anti-ship missiles with supersonic flight speeds were already created in the USSR, the PRC continued to improve the old designs, equipping them with solid-fuel and turbojet engines.
The Chinese destroyers of project 051 were armed with HY-1 missiles. Improved versions with a new active radar seeker were designated as - HY-1J and HY-1JА. 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, and the operation of a sustainer rocket engine began already in the air, at a safe distance. This significantly increased the safety of the use of missiles, since there were frequent cases of an explosion of a liquid-propellant engine at the time of the start of its operation.
The modernization of the HY-1 guidance system and an increase in geometric dimensions led to the creation of the HY-2 anti-ship missile system. Thanks to larger tanks, the flight range increased to 100 km. But at the same time, the increase in the capacity of the tanks increased the dimensions of the missiles, making it impossible to place them on ship launchers. For this reason, anti-ship missiles of the HY-2 family were used only on coastal missile systems.
RCC HY-2G
The missile modification HY-2A 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 was estimated - 0, 9. 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.
The creation of the small-sized WS-11 turbojet engine in China made it possible to equip them with the new HY-4 anti-ship missiles. The Chinese WS-11 is a clone of the American Teledyne-Ryan CAE J69-T-41A turbojet engine, which was installed on the AQM-34 reconnaissance UAVs during the Vietnam War. The HY-4 missile with a launch range of up to 150 km, put into service in 1983, was a combination of guidance and control systems from the HY-2G anti-ship missile system with a WS-11 turbojet engine. This engine was also used on some Chinese UAVs. Externally, the RCC HY-4 differs from the HY-2G by the presence of a lower air intake. The export modification of the HY-4 missile was designated C-201W.
RCC HY-4
An improved modification of the rocket was designated HY-41. According to the Chinese media, the coastal missile division of the HY-41 complex can destroy targets in the +/- 85 degrees sector, which, with a launch range of 250-300 km, depending on the flight profile, makes it possible to cover the sea area of 14,000 square kilometers.
Prototype RCC HY-41
In the mid-80s in the PRC, the YJ-61 (C-611) aviation anti-ship missile system, created on the basis of the HY-2, was tested and put into service. The air-launched missile variant is lighter and lacks launch boosters. Compared with the early models of the Chinese liquid anti-ship missiles, which were carried by long-range bombers H-6, the YJ-61 missile has become easier to use and safer to handle. The launch range and the probability of hitting the target have increased.
RCC YJ-61
Another option for the development of the HY-4 anti-ship missile system was the aircraft YJ-63 (C-603), which was put into service in the 2002 year. It is China's first air-to-surface missile powered by a turbojet engine. The YJ-63 is capable of hitting both ground and surface targets with high accuracy. Outwardly, it retained many of the features of previous models of anti-ship missiles, but at the same time it has a different tail section design.
At the initial stage of the flight, the YJ-63 anti-ship missile system is controlled by an inertial system, in the middle stage, correction takes place using signals from the satellite navigation system, and at the final stage, a television guidance system is used. In 2005, a version of a rocket with a radio-transparent fairing of the warhead was demonstrated, under which, apparently, there is a radar seeker. The launch range of the YJ-63 anti-ship missile is within 180 km, but at a subsonic flight speed, this very massive missile will be vulnerable to shipborne air defense systems.
Performance characteristics of the first generation Chinese anti-ship missiles
The first generation of Chinese anti-ship missiles, based on their Soviet counterparts, went through an independent development path. Despite the archaic appearance, Chinese anti-ship missiles, created on the basis of the Soviet P-15 missile, still remain in service with the coastal units of the PLA Navy, and long-range bombers are also their carriers. But on the warships of the Chinese fleet, the old missiles with liquid propellant engines have almost all been replaced by modern anti-ship missiles of Chinese and Russian production with turbojet and solid-propellant engines.
In addition to, in fact, anti-ship missiles, based on SY-2, HY-1 and HY-2 missiles, in order to ensure the process of combat training of air defense missile systems and tests of new anti-aircraft systems, a large series of them were built and converted from outdated combat missiles into radio-controlled targets.
Chinese missiles, which have common roots with the Soviet P-15, were supplied to Burma, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and Sudan. The DPRK and Iran have established their own production of anti-ship missiles of this type. Chinese coastal anti-ship missiles, known in the west as Silk Warm, were used extensively during the Iran-Iraq War and during the 1991 Gulf War. This is how the incident that took place in February 1991 was widely publicized. Then, two Iraqi HY-1 anti-ship missiles were launched at the American battleship USS Missouri (BB-63), which was shelling the coast. One missile suffered a missile guidance system failure and went off course, the second was shot down by a Sea Dart anti-aircraft missile from the British destroyer HMS Gloucester (D96).
By the mid-80s, it became clear to Chinese specialists that the technical solutions incorporated in the P-15 rocket in the 50s were already outdated and its modernization potential was practically exhausted. In this regard, an attempt was made to create its own coast-based supersonic anti-ship missile system - HY-3 (S-301).
RCC HY-3
The attempt was not very successful: the rocket with a mass of about 3.5 tons had a length of almost 10 meters, which greatly impeded its transportation and camouflage of the coastal missile system on the ground.
The HY-3 used a warhead and a seeker from the HY-2G anti-ship missile. The rocket was launched using 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 launch range was within 150-180 km, which was clearly not enough for a rocket of this dimension.
Due to the excessive weight and dimensions, the HY-3 anti-ship missiles were not widely used, and the production of missiles was limited to an experimental batch.
In the early 90s, the FL-7 anti-ship missile system entered testing. This relatively small rocket with a liquid propellant engine was created with the expectation of achieving supersonic speed. It was intended for use with Z-8 helicopters and JH-7 fighter-bombers.
RCC FL-7
But the small launch range by modern standards, not exceeding 35 km, and the use of a dangerous two-component rocket engine in operation, caused the PLA Navy to lose interest in this missile.