Neha Patil (Editor)

QW 2 Vanguard 2

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Type
  
MANPADS

In service
  
1990’s to present

Length
  
1.59 meter

Place of origin
  
China

Produced
  
Since Mid 1990’s

Weight
  
11.32 kg, 18 kg with launcher

The QW-2 Vanguard 2 is a Chinese all-aspect man-portable infrared homing guided surface-to-air missile. It is not clear when the missile first entered service, but it is likely to have been between 1998 and 2002.

Contents

The QianWei 2 (or Vanguard 2, its export name) is the third-generation shoulder-launched, all-aspect IR-homing, 'fire-and-forget' surface-to-air missile developed by Shenyang-based CASIC 119 Factory (Shenyang Hangtian Xinle Ltd). The QW-2 was first revealed during the 1998 Farnborough Airshow. The missile and launcher of the QW-2 bear strong resemblance to those of the Russian 9K310 Igla-1, and the two missile systems are believed to be comparable in performance.

Description

QW-2 is a development of the QW-1 Vanguard series, and is considered by many domestic Chinese media sources as the Chinese equivalent of FIM-92E Stinger.

Compared to the QianWei 1, the minimum operating altitude of the QianWei 2 has been reduced from 30m to 10m; the operating range has been increased from 5 km to 6 km; and the missile’s reaction time has been reduced to below 5 seconds. The QianWei 2 features a newly developed dual-band passive IR seeker with strong resistance to heat flares dispensed by the target and solar/ground heat, thus improving the missile’s performance in day/night, all-weather conditions.

Specifications

  • Length: 1.59 m
  • Missile and launcher weight: 18 kg
  • Missile: 11.32 kg
  • Velocity: 600 m/s
  • Warhead: 1.42 kg HE-fragmentation
  • Engagement range: 500 to 6000 m
  • Engagement altitude: 10 to 3500 m
  • Reaction time: < 5 seconds
  • References

    QW-2 Vanguard 2 Wikipedia