In service 2015-present | ||
Type Anti-ship cruise missile
land attack cruise missile Place of origin People's Republic of China Used by People's Liberation Army Navy Warhead 140–300 kg (310–660 lb) warhead Operational
range 220–540 km (140–340 mi; 120–290 nmi) | ||
The YJ-18 (Chinese: 鹰击-18; pinyin: yingji-18; literally: "eagle strike 18", NATO designation CH-SS-NX-13) is a Chinese family of anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles.
Contents
Description
The United States Department of Defense believes the YJ-18 is similar to the Russian 3M-54 Klub, with a subsonic cruise mode and a supersonic terminal attack; the missile is credited with a range of 290 nautical miles (330 mi; 540 km), which would give it a threat ring of 264,200 sq nmi (349,900 sq mi; 906,000 km2). Some Western analysts believe the YJ-18 is a copy of the 3M-54E, with a cruising range of 180 km (110 mi; 97 nmi) at Mach 0.8 and a sprint range of 40 km (25 mi; 22 nmi) at Mach 2.5 to 3.0.
The missile can be launched from vertical launching systems, and possibly from submarine torpedo tubes. Chinese media claims the missile has an inertial guidance system using BeiDou Navigation Satellite System data, and carries a 300 kg (660 lb) high-explosive warhead or an anti-radiation warhead to destroy electronics at short range.
The YJ-18 is deployed aboard the Type 052D destroyer and will equip the future Type 055 destroyer. It may already be carried by the SHANG II-class nuclear attack submarine outfitted with VLS cells, will replace the 20 nmi (23 mi; 37 km)-range YJ-82 aboard the YUAN-class air-independent propulsion (AIP) and SONG-class diesel-electric submarines, will likely deploy on the Type 095 submarine, and may be capable of deployment on Kilo-class submarines. A land-based version could replace the subsonic 400 km (250 mi; 220 nmi)-range YJ-62 with shore batteries.