China is in the latter stages of developing a new long-range,
antiship cruise missile to be fitted as one of the primary weapons
on board the latest variant of its Type 052 class of
destroyer.
Two launch canisters can be seen mounted in the above picture.
Possibly eight missiles--in two four-canister packages--will be on
board. The canisters appear to be 8-10 meters (26.3-32.8 ft.) long,
with a diameter of about 1.5 meters. While the actual missile
design has yet to be shown, it is most likely to be subsonic or
transonic, with air-breathing propulsion and a range requirement of
several hundred kilometers.
Chinese naval missiles are often given a YJ designation, but the
actual number for this weapon is not yet known. The development
phase builds on the experience China has gained through the
YJ-8/YJ-82 family of antiship missiles. These have ranges of 40-120
km. (24.8-74.6 mi.), with the most powerful ones equipped with
turbojet engines.
The development, and eventual deployment, of an antiship missile
with a considerably greater range than existing weapons raises
questions about over-the-horizon targeting for the long-range
missile. Likely to follow a low-altitude flight profile, with a
further reduction in the terminal phase, mid-course target updates
from a third-party platform will be required. The missile will
almost certainly use active radar-guidance for the terminal phase
of an engagement.
When first deployed, the missile probably will be used in the
antisurface role but could be adapted for littoral land attack
easily.
