BRE (export name: Fire Dragon/King Dragon) is a series of guided rockets (
missile
A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor.
Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...
s) manufactured by Chinese
Norinco
China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, doing business internationally as Norinco Group (an abbreviation of "North Industries Corporation"), and known within China as China Ordnance Industries Group Corporation Limited (), is a Chinese ...
.
The largest version is the BRE8, export name Fire Dragon 480 (previously Fire Dragon 280A). It is a 750 mm
tactical ballistic missile
A tactical ballistic missile (TBM), or battlefield range ballistic missile (BRBM), is a ballistic missile designed for short-range battlefield use. Typically, range (aeronautics), range is less than . Tactical ballistic missiles are usually mo ...
, with a 480 kg
warhead
A warhead is the section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket (weapon), rocket, torpedo, or bomb.
Classification
Types of warheads include:
*E ...
and range of 280–300 km, for the AR-3 launcher. It uses
inertial
In classical physics and special relativity, an inertial frame of reference (also called an inertial space or a Galilean reference frame) is a frame of reference in which objects exhibit inertia: they remain at rest or in uniform motion relative ...
plus
satellite guidance
A guided bomb (also known as a smart bomb, guided bomb unit, or GBU) is a precision-guided munition designed to achieve a smaller circular error probable (CEP).
The creation of precision-guided munitions resulted in the retroactive renaming of ...
with a CEP accuracy of about 30m.
A similar missile is the 610 mm caliber King Dragon 300, with a range of 300 km and precision guidance, for the SR-5 launcher.
The rockets are currently in service with the
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...
, as the
PHL-16
The PHL-16, also known as PCL-191, is a truck-mounted self-propelled multiple rocket launcher (MRL) system developed by the People's Republic of China.
Development
It is based on the AR-3 MRL developed by Norinco. The AR-3 was marketed in 2010 ...
.
Variants
;Unguided 122mm
*Standard HE: High explosive warhead. 40 km range.
*BRE1: High explosive warhead. 50 km range.
;Guided 122mm
*BRE7/Fire Dragon 40A: 40 km range.
[
] GPS/INS guided with CEP 25m and minimum distance 20 km.
;Guided 220mm
*GR1/King Dragon 60: 70 km range. Terminal laser homing guidance and GPS/INS guided. Minimum range 25 km.
;Unguided 300mm
*BRC3: Cargo warhead, 70 km range
*BRC4: Cargo warhead, 130 km range
*BRE2: High explosive warhead, 130 km range
;Guided 300mm
*BRE3/FD140A: 130 km range; also known as Fire Dragon 140A
;Guided 370mm
*BRE6/FD220: 220 km range, 30m
CEP
;Guided 610mm
*King Dragon 300: 300 km range
;Guided 750mm
*BRE8/FD280: 360 km range for BRE8, 280 km range, 30m CEP for export version Fire Dragon 480
;Anti-ship missiles 380mm
*TL-7B
References
Tactical ballistic missiles
Guided missiles of the People's Republic of China
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