The HJ-9, HongJian-9 (), military designation AFT-9, is an advanced, third-generation, man-portable or vehicle-mounted

anti-tank guided missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulde ...

system deployed by the

People's Liberation Army Ground Force The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF), also referred to as the PLA Army, is the army, land-based service branch of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and also its largest and oldest branch. The PLAGF can trace its lineage from 192 ...

History and development

HJ-9 development began in the early 1980s, and finished in the late 1990s. It was unveiled to the public officially in a military parade in 1999. The missile was developed by China North Industries Corporation (Norinco), and one of the chief designers was Yang Chunming (杨春铭). It is externally similar in appearance to the Israeli Man Portable Anti-Tank System ( MAPATS) and South African

ZT3 Ingwe The ZT3 Ingwe (Leopard) is a modern South African multi-role laser beam riding anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) manufactured by Denel Dynamics (formerly Kentron). Design and development The ZT3 and its launch system were developed under the c ...

anti-tank missile, however, no evidence was found of any technological link.

Design

The HJ-9 has a maximum range of , and a minimum range of , guided by

semi-automatic command to line of sight Semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) is a method of missile command guidance. In SACLOS, the operator must continually point a sighting device at the target while the missile is in flight. Electronics in the sighting device and/or the ...

laser

beam riding Beam-riding, also known as Line-Of-Sight Beam Riding (LOSBR), beam guidance or radar beam riding is a technique of directing a missile to its target by means of radar or a laser beam. The name refers to the way the missile flies down the guidanc ...

. Claimed penetration of

rolled homogeneous armour Rolled homogeneous armour (RHA) is a type of vehicle armour made of a single steel composition hot-rolled to improve its material characteristics, as opposed to layered or cemented armour. Its first common application was in tanks. After World W ...

(RHAe) is , which is greater than the

HJ-8 The HJ-8 or Hongjian-8 () is a second generation tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided anti-tank missile system which was originally deployed by the People's Liberation Army in the late 1980s. Development In 1970, China's armored corps ...

. The missile can mount various warheads including a

tandem-charge A tandem-charge or dual-charge weapon is an explosive device or projectile that has two or more stages of detonation, assisting it to penetrate either reactive armour on an armoured vehicle or strong structures. Anti-tank Tandem charges are ef ...

high-explosive anti-tank High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) is the effect of a shaped charge explosive that uses the Munroe effect to penetrate heavy armor. The warhead functions by having an explosive charge collapse a metal liner inside the warhead into a high-velocity ...

(HEAT)

shaped charge A shaped charge, commonly also hollow charge if shaped with a cavity, is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Different types of shaped charges are used for various purposes such as cutting and forming metal, ...

high explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

(HE), or

thermal A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfers heat energy vertically. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example ...

, for use against non-armored point targets, bunkers, and fortifications. Like the HJ-8, the HJ-9 uses a disposable container and launching tube, but the one for HJ-9 is heavier, weighing due to HJ-9's large diameter of . The missile is compatible with various thermal imaging sights and can be mounted on an AFT-9 Missile Carrier. In 2005, Norinco revealed HJ-9A in various public events. The HJ-9A was in service with the Chinese armed forces as of 2005. Unlike HJ-9, the newer system used semi-active

millimeter wave Extremely high frequency (EHF) is the International Telecommunication Union designation for the band of radio frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum from 30 to 300 gigahertz (GHz). It is in the microwave part of the radio spectrum, between t ...

radar guidance. The HJ-9A launcher was mostly observed being mounted on a tripod with an integrated radar system and was demonstrated by Norinco on a NJ2046 utility vehicle. The HJ-9A can also be mounted on trucks, armored personnel carriers, and other light utility vehicles. Norinco also revealed a further-developed version of the HJ-9A with laser guidance, designated HJ-9B.

Operators

* **

— 450 AFT-9 Missile Carrier estimated in service as of 2020.

References

HJ-9 ATM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hj-9 Anti-tank guided missiles of the People's Republic of China Weapons of the People's Republic of China Guided missiles of the People's Republic of China Air-to-surface missiles Military equipment introduced in the 1990s

History and development

Design

Operators

See also

References