| TL-6 | |
|---|---|
| Type | anti-ship / air-to-surface missiles |
| Place of origin | China |
| Service history | |
| In service | prior to 2006 – present |
| Used by | China |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Hongdu Aviation Industry Corporation |
| Produced | prior to 2006 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | ≈350 kg |
| Length | ≈3.5 meter |
| Diameter | 0.28 meter |
| Wingspan | 0.9 meter |
| Warhead | 30 kg warhead |
| Detonation mechanism | Semi-armor-piercing |
| Engine | rocket motor |
| Propellant | solid fuel |
| Operational range | 4 – 35 km |
| Flight altitude | ≈12 meter cruising |
| Maximum speed | ≈ Mach 0.8 – 0.9 |
| Guidance system | ARH / ImIR IR / TV |
| Launch platform | Air & surface |
The TL-6 (Chinese: 天龙-6; lit. 'Sky Dragon') is an anti-ship missile developed by Hongdu Aviation Industry Group. The missile was marketed via China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) as FL-9 (Chinese: 飞龙-9; lit. 'Flying Dragon'). The missile is also called Nasr missile by Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO).
Development
The TL-6 missile was showcased at Zhuhai Airshow 2004.
Hongdu Aviation Industry Corporation began the development of TL-6 and TL-10 missiles in the mid-1990s, and conducted test fires in the same period. According to a representative of Hongdu in 2004, the TL-6 and TL-10 programs were purely designed for export, and no missile would be inducted into the People's Liberation Army. Three missile variants were showcased, including the air-to-surface KJ/TL-10B, the surface-to-surface JJ/TL-10A, and the surface-to-surface JJ/TL-6B. TL-6 was tested fire by both surface systems and aircraft. TL-6B also had a radar-guided version under development.
Design
While TL-10 series is specifically designed to engage boats displacing 500 tons or less, TL-6 series is specifically designed to engage larger naval vessel with displacement up to 1,000 tons. Along with C-704 that covers ships from 1,000 tons to 3,000 tons, and larger anti-ship missiles such as C-802 that covers large ships, China has developed a complete anti ship cruise missile families that covers every displacement class. Western sources have claimed that the Iranian Nasr anti-ship missile is based on TL-6.
Like the anti-ship version of the C-701 and TL-10, TL-6 can also be armed with a television seeker which is interchangeable with TL-10. At the sixth Zhuhai airshow in 2006, the manufacturer revealed the plan already in development to have various platforms including aircraft, surface ships/boats, and from land/vehicle. However, like most light anti-ship missiles in the world, it is certain that this missile would not be launched from submarines, as the manufacturer has confirmed. Like its smaller cousin TL-6, the version that has been successfully completed is the ship-to-ship version, and hence the designation JJ/TL-6 at the sixth Zhuhai airshow in 2006, with JJ stands for Jian Jian, meaning Ship (to) Ship.
many sources claim that Nasr is based on TL-6, there are others that claim Nasr is based on another Chinese anti-ship missile, C-704 instead.
TL-2
A new version of TL-6 appeared made its public debut at the 7th Zhuhai Airshow held at the end of 2008, together with its smaller cousin TL-1. Developed by Hongdu Aviation Industry Corporation, the same manufacturer of TL-6, the new missile is designated as TL-2, and appears almost identical to TL-6. Not much information of TL-2 was released in detail at the air show, and based on scattered technical information published in China, it has been suggested that TL-2 is an upgraded TL-6 with a data link added, so that in addition to the original fire-and-forget capability, the only capability present on TL-10, there is an extra capability present on TL-2: operators can select to attack a different target other than the original one, if a greater threat has been identified after launching TL-2. These are other speculations on TL-2, such as TL-6 was purely for export, while TL-2 is the designation for domestic Chinese use, but these have yet to be verified when more detailed technical information is released in the future. Although the manufacturer has claimed that TL-1 can be deployed from various platform, the sample shown at the 7th Zhuhai Airshow was ship-born only, designated as JJ/TL-2, with JJ stands for Jian Jian (舰舰), meaning Ship (to) Ship.
Specification
- Dimensions:
- Length: 3400 mm - 3500 mm
- Diameter: 280 mm
- Wingspan: 900 mm
- Weight: 350 kg - 360 kg
- Warhead: 30 kg, semi-armor piecing
- Powerplant: twin thrust chamber, solid rocket motor
- Speed: Mach 0.8 - 0.9
- Range: 4–35 km
- Guidance: Radar-guided/INS
- Kill probability: 0.85
- Developer: Hongdu Aviation Industry Corporation
Operators
Current operators
References
- ^ Hewson, Robert (17 November 2004). "China aids Iran's tactical missile programme". Jane's Defence Weekly.
External links
- Archived 2005-04-26 at the Wayback Machine Report on the 5th Airshow China Zhuhai, Richard Fisher, Jr., PRC, November 1–7, 2004
- China aids Iran's tactical missile programme, Robert Hewson, Janes Defence Weekly, November 11, 2004
- TL-2/6 Archived 2012-03-22 at the Wayback Machine