Davis_Chan

By Christopher F Foss Jane's Land Forces Contributing Editor
London

China North Industries Corporation (Norinco) has added additional capabilities to its Red Arrow 8L man-portable anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) system.

The latest missile that can be launched is Red Arrow 8 FAE (fuel air explosive), which has a launch weight of 26 kg and a maximum range of 4,000 m. This is fitted with an FAE warhead that is optimised for use in urban operations, especially against buildings, bunkers and dismounted infantry.

The Red Arrow 8 ATGW system has been deployed by the Chinese People's Liberation Army for almost 20 years in two basic land-based applications: tripod-mounted and integrated into various vehicle platforms. A helicopter version is also deployed and a ship-based version is being studied.

The vehicle versions include a four-round launcher mounted on the roof of a fully tracked armoured vehicle and another on a 4 x 4 light vehicle.

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It was when the Great Way declined,that human kindness and morality arose.
It was when intelligence and knowledge appeared,that the Great Artifice began.

Canmoore

im to lazy to google it lol...any pics you can post??

Davis_Chan

Davis_Chan

NORINCO Red Arrow 8

DESCRIPTION

Revealed in the early 1980s, the Red Arrow 8 was developed from the early 1970s and entered production in 1987. It is a second-generation wire-guided tube-launched Semi-Automatic Command to Line Of Sight (SACLOS) missile which is similar in appearance to the British Swingfire. The standard infantry version of the Red Arrow 8 system consists of four key parts, missile in its launch tube, InfraRed (IR) goniometer, guidance unit and tripod. The system can be quickly disassembled into the above four components, none of which weigh more than 25 kg. This makes the system of particular use to light infantry units operating in rough terrain. The missile is wire guided and all the operator has to do to ensure a hit is to keep his x12 optical sight on the target. Hit probability is claimed to be 90 per cent with penetration also being 90 per cent. The missile in its sealed launch tube is attached to the guidance unit which provides steering commands to the missile corresponding to deviation signals received from the goniometer and the missile. The IR goniometer is mounted on the left side of the launcher and as well as serving as a day sight also receives and modulates IR signals from the missile and feeds resulting deviation signals to the guidance unit. A night device can also be fitted. The tripod is very similar to that used for the US Hughes TOW ATGW and consists of an elevation and traverse mechanism adjustable at three firing positions. The missile has a High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) warhead which will penetrate around 800 mm of vertical steel armour. A tandem warhead has been developed. To enable targets to be engaged at night or under conditions of poor visability, the Red Arrow 8 anti-tank missile system can be fitted with a thermal imager which is mounted on the left side of the current sighting system. This has two fields of view, wide and narrow with the attached air bottle providing for 4.5 hours of operation depending on ambient conditions. The Dr A Q Khan Research Laboratories of Pakistan has developed a very similar missile to the Red Arrow 8 called the Baktar Shikan; details are given under Pakistan.

SPECIFICATIONS :

Type: wire-guided SACLOS
Missile (in tube):
(length) 1.566 m
(diameter) 0.155 m
(weight) 25 kg
Missile (out of tube):
(length) 0.875 m
(diameter) 0.120 m
(wing span) 0.320 m
(weight) 11.2 kg
Range: 200-3,000 m
Maximum speed: 220 m/s
Warhead weight: 3 kg
Armour penetration: 800 mm
IR goniometer:
(length) 0.480 m
(width) 0.150 m
(height) 0.280 m
(weight) 12.5 kg
Guidance unit:
(length) 0.665 m
(width) 0.368 m
(height) 0.350 m
(weight) 24 kg
Tripod assembly:
(length) 0.327 m
(width) 0.368 m
(height) 0.994 m
(weight) 23 kg
Traverse: 360?br> Depression/elevation: -7/+13?br>

STATUS : In production. In service with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslim Army, Chile (limited number), Pakistan Army, People's Liberation Army and Thai Army.

APPLICATIONS : Armoured Vehicle Applications
Tracked YW531 APC (four-tube turret - People's Liberation Army)
Tracked YW534 APC (four-tube turret - People's Liberation Army)
WZ 551 (4 x 4) APC (four-tube turret - People's Liberation Army and export).


COMPANY NAME : NORINCO, China North Industries Corporation.
Dr A Q Khan Research Laboratories, Pakistan.

Anon

LOL, TOW II clone.

Davis_Chan

Evidence?

Tronic

dude... its China... homeland of piracy and the number one copycat in the world...

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Nabha Sparasham Deeptam
-Touch The Sky With Glory

Officer of Engineers

They copied the idea. They did not copied the TOW II.

__________________
Chimo

Tronic

well... we dont know that for sure... especially since now China has access to American weapons....... and don't act surprised....

xinhui

DC,

The photos you posted are D,E models, not L.

Officer of Engineers

You can't copy the software.

Anon

Does a TOW have 'software'?

xinhui

few things,

The L model entered service back in 2003 with a weight reduction of 35Kg and enabled it to be man-portable which is a major requirement for any PLA infantry crew weapons. In fact, PLA perferred HJ-73 because it is manportable. With the lessons learned from the current wars, there seems to be a stronger push for PLA to adopte a more powerful infantry based AT weapons. Recent CCTV report of 31st GA, Nanjing MR seems to confirm that.

Here is a pic of the L model

Attached Images

L_060901205104__1_xins.jpg (57.5 KB, 182 views)

xinhui

older model, notice the firing position.

Attached Images

L-2-060901205524__1_xins.jpg (57.9 KB, 182 views)

xinhui

and since I have access to Janes, here is the full article... enjoy and FAIR USE


Date Posted: 17-Aug-2006

JANE'S DEFENCE WEEKLY - AUGUST 23, 2006

Red Arrow 8L gains greater capabilities

Christopher F Foss Jane's Land Forces Contributing Editor
London

China North Industries Corporation (Norinco) has added additional capabilities to its Red Arrow 8L man-portable anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) system.

The latest missile that can be launched is Red Arrow 8 FAE (fuel air explosive), which has a launch weight of 26 kg and a maximum range of 4,000 m. This is fitted with an FAE warhead that is optimised for use in urban operations, especially against buildings, bunkers and dismounted infantry.

The first generation Red Arrow 8 ATGW had a range of 3,000 m and was fitted with a single high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) (on the Red Arrow 8A) or tandem HEAT (on the Red Arrow 8C) missile warhead optimised to defeat armoured targets fitted with explosive reactive armour.

The next improvement involved extending the range of the Red Arrow 8 missile from 3,000 m to 4,000 m. This was achieved by lengthening the missile to take additional propellant as well as extending the length of the guidance wire.

The second-generation Red Arrow 8 missile is being marketed in two versions, one with a tandem HEAT warhead (Red Arrow 8E) and another with an anti-bunker warhead (Red Arrow 8F), which is claimed to be able to penetrate 70 cm of reinforced concrete.

The new Red Arrow 8 FAE missile can be launched from the Red Arrow 8L lightweight launcher, which can also launch all older versions of the Red Arrow 8 missile.

The lightweight launcher consists of a launching and guidance unit that weighs 22.5 kg and can be split into two smaller loads for ease of transport across rough terrain. The original launcher complete with one missile weighs 89.2 kg, which limits tactical mobility and can only be carried over short distances.

The standard Norinco Red Arrow 8L launcher has a day sight that is positioned on the left side of the launcher, but a thermal imager can be rapidly clipped on to enable targets to be detected, recognised and engaged at night or in poor weather conditions. This is called the PTI-32, weighs 8 kg and can detect targets out to 4,000 m and identify targets out to 2,000 m.

The Red Arrow 8 ATGW system has been deployed by the Chinese People's Liberation Army for almost 20 years in two basic land-based applications: tripod mounted and integrated into various vehicle platforms. A helicopter version is also deployed and a ship-based version is being studied.

The vehicle versions include a four-round launcher mounted on the roof of a fully tracked armoured vehicle and another on a 4 x 4 light vehicle.

Norinco is still marketing the Red Arrow 8 as well as the more recent Red Arrow 9 on the export market. Known export sales of the standard Red Arrow 8 ATGW system include Bangladesh (114 systems in 2001).

The Institute of Industrial Control Systems facility in Pakistan manufacture a version of this called the 'Baktar Shikan', which is known to have been exported to Malaysia with some integrated onto the Turkish FNSS Armoured Combat Vehicle.

NORINCO Red Arrow 8 (jaaug.janes.com)
China unveils Red Arrow weapon/launcher combo (jdw.janes.com, 08/05/02)

The new Red Arrow 8 FAE 4,000 m range anti-tank guided missile can be launched from all existing Red Arrow 8 launchers including The new Red Arrow 8 FAE 4,000 m range anti-tank guided missile can be launched from all existing Red Arrow 8 launchers including a <b>Red Arrow 8L lightweight launcher</b>. (Christopher F Foss) The new Red Arrow 8 FAE 4,000 m range anti-tank guided missile can be launched from all existing Red Arrow 8 launchers including The new Red Arrow 8 FAE 4,000 m range anti-tank guided missile can be launched from all existing Red Arrow 8 launchers including a Red Arrow 8L lightweight launcher. (Christopher F Foss)