Hong Kong's South China Morning Post recently said that on the occasion of Navy Day, China announced the "Eagle Strike-21" hypersonic missile for the first time. Foreign media said it was one of China's "most mysterious and deadly missiles."
April 23 is Chinese Naval Day. What makes the majority of Chinese military fans excited is not only the official announcement of the "third aircraft carrier", but also the mysterious missile launched by the Type 055 million ton large drive. The latter is widely speculated to be the "Eagle Strike 21" hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile developed by China.
Screenshot of the report in India's Eurasian Times
Type 055 10,000-ton large-scale driving Nanchang ship
India's "Eurasian Times" said on the 21st that one of the deadliest weapons in the PLA's arsenal is the "Eagle Strike-21" anti-ship ballistic missile, which has been shrouded in mystery before. But recently the Platon Navy released the first video clip of the Type 055 destroyer launching such hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missiles.
The report also specifically mentioned that the US Congressional Research Service mentioned earlier in its report on China's naval capabilities that "China is developing hypersonic gliding vehicles, and if it is included in China's anti-ship ballistic missiles, it may make It more difficult for China's anti-ship ballistic missiles to intercept." ”
The US "Naval News" website mentioned in the report of "China Test Launches New Eagle Strike-21 Hypersonic Missile" on the 20th that the Chinese Navy recently released a video of a new missile rising from the Type 055 destroyer.
Sutton, a well-known naval intelligence analysis expert, believes that the missile is the long-speculated "Eagle Strike-21" hypersonic missile, and the Chinese Navy's Type 055 large destroyer equipped with this missile has been called "the world's most powerful warship" by the West.
Screenshot of the report on the U.S. Naval News website
Screenshot of a video released by the Navy
Sutton carefully judged the video and determined that the missile was the PLA's latest "Eagle Strike 21" hypersonic anti-ship missile.
Sutton said, "This new missile looks similar to the CM-401 missile design introduced earlier by China, but with the addition of a large booster." The publicly displayed CM-401 has roughly similar performance to Russia's Iskander missile, but the former has a much smaller diameter of only 600 mm. He also speculated that the new missiles launched this time may be related to the CM-401 series of missiles, but in order to be installed in the vertical launch unit of the Type 055 destroyer, its diameter may be smaller.
The Navy News website said the video hinted that the missile might be an anti-ship ballistic missile equipped with a small hypersonic glide warhead. Because "the control surface of the missile is quite small, it means that it may not be an anti-aircraft missile." ”
The "Navy News" website is very concerned about the Type 055 destroyer
According to reports, the new missile was launched from a Type 055 cruiser (some Western media refer to the Type 055 large drive as a cruiser). "There are currently 8 Type 055 cruisers launched, and it is undoubtedly the most impressive surface warship in the Chinese Navy's lineup." According to public data, the Type 055 destroyer is equipped with as many as 112 vertical launch units, the largest of which is enough to accommodate a 9-meter-long and 0.85-meter-diameter oversized missile.
The report also stressed that "if this new missile proves to be indeed a hypersonic 'Eagle Strike-21' missile, then the Type 055 cruiser will be the strongest surface warship in the world."
The US "Power" website also believes that there is a lot of speculation about the mysterious missile launched by the Chinese Type 055 destroyer, but the most likely is the anti-ship ballistic missile.
The missile liftoffs instantly
The video released by the Chinese Navy shows a missile lifting off in the form of a "cold launch" and then igniting a booster to fly toward the target. The length of the booster is relatively short, the warhead part is long and conical, with small fins at the bottom. "This design is easily reminiscent of a maneuver re-entry vehicle."
"This new anti-ship missile uses a more slender conical maneuver re-entry vehicle and a shorter rocket booster. The design is significantly optimized for installation in the confines of a shipboard vertical launch unit. "The report also speculates that although the relatively short booster rocket will greatly shorten its strike range, it is a reasonable trade-off considering that the offshore platform it carries can maneuver around." Even if its range is only a few hundred miles, it has a very effective deterrent."
The report stressed that in the face of the combination of short-range anti-ship ballistic missiles and other anti-ship cruise missiles, even the most advanced navies' self-defense capabilities are facing a severe test. In addition, the relatively close range is better suited to the Chinese Navy's sensor search and monitoring capabilities than relying on an overly complex network of external data links and sensor platforms, as is the case with shore-based medium- and long-range anti-ship ballistic missiles.
The CM-401 missile, which was unveiled in public at the Zhuhai Airshow
The CM-401 missile is a hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile
The outside world believes that the Eagle Strike-21 may be closely related to the CM-401 missile. The latter, a short-range anti-ship missile with a maneuverable re-entry vehicle, was publicly unveiled at the 2018 Zhuhai Air Show. At that time, it was publicly mentioned in the introduction of the missile that this anti-ship missile system could be installed on large ships such as the Type 055 destroyer.
However, the "Power" website believes that from the specific design, the "Eagle Strike-21" and the CM-401 missile are still quite different, so it is more likely to follow some related technologies rather than modify them on the basis.
Screenshot of the report in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post also took note of the news. The report said that the Chinese navy demonstrated an advanced anti-ship missile just before the Navy Day. "This is the first public demonstration of the Eagle Strike-21 hypersonic missile, which can be carried by ships or warplanes. The missile has a range of around 1000-1500 km and is believed to be capable of striking aircraft carrier strike groups. ”
There are also US media said that the "Eagle Strike-21" hypersonic missile can attack ship targets, but also can attack shore targets. When it is officially installed in the Chinese Navy, it will pose a huge threat to the large ships of the United States and its allies, and the target can cover the entire aircraft carrier strike group.
The report speculates that the Eagle Strike-21 hypersonic anti-ship missile has a range of 1000 to 1500 kilometers and a terminal speed of up to Mach 10. "After the 055-ton large-scale drive is equipped with this missile, it may become the most powerful surface ship in the world."
Some experts said that the advent of the new sea-based hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile not only has the ability to strike at sea aircraft carrier formations, but also shows that in the field of ultra-long-range and rapid attack on sea targets, the Chinese Navy already has a unique secret technology, which can be described as a unique step in the world.
The South China Morning Post also quoted naval expert Li Jie as saying, "The combination of the Type 055 large drive and the 'Eagle Strike-21' is to counter the US maritime hegemony in the region through anti-intervention and regional denial." ”
Zhou Chenming, a researcher at the Beijing think tank Yuanwang Think Tank, also told the South China Morning Post that "this unprecedented move by releasing a video of missile test firing" is intended to warn both Washington and Taipei that the PLA has many options in terms of anti-access and regional denial.
Western media also said that the Chinese Air Force has been equipped with air-launched "Eagle Strike-21" anti-ship ballistic missiles on the Bomber 6-N strategic bomber. Therefore, the PLA has formed the "anti-access/area denial" combat capability of the land-based "Dongfeng-21D" anti-ship ballistic missile, the air-based airborne "Eagle Strike-21" air-launched anti-ship ballistic missile, and the "land, sea and air trinity" of the sea-based "Eagle Strike-21" new shipborne hypersonic ballistic missile.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Gu Wanquan Text Editor: Dong Siyun Caption Source: Visual China Photo Editor: Zhu Xuan
题图说明：2021年9月27日，广东珠海，CM-401反舰导弹武器系统。 Source: Author: World Wide Web