The People's Liberation Army (PLA) ground force will have another new state-of-the-art weapon in its arsenal-the HJ-12 anti-tank missile, which can destroy tanks at a distance of more than 4 km, state-run China Daily reported today.
The missile developed by China North Industries Group Corp, one of the major defence contractors, will enable the PLA to catch up with the anti-tank combat capability of its Western and Russian counterparts and help it gain a bigger share in the international military equipment market.
"Besides the PLA, I think its potential buyers will be militaries from developing countries that have to deal with third-generation tanks. But considering its possibly high price, the number of buyers will be small," he said.
Globally, the market for portable, anti-tank missiles is dominated by Western and Russian products, such as the United States' FGM-148 Javelin and Russia's AT-13 Saxhorn-2.
Jane's Defence Weekly reported that the HJ-12 features fire-and-forget capability and automatic self-guidance instruments, and it can be fired within buildings and bunkers due to its soft launch system.
The fire-and-forget technology, which does not require further guidance after launch, such as illumination of the target or wire guidance, is an important property for a guided weapon to have, since a person or vehicle that lingers near the target to guide the missile is vulnerable to attack and unable to carry out other tasks, the Daily report said.
Tao Mujian, a commentator on defense technology, said: "The PLA has had several new types of infantry fighting vehicles, but their anti-tank weapon is still the HJ-73, a Soviet-developed missile that is too old to hit today's tanks. The HJ-12 will complement its weakness in anti-tank combat, bringing a revolutionary change to the land force.
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