China aids Iran's tactical missile programme

China aids Iran's tactical missile programme

(NSI News Source Info) August 30, 2008: China is producing several families of tactical guided missiles, primarily for the anti-ship role, that appear to have been designed and developed for a single export customer - Iran. At the China Air Show 2004, in Zhuhai during late October and early November, the Hongdu Aviation Industry Group, exhibited three variants of two new missiles - the JJ/TL-6B, JJ/TL-10A and KJ/TL-10B. These weapons are identical to Iranian missiles known as Nasr (TL-6) and Kosar (TL-10). Brochures produced by the Iran Aerospace Industries Organisation (IAIO) appear to carry photos of even the same models exhibited in China, labelled with Iranian programme names. It is now clear that two missile programmes revealed a few years ago by China National Aero Technology Import & Export Co (CATIC) - the FL-8 and FL-9 - were the TL-10 and TL-6, respectively, under yet another name. A third weapon exhibited at Zhuhai and destined for Iran was a new variant of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (COSIC) C-701 anti-ship missile, the radar-guided C-701R. The C-701 has previously been presented by the IAIO in Iran, where it is claimed as a national programme Of the newly unveiled missiles the smaller KJ/TL-10 series appears to have made the most progress. Development work began during the mid-1990s and Hongdu publicity material from Zhuhai shows a TL-10 being fired from an unidentified naval ship. A Hongdu spokesperson told JDW that deliveries of the TL-10A variant were already under way to a foreign customer. It was stressed that both the TL-6 and TL-10 programmes are for export and not for national use. The officials added that the radar-guided TL-10B and TL-6B missiles were still in development with perhaps another two years remaining until they were operational. Conflicting accounts were given as to whether the missiles are, or will be, both air- and surface-launched. The Chinese abbreviation KJ indicates an air-to-ship missile (Kong Jian), while the JJ designator is for a surface-to-surface weapon (Jian Jian). The TL (Dragonfly) name identifies the missile family within Hongdu, a unit of China Aviation Industry Corporation II (AVIC II). JDW was told that the radar-guided TL-10B would be a helicopter-launched weapon, while an air-launched version of the TL-6 was also part of that missile's development plan. Helicopters were identified as the platform for an air-launched TL-6, but elsewhere at the show AVIC I displayed a model of the Shenyang F-8IIM carrying TL-6 missiles. The latest C-701R missile from COSIC, the parent company of the better-known China Precision Machinery Import Export Co, CPMIEC, is fitted with a radar seeker (believed to be a millimetre wave radar) replacing the earlier electro-optical seeker of the C-701T. Effective range now stands at 25 km. The C-701R has been redesigned with a longer missile body and the deletion of the pop-out fin tips found on the C-701T. The size, shape and general performance of the C-701 is very similar to that of the TL-10 series. Both weapons are clearly intended for Iran but it is not known why two apparently competing designs have evolved for the same customer. Iranian sources show that both the TL-10 and C-701 missiles are included within the national Kosar programme. Chinese industry representatives at Zhuhai declined to comment on links with Iran.