Home Navy Naval Missiles YJ-7 (C-701)

YJ-7 ANTI-SHIP MISSILE

The YingJi-7 (YJ-7, also known as C-701 in its export name) is a lightweight anti-ship missile developed by China Haiying Electro-Mechanical Technology Academy (CHETA) in the 1990s. The missile was specifically designed to engage small sea targets such as fast attack craft and patrol boat. The missile could be launched from land-, air- and sea-platforms, and can be fitted with one of the three seeker options: TV, Infrared image, and millimetre radar. The missile did not enter service with the PLA Navy.

PROGRAMME

CHETA revealed its C-701 lightweight anti-ship missile during the 1998 Zhuhai Air Show. The missile, reportedly designated YJ-7 by the PLA, appears to be a scaled-down version of the YJ-8 (C-801) anti-ship missile with lighter launch weight and shorter-range. CHETA claimed that the missile was particularly suitable to be carried by helicopters or small missile boats to engage low-speed, small-size sea targets such as fast attack craft and small boats. The missile was said to be also capable of engaging land targets.

The features of the C-701 missile make it particularly suitable for low-intensity operations such as anti-terrorism, anti-pirate, smuggling control, etc. The missile could be launched from sea-, air-, or land-platforms, and has three different types of seekers: TV, infrared image, and millimetre radar. The YJ-7/C-701 missile is not known to have been deployed by the PLA. Iran has reportedly received the C-701 technology and is building a licensed copy.

DESIGNS

The YJ-7/C-701 missile has a cylindrical body and either a rounded glass nose for electro-optical imaging, or a solid nose for millimetre radar homing. The missile has four flying wings on the middle of the fuselage, and four tail control surfaces. The missile is only 2.5m in length, less than half that of the YJ-8 (C-801). The land- and ship-launched variant of the missile is stored in a sealed box-shape launcher with its wings folded. The missile has its seeker at head, followed by a 29kg time-delayed semi-armour-piercing anti-personnel blast warhead, with a solid rocket motor at rear.

SPECIFICATIONS

Length: 2.507m
Diameter: 0.18m
Wingspan: 0.587m (unfolded); or 0.450m (folded)
Weight: 100kg
Warhead: 29kg time-delayed semi-armour-piercing high-explosive
Propulsion: Solid rocket engine
Max Speed: 0.8 Mach
Min Range: 0.5km
Max Range: 15~20km
Flight Altitude: 15~20m
Guidance Mode: TV-homing
Single-shot hit probability: 95%

This page was last updated 26 April 2006