Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
July 25, 2008
IWG Report 2007
Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
Search
HY-4
| Country: | People's Republic of China |
|---|---|
| Alternate Name: | CSCC-7 Sadsack |
| Class: | S/L/ALCM |
| Target: | Ship |
| Length: | 7.36 m |
| Diameter: | 0.76 m |
| Wingspan: | 2.40 m |
| Launch Weight: | 1950.00 kg |
| Payload: | 513 kg HE |
| Propulsion: | Turbojet w/ solid booster |
| Range: | 135.00 km |
| Guidance: | Autopilot, active radar, radio altimeter |
| Status: | Operational |
| In Service: | 1985-Present |
| Exported: | Iran |
Details
The Hai Ying-4 (HY-4) is a short-range, turbojet-powered, single warhead, ground-, air-, and ship-launched cruise missile developed and manufactured by the People’s Republic of China.
During the late 1950s, the former Soviet Union supplied China with a number of SS-N-2A “Styx” (P-15). These Russian missiles, which the Chinese designated SY-1 (NATO: CSS-N-1 “Scrubbrush”), constituted the basic design for a large number of Chinese missiles from the 1960s to the 1980s. During the late 1960s, China manufactured its own version of the Russian SS-N-2A, the HY-1.
China began developing the HY-4 in the mid-1970s as an improvement over the HY-1 and HY-2. The HY-4 was based on technology stolen from U.S. BQM-34 Firebee drones recovered by the Chinese. The missile was originally intended as a coastal defense weapon. The ship-launched and coastal defense versions are believed to have entered service around 1985, with the air-launched version entering service in 1991. An improved version of the HY-4, known as the HY-41 or XW-41, is believed to have been developed from about 1987 but was terminated around 1991.
The HY-4 is similar in appearance to the HY-1 and HY-2, with two delta-shipped wings and a rudder and tail. The missile also includes a large air inlet for the turbojet engine. The HY-4 is 7.36 m long, 0.76 m in diameter, and has a wingspan of 2.5 m. It carries a high explosive 513 kg warhead. The ground- and ship-launched versions include a solid propellant boost motor, which brings the total launch weight to 1,950 kg. The air-launched version has no solid propellant boost motor and weighs 1,740 kg.
The HY-4 is guided by autopilot in the midcourse phase, and by an active radar for the terminal phase. The missile’s altimeter allows for a cruising altitude of between 70 and 200 m, followed by a steep dive onto the target. The HY-2 has a minimum range of 35 km and a maximum range of 135. The later HY-41 has a maximum speed of 200 km which is achieved by carrying extra fuel in the missile. The HY-4 has a subsonic cruising speed of Mach 0.8.
Some versions of the HY-4 were offered for export in the early 1990s, designated as the C-201 or C201W for the ground-launched missile and C-611 for the air-launched missile, although there have been no known exports. China has claimed that the C-201W, which is most likely the export version of the HY-41 upgrade, has an increased range of 200 km. An unconfirmed report suggests that China may have exported HY-4 coastal defense missiles to Iran. Since 1998, China has not offered the HY-4 for export.(1)
Footnotes
- Duncan Lennox, ed., Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 45 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, July 2006), pp. 23-24; GlobalSecurity.org, “C-201 / HY-4 / CSS-C-7 / SADSACK,” available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/hy-4.htm, accessed on July 1, 2006; Robert Hewson, “Crouching tiger: How China is quietly evolving its missile systems,” Jane’s International Defense Review, February 1, 2006.
