HJ-8

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HJ-8 ATGM on a Chinese armoured vehicle.

The Hongjian-8 ("Red Arrow") is a second generation of anti-tank missile system deployed by the People's Liberation Army since the late 1980's. It is the Chinese equivalent of the US TOW missile, and like its US counterpart, it is tube-launched, optically tracked, and wire-guided. Possessing a long range and powerful explosive punch, it can penetrate armors of up to 1000mm thick. The newest version of the missile, HJ-8E, entered service in mid-1990 and is believed to outperform some Western missiles of the same category such as the Franco-German MILAN.

Very similar to the US TOW missile in performance, the HJ-8E is both dependable and accurate, capable of hitting targets of up to four kilometers away. It is now the standard anti-tank armament of the WZ-10, Mi-17, and Gazelle helicopter gunships of the PLA.

During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, ATGM inflicted considerable damage to the Israeli Armored Forces in comparison to other weapons Israel faced in Lebanon, and captured ATGM from Hezbollah by Israel appeared to be HJ-8, though many sources claim that these HJ-8's were in fact Iranian copies or Pakistani Baktar-Shikan.