FJ ABM

FJ-1/2/3
Type Surface-to-air missile / Anti-ballistic missile
Place of origin  China
Service history
In service 1970's to Mar 9, 1980
Used by China
Production history
Produced Aug 1969 to Mar 9, 1980
Specifications
Weight ≈ 10 ton
Length ≈ 14 meter
Diameter > 1 m
Detonation
mechanism
 Impact / Proximity
Engine two stage rockets
Propellant solid & liquid rockets
Operational
range
 50 km
Flight ceiling 40 km
Flight altitude 20 - 40 km
Speed ≈ Mach hypersonic
Guidance
system
 SARH
Launch
platform
 land-based

Fan Ji (反击, meaning counter strike) anti-ballistic missile (FJ ABM) was the missile used in the HQ-81 ABM system (ABMS), which was the land based component of 640-1 ABMS project, which in turn, was part of the Chinese 640 ABMS project in the 1960s. Although the project was cancelled in Mar 1980's, the experience gained had helped China in later ABMS development.

640

The origin of FJ ABM traces back to December 15, 1963, when Mao Zedong first initiated the idea, and on February 2, 1964, the formal requirement was issued. Also in 1964, the 2nd Academy of the 7th Ministry of Machinery Industry (currently the 2nd Academy of China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation(CASIC)), also known as the Ministry of Aerospace Industry, begun to work on proposal and establish programs at the same time. A plan outlining the missile defence weapon development submitted by Chinese Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND) was approved in August 1965,[1] and subsequently, the project was formally named as Project 640 (640工程), because the requirement was formally issued in 1964.

However Project 640 was gravely disrupted by political turmoil in China, namely, the Cultural Revolution that erupted in 1966.[1] Further complication arose due to the complexity of the project, so in August 1969, the project was reorganized into several major portions, each with its own designing establishment. Project 640 was divided into space-borne systems, which included CK-1 (长空一号 meaning Vast Sky # 1, with CK = Chang Kong) ELINT satellite and FW-1 (反卫一号, meaning anti-satellite # 1 with FW = Fai Wei) anti-satellite, and land-based systems. The land base systems were further divided into 5 different portions, including Project 640-5: study on the re-entry of warheads of ballistic missiles, Project 640-4: the early warning radars, Type 640-3: the laser gun research project, Project 640-2, the ABM super gun designated as Vanguard (Xianfeng 先锋),[2] and Project 640-1, the ABM missile system along with other supporting infrastructure, the primary portion of Project 640. On August 14, 1969, Zhou Enlai reassigned the 201st Institute of 7th Ministry of Machinery Industry became the primary contractor of Project 640-2, assisted by the 1410th Institute of the Ministry of Electronic Industry, and the 2nd Academy of 7th Ministry of Machinery Industry as the primary contractor of Project 640-1.

640-1

Project 640-1 included the construction of hypersonic wind tunnel with half a meter diameter. Constructed in the 1960s, it is still in use today for later missile and satellite programs, such as JL-1 and JL-2, long after the cancellation of Project 640.[3]

The location of Project 640-1 was in Yunnan, where one of the huge radar was located, and COSTIND Base # 24, where most research was done, was located in Kunming, the provincial capital. The base was kept secret for decades even long after the cancellation of Project 640, and not until the 2010s was it finally declassified.[4]

HQ-81

HQ-81 (红旗 HQ = Hong Qi, meaning Red Flag) is the ABMS of Project 640-1, consisting of Type 715 engagement radars, FJ series missiles and other fire control systems (but not including the early warning radars). During deployment, HQ-81 system would be operating with information received from satellite and radars.

One of the achievement of HQ-81 is the S-7 vehicle-mounted field computer, which was used for many other Chinese missiles developed later, such as DF-5, after Project 640 was cancelled. The need of such large computer was due to the calculations needed for the FJ series missiles and its Type 715 fire control radar, as well as other info provided by sources such as Type 110 and Type 7010 radars, and CK-1 ELINT satellite.

CK-1 ELINT satellite

CK-1 (Chang-Kong Yi-hao 长空一号) ELINT satellite provided early warning of all-out attack from former-USSR. The primary contractor was Shanghai Steam Turbine Factory,[5] the predecessor of current (上海电气电站设备有限公司) which newly formed a 701st Department (七零一车间) on October 31, 1969, specially for Shanghai 4101 Project, the project of CK-1 program. Huayi Electronics Factory (华一电器厂), the predecessor of current Shanghai Huayi Electronics Factory Co. Ltd (上海华一电器厂有限公司) was tasked to design the computer on board CK-1.

CK-1 was designed to intercept former-Soviet radar and air defense network signals, and communication signals. The intelligence gathered would be down linked to Chinese military for analysis to detect any signs of a surprise attack, which fortunately, never occurred, but the intelligence gathered was nonetheless valuable, and experience gained was used on later Chinese spy satellites. As with other Chinese military programs, CK-1 also suffered due to the Cultural Revolution. After first two launches both ended in failures respectively on September 18, 1973 and July 12, 1974, the following three launches via Feng Bao 1 rockets respectively resulted in success on July 26, 1975, December 16, 1975 and August 30, 1976.[6]

Type 7010 radar

In addition to receiving intelligence resulted from the CK-1 ELINT satellite, the primary early warning of HQ-81 ABMS was the massive Type 7010 passive electronically scanned array radar. The general designer of Type 7010 radar was Mr. Shen Zhongyi (申仲义, Mar 1922 - Apr 14, 1988), who was also the general designer of another radar of HQ-81 ABMS, Type 110. Mr. Shen Zhongyi was the head and the general designer of the 14th Research Institute at Nanjing, and the deputy director of the 10th Academy of Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China (eventually promoted to the director), and under his leadership, all radars of HQ-81 ABMS of Project 640 were developed at the 14th Institute.[7]

Type 7010 passive phased array radar program begun in May 1970, and installation work on the mountain 1600 meters above sea level begun in 1972, at the northern slope of Mongolian gazelle mountain in Zhuolu County. In 1974, the radar was rushed into operation even before its completion, which did not occur until 1976 and received state certification in the following year. The radar antenna array has a width of 40 meter and a height of 20 meter, with a total of 8976 transceivers. The peak power is 10 GW, with an average power of 200 kW, and a range in excess of 3000 km.[8]

Type 110 radar

Another long-range tracking radar of HQ-81 ABMS of Project 640 is the Type 110 monopulse radar for long range precision tracking. Work first begun in 1959 for Project 110 simulation experimental radar after order was given in 1958, and from 1965 to 1970, more research were conducted, including the incorporation of Cassegrain antenna. When Type 110 finally entered service in 1977, the system weighs more than 400 tons, with antenna diameter in excess of 25 meters. The radome of Type 110 was made of fiberglass, and at the time of its completion, it was the largest structure of its kind in the world, with height over 36.5 meters and diameter over 44 meters at the base.[9] The range of Type 110 radar is in excess of 2000 km and it is located in Yunnan. Type 110 radar remain in operation today as a primary tools for space exploration.

FJ-1

FJ-1 was the most important member of FJ series ABM, and the name FJ-1 was often used to replace HQ-81. The missile was 14 meters long weigh around 10 tons, and is launched at 50-degree angle. Originally adopting two-stage liquid rocket motors, it was later improved to have one solid rocket motor and one liquid motor, and it takes around 20 minutes for the missile to be loaded to the launcher from the transportation truck. In February 1966, three rounds of scaled-down version of FJ-1 for trials were completed, and successfully tested on February 19 to February 30, 1966.

As with all Chinese projects at the time, FJ-1 was seriously delayed by political turmoil at the time, the Cultural Revolution in China: In April 1972, production batch 01 consisted of two rounds FJ-1 were finally completed, but on May 15, 1972 during tests in Kunming, both rounds blew up in the sky, resulting in failure of the test. Although measures were taken, it was not until finally in August and September 1978, when the next batch were successfully tested in trials where the warheads of both the ballistic missile and FJ-1 were replaced by dummy warhead filled with instrumentation.[10] Despite the successful trial, the political climate change in China spelled to doom of FJ-1, which was finally cancelled on March 9, 1980, marking the end of entire Project 640.

FJ-2

FJ-2, the second member of FJ series missiles used in HQ-81 ABMS begun in 1970, and from October 1971 to April 1974, the scaled downed model test rounds (at 1:5 ratio) of FJ-2 completed six tests, with five resulted in success, only one ended in failure.[11] Although started after FJ-1, FJ-2 actually progressed faster than the former. However, the some capability of FJ-2 overlapped that of FJ-1, while the remaining overlapped that of HQ-3 and HQ-4 surface-to-air missiles, so decision was made to pull the plug on FJ-2 to be more efficient by concentrating on FJ-1 and HQ-3/4. As a result, FJ-2 was cancelled in 1973.

FJ-3

FJ-3, the last member of FJ series missile used in HQ-81 ABMS begun in May 1974, and it was a three-stage rocket motor powered ABM launched from silo, but it was cancelled in 1977. However, subsystems of FJ-3 developed was used on other Chinese missile programs, such as the S-7 vehicle mounted computer, which was later used on DF-5 ballistic missile and other Chinese missiles.[12]

References

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