CM-400AKG missile is China's new 'carrier killer': Russian media
The CM-400AKG supersonic cruise missile designed by Aviation Industry Corporation of China — an export version of China's YJ-12 anti-ship missile — can be used successfully against India's aircraft carrier when launched by Pakistan's JF-17 Thunder fighter, reports the Moscow-based Russian Military Analysis website.
The CM-400AKG was demonstrated to the public for the first time during the Zhuhai airshow last year. The YJ-12 was originally designed to be used against multiple targets including US aircraft carriers with a combat range of 500 kilometers and can be carried by various platforms such as bombers like the H-6 and JH-7, fighter jets such as the J-11B, J-15, J-16 and Su-30MKK and Type 052D destroyers. However, the range of the CM-400AKG has been reduced to 250 kilometers to meet export restrictions of the international Missile Technology Control Regime.
The missile can be launched when the aircraft reaches speeds of between 750 and 800 kilometers an hour, the report said. The speed of the Chinese supersonic cruise missile is between mach 3.5 to mach 4. It can be equipped with high-explosive and armor-piercing warheads. Insiders said that the missile was designed for the FC-1 Xiaolong also known as JF-17 Thunder, a fighter jointly developed by China and Pakistan.
The Indian navy currently has two aircraft carriers in service, a Russian-built INS Vikramaditya and a British-built INS Viraat, while two domestic Vikrant-class vessels are still in construction. Anti-ship cruise missiles such as the YJ-12 and CM-400AKG are thus crucial for both China and Pakistan to compete against their common enemy in the Indian Ocean region, the report said.
CM-400AKG missile is China's new 'carrier killer': Russian media|Politics|News|WantChinaTimes.com