China's YJ-12 Mach 3 terminal-phase "cork-screw" anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM)
China's YJ-12 anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) has two interesting features to attack a naval ship.
Firstly, the YJ-12 ASCM travels at Mach 3. Since there is a curvature to the Earth, Popular Science says "the target ship has less than 10 seconds to respond with last-ditch defenses like Gatling cannons."
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Secondly, in addition to the supersonic speed, the YJ-12 engages in "cork-screw-like turns which allow it to evade final defenses."
As I understand it, China's YJ-12 has minor random variations programmed into its final approach of "cork-screw-like turns" to make its flight trajectory extremely unpredictable.
China's YJ-12 ASCM is superior to the US Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile (which is only subsonic and flies in a straight line). China's YJ-12 reduces the adversary's reaction time to "less than 10 seconds" and flies in "cork-screw-like turns" to create unpredictability in its location.
YJ-12 | Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
"Protection against the YJ-12 is even more difficult due to its cork-screw-like turns which allow it to evade final defenses."