The Algerian Navy acquires the Chinese supersonic missile CX-1?
Has the Chinese supersonic anti-ship missile CX-1 been chosen by Algerian naval forces as the new generation coastal defense system? This is in case what suggests a picture recently published on the website of the Algerian Ministry of Defense.
Indeed, we learn in the heading "Cooperation" that the Secretary General of ALIT (China Aerospace Long-March International Trade Co., LTD) - an export company of the Chinese aerospace group CASC - has Thursday, April 26 at the headquarters of the Command of the Algerian Naval Forces, in "the framework of bilateral relations", where he was received by Major-General Mahfoud BENMEDDAH.
And the images published on the site show that WANG Zaho Hui handed a model of TEL bi-tubes to the Chief of Staff of the Algerian Navy, which turns out to be that of the GATSS system whose missile CX-1 in fact part.
Appearing for the first time in 2014 at the Zhuhai Air Show, the CX-1 is first introduced only as a supersonic tactical missile, dedicated to the striking Sol-Sol or Sol-Mer before being included two years
in integrated offer in a system called the General Army Tactical Strike System (GATSS) , consisting of several guided rocket systems, the M20 short-range ballistic missile and a complete C4ISR system with optical reconnaissance drones, all designed by CALT Institute which is one of the leading designers of space launchers and missiles in China.
According to the manufacturer's specifications, the CX-1 shares the same solid propellant booster as the M20 ballistic missile, which propels the missile to the supersonic domain, before its liquid propellant stripper reacts to a speed cruise to Mach 3 at high altitude, or Mach 2.4 at low altitude.
The CX-1 can therefore adopt either the Hi-Lo flight profile where the missile grows between 15,000 and 18,000 meters above sea level, or the Lo-Lo profile flush with the ground / sea at an altitude between 5 and 20 meters. , and chooses to attack its target vertically or horizontally depending on the use case.
As for the range of the missile, the CX-1 has a minimum range of 40 km because of its mode of propulsion and can reach its target "only" up to 280 km, the MTCR Regime requires where China is one of the 35 signatory Member States, while the Sea-Sea YJ-12A missile jet missile, also used by the Chinese navy and designed by another CASIC Chinese missile, has a range of nearly 400 km in identical condition .
In anti-ship mode, CALT data shows a probability ≥ 75% for a CX-1 to hit its target at sea in a single shot with a 260kg semi-perforating head. Against the ground targets, the missile has a CEP accuracy ≤ 20 meters and can choose between two different ammunition - thermobaric or penetration - for a lethal radius ≥ 100 meters or a penetration capacity ≥ 5 meters in concrete. The mixed guidance of the missile combines an inertial unit and an active radar searcher head.
Note that some "sources" are based on the similarity of appearance of CX-1 Russian missiles such as P-800 Oniks and BrahMos to say that the Chinese system is only a pale copy of the latter because all these jet-powered supersonic missiles all have a frontal air intake, stabilizing fins and also a cylindrical shape.
However, the heart of these weapon systems resides above all in the stratoréacteur, liquid propellant here, that China develops and sold missiles using these technologies for decades (C-101, C-301 ...). And it is impossible to reverse engineer the jet engine from the 3M80MBE, acquired by the Chinese Navy at the same time as the Project 956E / EM destroyers in the 90s, because this Soviet missile was designed by the MKB Raduga and no NPO Machinostroïenia, the latter being responsible for the development of P-800 and BrahMos for example.
And the adoption of the same type of frontal air intake is a necessity technical choice because it generates the best performance in terms of the homogeneity and the stability of the incoming flow for the operation of the engine, and the Cylindrical structure is the solution that is both the simplest and the most adapted to reconcile the problems of volume, size and mass for the set of guidance systems, military load, tanks and engines. Note also that the CX-1 double-diameter cone differs from that of P-800 or BrahMos, a sign of a different flight envelope between these missiles. The outer chute of the CX-1 cell also suggests a different interior layout.
At the organizational level, a CX-1 combat unit consists of a command vehicle, a logistic support vehicle, three launch vehicles, three transport and loading vehicles, and 12 launch tubes to address two waves. attack.
Missiles that are part of the GATSS system, including the CX-1.
The TEL vehicle that launches CX-1 missiles or other munitions designed by CALT
The solid propellant booster (left) and the stripper part of the CX-1 core missile
Hi-Lo flight profile of CX-1
Based solely on open sources, it seems premature to confirm that the Algerian Navy has already signed for CX-1 - on the one hand because the DND site has already used the same release format (" in the context of bilateral relations ") for other visits of Chinese industrialists, such as those of NORINCO in March and CSTC in January, on the other hand because ALIT or its parent company CASC remained until present very quiet, as usual, about potential prospects and contracts.
Not to mention the Russian market proposals that Algeria can easily access, such as the K-300P Bastion-P NPO Machinostroïenia for example, which display more or less similar performance to CX-1.
It would be necessary to wait for other official elements to confirm this acquisition of the Chinese system by the Algerian navy. However, we can highlight a long history of collaboration between the CASC group and Algeria, such as the turnkey contract for the Alcomsat-1 satellite, designed and launched by CASC, or the testing of armed drones CH -4 designed by CAAA subsidiary.
But if the final choice is actually focused on the CX-1, which will then confirm some old rumors that the system would have found taker from its first appearance in November 2014, it will also open the way to the Algerian army to other ammunition system GATSS, and this will also simplify logistical support and increase tactical capabilities at the deployment level.
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