People's Liberation Army of China conducted military exercises to storm the island territory (conditional "Taiwan"). Anti-tank missiles were tested in action during the exercise.
HJ-10 against Taiwanese tanks
The military exercises themselves by Beijing were kept in strict secrecy, and this is no coincidence. PLA units practiced actions during the landing in Bohaiwan Bay. It's hard not to guess, that the Chinese military is learning how to act correctly in the event of a war with Taiwan.
In the military “Taiwanese exercises” the missile brigade of the Northern Command also took part. From the platform, mounted on a wheeled vehicle, Chinese missilemen launched an anti-tank missile. As it appears, we are talking about a guided missile HJ-10, also known as Red Arrow-10 ("Red Arrow 10").
The missile was developed by the Chinese state defense corporation Norinco specifically to combat armored vehicles of a potential enemy. Experts call it an analogue of the Israeli AGM-114 Hellfire complex with optical-electronic guidance. Such missiles can hit enemy equipment and fortifications at a distance of several tens of kilometers.
The main target of the missile is the American-made M1A2 Abrams main battle tank.. But it's not just about the confrontation between two great powers., which is unlikely to reach tank battles.
As is known, Taiwan has been seeking the acquisition of Abrams tanks from the United States for twenty years, however Washington did not sell them, fearing worsening relations with China. but in 2019 year, against the backdrop of a trade war between the United States and China, Washington put a good sale 108 such tanks. Currently, the backbone of the tank power of the Taiwanese ground forces is the aging M60 "Patton". For this reason, Taipei is very concerned about the modernization of their tank units., especially against the backdrop of rather unambiguous hints from China.
Another target - Indian tanks
However, not only M1 Abrams could be targeted by the new Chinese missile.. China has another adversary in the south, much more dangerous, than Taiwan. It's about India, with which China almost came to a full-scale war. In the event of the outbreak of hostilities against India, China will have to use a large number of tanks, since the Indian army still pays special attention to tanks and has several thousand combat vehicles, including 2418 T-72M1 and 1025 T-90.
Indian ground forces deployed in Ladakh, close to the chinese border, T-72 and T-80. As it appears, the HJ-10 missile can be used against them in the event of a new conflict. This is evidenced by at least the fact, that China has deployed armored vehicles with all-terrain vehicles, on which the launcher can be mounted, to the border with India.
However, not yet known, can China's new rocket withstand extreme winter cold in the Himalayas?. However, Beijing, as it appears, very trusting platform with launcher, considering the possibility of its use in the landing operation, and during the fighting in the mountains.
Considering, that the Indian ground forces are equipped with Russian-made or locally assembled tanks, but based on Russian technologies, the capabilities of the new Chinese missile cannot be ignored in our country.
video – one of the tests of the Chinese anti-tank missile HJ-10:
Author:Ilya Polonsky
used photos:Wikipedia / Airbunny
