TL-10

The TL-10 (Tian Long - 10) or Sky Dragon - 10 is a light anti-ship missile unveiled in the Zhuhai Airshow in 2004 in China, and it is the Chinese equivalent of French MM-15TT / AS-15TT light anti-ship missile developed by Aerospatiale.

History

The development of the TL program appeared to have started in the mid-1990s and were originally identified as the FL-8 (TL-10) and FL-9 (TL-6) under China National Aero Technology Import & Export Company (CATIC). The program and missiles were officially revealed in the Zhuhai Airshow in 2004 by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).

At the Zhuhai Airshow, two versions, TL-10A and TL-10B were revealed, A with the television seeker and the B with the radar seeker. The manufacturer revealed that plans to develop additional seekers such as imaging infrared were already in progress, that would enable the installation of the TL-10 on air and land platforms.

Development

TL-10 along with TL-6 are both developed and manufactured by Hongdu Aviation Industry Corporation, and the philosophy is identical to that of its French equivalent MM-15TT / AS-15TT light anti-ship missile developed by Aerospatiale.

There are thousands small of fast attack craft and patrol boats armed with anti-ship missiles that pose great threats, but are not cost effective to engage with traditional anti-ship missiles such as Harpoon and Exocet that are designed to engage large warships. Thus, it has been proved necessary to develop a light anti-ship missile to engage these small yet highly lethal boats. TL-10, like C-701 is the Chinese answer to this problem.

Design

TL-10 is specifically designed to engage boats displacing 500 tons or less, and when launched, the missile will first climb to enable the seeker to acquire targets, and then immediately descend down to sea-skimming cruise altitude during its flight. Like the anti-ship version of the C-701, TL-10 is also armed with a television seeker that is interchangeable with TL-6. However, unlike the C-701 guidance has an additional command option which enables the operator to alter the targets, TL-10 is a purely fire-and-forget weapon. Western sources have claimed that the Iranian anti-ship missile Kowsar which is manufactured by the Iran Aviation Industries Organization is based on TL-10 while the Nasr is based on the TL-6.

At the Zhuhai airshow in 2006, the manufacturer revealed the plan already in development to install this missile on various platforms including aircraft, surface ships, and land vehicles. However, like most light anti-ship missiles in the world, it is certain that this missile would not be launched from submarines, as the manufacturer has confirmed. The version that has been successfully completed is the ship-to-ship version, hence the designation JJ/TL-10 at the 6th Zhuhai airshow in 2006, where JJ stands for Jian Jian, meaning "Ship (to) Ship". Another version developed was KJ/TL-10, the air launched version, with KJ stands for Kong Jian, meaning "Air (to) ship".

pecification

*Dimensions:
**Length: 2500 mm
**Diameter: 180 mm
**Wingspan: 568 mm
* Weight: 105 kg
*Warhead: 30 kg, semi-armor piecing
*Powerplant: twin thrust chamber, solid rocket motor
*Speed: Mach 0.85
*Range: 4–15 km
*Guidance: Electro-optics/INS
*Kill probability: 0.85
*Developer: Hongdu Aviation Industry Corporation

Operators

*IRN: Islamic Republic of Iran
*CHN: People's Republic of China

References

* [http://www.strategycenter.net/research/pubID.54/pub_detail.asp] Report on the 5th Airshow China Zhuhai, Richard Fisher, Jr., PRC, November 1-7, 2004
* China aids Iran's tactical missile programme, Robert Hewson, Janes Defence Weekly, November 11,2004