YDG-60
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| YDG-60 | |
|---|---|
| Type | surface-to-air missile |
| Place of origin |  Menghe |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1998-present |
| Used by | Menghe |
| Production history | |
| Variants | YDG-60G, YDG-60N, YDG-60D |
| Specifications (YDG-60G) | |
| Weight | 1,380 kgs |
| Length | 7.61 m |
| Diameter | 500mm |
| Propellant | solid fuel |
Operational range | 200 km |
| Flight altitude | 10 to 30,000 meters |
| Speed | 2,000 m/s (Mach 5.8) |
Guidance system | TVM |
Steering system | aerodynamic surfaces |
The YDG-60 (for Menghean: 유도탄, 대공 Yudotan, Daegong "Missile, Anti-Air") is a long-range surface-to-air missile developed in Menghe. In its initial "G" variant, it appears to be a copy of the 48N6E2 surface-to-air missile developed in the Federation of Socialist Republics, part of the latter country's S-300 air defense system. Later variants, however, evolved independently from FSR practice, incorporating thrust-vectoring boosters for hot-launch capability and improving upon the guidance system.
Description
In all its forms, the YDG-60 is intended to serve as the outermost layer of a military formation's long-range air defenses. Its engagement ceiling of 30,000 meters allows it to hit even the highest-flying attack and reconnaissance aircraft, as does its top speed of Mach 5.8. While not a replacement for short- and intermediate-range SAM systems, it does complement them in range and capability, and may force target aircraft to fly closer to the ground or deter standoff ARM attacks on shorter-ranged batteries.
In addition to its anti-aircraft capability, the YDG-60 also has a limited ability to engage ballistic missiles. The MIRVed warheads of ICBMs would be traveling too fast, but the system is able to engage SRBMs in the terminal approach stage. This allows it to protect Army rear-area units from in-theater conventional and nuclear strikes.
Variants
YDG-60G
The first variant of the YDG-60 missile was the YDG-60G, which appeared in response to the Menghean Army's demand for a more capable long-range air defense system. It uses a cold-launch system, propelled from the vertical storage tube by compressed air.
YDG-60N
Introduced in 2006, the YDG-60N was a significant modification of the original "G" variant missile, and is sometimes considered a new missile in its own right - though it kept the YDG-60 base designation. Its main change was the addition of a solid-fuel, thrust-vectoring booster underneath the missile. This section served to propel the missile out of its launch container, direct it toward the target, and then separate, allowing the main rocket engine to kick in. This eliminated the need for a cold-launch air pressure system by allowing the missile to take off under its own power.
Launch platforms
JYDG-60
The main ground-mobile variant of the YDG-60 missile is the JYDG-60 self-propelled SAM system. This consists of mobile missile batteries mounted on 8x8 wheeled trucks. The launch vehicles are TELs rather than TELARs, and lack their own illumination radar systems - instead, they must rely on designation radars within the launch battery.
The JYDG-60 system comes in two variants, corresponding to the two main service variants of the missile. The JYDG-60G is designed for the cold-launched "G" variant, and carries three cylindrical missile tubes on each launch vehicle in a single row. The JYDG-60N system is an upgraded version for the "N" missile variant, and replaces the cylindrical missile tubes with four box launchers in a 2x2 arrangement. It also eliminates the need for an onboard cold-launch system. Both launch vehicles share the same supporting radar and command equipment, though the missile transporter and crane vehicle also differ somewhat, as they must handle the new missile boxes.
HYB-60G
The HYB-60G (Haegun Yudotan-Balsagi, "Navy Missile Launcher") was a revolver-style vertical launch system for the YDG-60G missile. Operationally, it was only ever mounted on the Emil-si class destroyers, though during the late 1990s it was considered for certain hypothetical warship designs and at least one static land launcher was built for training and testing purposes.
Each HYB-60G revolver unit worked by carrying eight missile tubes on a rotating assembly, which would then turn to place individual missile tubes over a single, shared pressurized air valve. The missile atop this valve would then be propelled through a sliding hatch overhead, allowing the next missile tube to be rotated into place.
While impressive in its air-defense characteristics, the HYB-60G system could not load other missile types, and on the Haeju-class destroyers onward it was replaced by a multi-mission hot-launch vertical launch system.