YDCh-17
| YDCh-17 | |
|---|---|
| File:YDCh-17.png YDCh-17 missile with cross-section. | |
| Type | anti-tank guided missile |
| Place of origin |  Menghe |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1998-present |
| Used by | Menghe Template:Country data Ummayah |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Chŏnggong Missile Design Bureau |
| Designed | 1991-1997 |
| Produced | 1998-present |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 47 kilograms |
| Length | 2.24 meters |
| Diameter | 133 mm |
| Wingspan | 41 cm (fins extended) |
| Propellant | solid fuel rocket |
Operational range | 10 kilometers |
Guidance system | Laser beam riding |
Steering system | aerodynamic surfaces |
The YDCh-17 (Menghean: 유도탄 대전차, Yudotan DaejeonCha, "missile, anti-tank") is an anti-tank guided missile developed in Menghe during the 1990s. It is longer than contemporary Menghean ATGMs like the YDCh-18, and offers greater range with a more versatile warhead. It was replaced in many roles by the larger YDCh-71, but remains common in Menghean service, especially in coastal defense units.
Design
To allow for a higher speed than a wire-guided missile would allow, the YDCh-17 uses a beam-riding guidance system. It can be programmed to follow one of two flight paths: a direct attack, in which the missile follows a straight line toward the target, and an elevated trajectory, in which the missile rises above the guidance beam until the final 800 meters to the target, at which point it descends to a direct approach again. The latter option is intended to reduce the risk of striking the ground.
Initial propulsion from the launch tube is provided by a quick-burning booster attached to the rear of the missile. Once the missile has left the launch tube, this module falls off, revealing the signal and receiver equipment in the base and allowing guidance to begin. Propulsion is then taken over by a solid-fuel sustainer section, which propels the missile by means of two angled ports in its sides. The rear stabilizer fins are slightly angled, inducing a spiraling flight path that increases stability and allows guidance with only two adjustable control surfaces.
The YDCh-17 uses a "multipurpose warhead," consisting of tandem HEAT charges in the forward section. The precursor charge is relatively large, measuring roughly 85 millimeters in diameter. Sources from the missile's development claim that this arrangement was intended to improve effectiveness against composite armor consisting of spaced steel plates: the first charge might defeat several plates before dissipating, while the second would be able to penetrate further, doubling the system's effectiveness without expanding the overall diameter of the charge. Reports of this arrangement's effectiveness, both in testing and in combat, remain dubious. The Menghean Army appears to have abandoned the "supercharged tandem" approach in subsequent missile development, casting further doubt on its effectiveness.
To further increase the missile's versatility, both HEAT warheads are surrounded by a prefragmented outer casing, with an additional high-explosive charge to the rear. This allows the same missile type to be used for a variety of targets, in contrast to the YDCh-18, which used separate anti-tank and anti-structure variants. It also makes the missile more effective against air-cushion landing craft, giving it an additional coastal defense role.
In 2006, the Chŏnggong missile design bureau began work on a new YDCh-17 based missile which would incorporate downward-facing shaped charges to defeat enemy tanks' top armor, in the same manner as the YDCh-70 which was then entering service. The completion of the YDCh-71 program in 2007, however, led Army officials to prioritize the latter missile in procurement, and work on the top-attack YDCh-17 ceased.
Launch platforms
A relatively large and heavy missile, the YDCh-17 is not easily man-portable, though a mount which can be broken up and carried exists. Instead, it is used primarily on fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and the land-based JYDCh-17 tank destroyer.
Aviation versions
In the air-to-ground role, the YDCh-17 is usually seen in a unique five-missile arrangement, which can be mounted onto a single hardpoint. This system is most frequently mounted on helicopters, including the GHJ-32 and GHJ-34. There is also a lightweight version with two missile tubes per hardpoint, which is mainly marketed at international export customers and has not been observed in Menghean service outside of test airfields.
JYDCh-17/2
There is only a single type of dedicated ground vehicle using the YDCh-17 missile, which bears the designation JYDCh-17/2. The "J" prefix indicates jaju, or "self-propelled," with "/2" indicating the presence of two ready missile tubes. It uses the "low-profile" variant of the BSCh-6 chassis, giving it adequate offroad mobility and a low profile. The vehicle is amphibious, and has good speed and offroad mobility.
The JYDCh-17/2 has a crew of three personnel, who sit side-by-side in the front of the hull. The driver is in the center, with the gunner on the left and the commander on the right. The commander has both a conventional all-around cupola and an independent TV optic, allowing him to pick out a new target or watch for other threats while the gunner is directing a missile onto a distant target. This optimizes the vehicle's firing cycle, allowing the gunner to immediately move on to a new target after the first is destroyed.
The vehicle's main armament consists of a centrally located remote turret, which carries two ready missiles and a targeting camera with video feed to the gunner's station. Twelve reload missiles are carried inside the vehicle on a pair of six-cell rotating drums. After both ready missiles have been fired, the remote turret ejects the empty tubes forward, then traverses to face directly forward and lowers down into the hull, allowing the arms to latch onto the next two ready missiles. The turret can rotate through 360 degrees, but is unable to engage over a small portion of the right rear arc due to the position of the radio antenna.
In Menghean Army service, the JYDCh-17/2 mainly served in separate Anti-Tank Brigades at the Corps and Army levels, as an independent blocking force which the Corps or Army commander could deploy on an advancing unit's flanks or ahead of an enemy attack. It is now being supplemented and replaced by self-propelled mounts for the YDCh-71.
Rihwajaeng
The Rihwajaeng system is a portable land-based YDCh-17 launcher developed specifically for the Menghean Army's Coastal Defense Forces. It is named for the Rihwajaeng (Menghean: 리화쟁 / 梨花鎗, lit. "pear-blossom spear" or "pear-blossom gun"), an early gunpowder weapon used by Menghe's Ŭi dynasty. It was first deployed in 2007, and remains in widespread service with Coastal Defense units, where it serves at the battalion level.
The Rihwajaeng system consists of a tripod, a guidance camera, and two YDCh-17 missile tubes mounted side-by-side. It can be transported on a truck, usually a 4x4 Chŏnsŏ G544, and is capable of being fired while the vehicle is at a standstill. More importantly, however, the missile system can easily be dismounted and carried to a separate firing position, where it is set up on top of its tripod. Because the missiles are nearly two meters long and weigh some 50 kilograms each, this requires more preparation time than a typical man-portable anti-tank system. Operators are instructed to park the transport vehicle as close to the launch site as possible, and to carry the missile pair with one soldier at each end by means of a handle attachment included in the kit. A third crew member carries the tripod, and a fourth carries the remote aiming console and wire spool. Because the system is heavy and cumbersome, transport on foot is slow and full setup can take as long as fifteen minutes. For this reason, it is mainly intended as a defensive weapon, to be deployed well in advance of an enemy attack and abandoned during a retreat.
Once the tripod launcher is in place, however, the launch team can retreat to a safe distance and control it from there. The spooled wire allows the operator to retreat to a maximum distance of 200 meters, and this distance can be doubled by means of a second spooled wire carried in the transporting vehicle. Using the remote console with its digital screen, the operator has direct access to the launcher's camera, and can automatically elevate, traverse, and fire the system, guiding the system by means of the supporting equipment on the launcher itself. Individual launches and two-missile salvos are both possible.
The advantage of such a layout is that it allows the human operators to stay at a safe distance from the launch point, protecting them from suppressing fire directed at the missile's backblast cloud. Operators can even be stationed in an underground bunker or civilian structure, allowing them to man the system for weeks at a time - if the launcher's batteries run low on power, a generator can supply power along the same bundled wire used for control. It also means that the launcher, especially when concealed under a tarp, is much harder to detect on infrared reconnaissance cameras than a human operator would be. This makes it an excellent ambush weapon, able to cover a wide area with its range and offering little warning to its targets.