YDCh-74
| YDCh-74 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Anti-tank missile |
| Place of origin | Menghe |
| Service history | |
| In service | 2016-present |
| Used by | Menghe |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Samsan Defense |
| Designed | 2011-2016 |
| Produced | 2016-present |
| Specifications (YDCh-74) | |
| Weight | 9.8 kg |
| Length | 92 cm |
| Diameter | 125mm (seeker) |
| Warhead | Tandem HEAT |
Detonation mechanism | Impact fuze |
| Propellant | Solid-fuel rocket |
Operational range | 50-1500 m |
Guidance system | imaging infrared |
Steering system | control surfaces |
The YDCh-74 (Formal designation: 74식 대전차 유도탄 / 七四式對戰車誘導彈, chil-sal-sik daejŏncha yudotan, "Type 74 anti-tank missile;" Short designation 유대차-74 Yudaecha-chilsal "YDCh-74") is a type of anti-tank missile developed in Menghe by Samsan Defense. Intended as a lighter counterpart to the YDCh-72, it has a shorter range and lacks non-line-of-sight capability, but retains its precursor's top-attack trajectory and fire-and-forget guidance. In Menghe it is used by company-level ATGM units in high-readiness formations, including the airborne and marine infantry forces, with plans to issue it as a platoon-level weapon in new formations.
Development
Though the YDCh-72 was lighter than the YDCh-70, its immediate precursor, it still required a cumbersome tripod with a large optical sight, and was generally assigned to a three-man crew for dismounted carriage. This arrangement was adequate for the battalion-level anti-tank formations where it originally served, and for vehicle-based mounts, but by the mid-2010s the Menghean Army was already on a trend toward devolving anti-tank capability to lower-level formations. The YDCh-72 also suffered from a relatively long minimum range, as in NLOS mode the operator needed time to select a target while the missile was airborne.
The YDCh-74, which began development before the YDCh-72 entered service, was intended to correct for these problems. Samsan Defense, the manufacturer of the YDCh-72 and -73, took responsibility for the project, first envisioned as a short-range variant of the YDCh-72. To speed up development, the designers used the seeker head from the YDCh-73, attaching it to a shorter, narrower missile body with a reduced range. The fiber-optic trailing cable was eliminated, partly in a bid to save weight and partly because it was no longer necessary given the new missile's more constrained role. By the time the new missile was approved for service in 2016, it had diverged sufficiently far from the YDCh-72 that the MoND gave it a new designation: YDCh-74.
Design
In terms of its basic planform, the YDCh-74 resembles the previous two missiles in the series, with cruciform wings and rear control surfaces and a large IR-spectrum camera in the nose. The front of the missile is noticeably wider than the body, as the seeker section retains the YDCh-73's 125mm diameter. Another difference is the placement of the rocket motor; rather than firing through ports in the sides, it fires through the tail, where there is no need for a datalink to the launcher.
Unlike either of its predecessors, the YDCh-74 lacks a non-line-of-sight, lock-on-after-launch seeker mode. It only possesses the pre-lock, fire-and-forget mode. To ready the weapon, the operator removes the nose cap, arms the missile, and uses an eyepiece on the side to read video feed from the seeker head. A simple iron sight beside the eyepiece aids in acquiring the target. Once the target is acquired and locked, the operator depresses a button to launch the missile, which homes in autonomously without the need for further input. A top-attack trajectory bypasses the target's frontal armor and certain active protection systems.
The lack of post-launch manual guidance limits the YDCh-74's usefulness, preventing it from being fired from behind cover like its cousins. Yet given the missile's short range, this tradeoff is acceptable, as it results in a weapon which is lighter and easier to bring into combat readiness. The requirement for manual visual confirmation on the target, from a stationary camera point, also reduces the likelihood of mistakenly targeting a friendly vehicle, an issue which the YDCh-72 and -73 revealed in the Innominadan Crisis.
