In
Nov 2016, a J-16 strike fighter test-fired a gigantic
hypersonic missile, successfully destroying the target drone at a very
long range.
Looking at takeoff photos, we estimate the missile is about 28 percent of the length of the J-16, which measures 22 meters (about 72 feet). The puts the missile at about 19 feet, and roughly 13 inches in diameter. The missile appears to have four tailfins. Reports are that the size would put into the category of a very long range air to air missile (VLRAAM) with ranges exceeding 300 km (roughly 186 miles), likely max out between 250 and 310 miles. (As a point of comparison, the smaller 13.8-foot, 15-inch-diameter Russian R-37 missile has a 249-mile range).
This is a big deal: this missile would easily outrange any American (or other NATO) air-to-air missile. Additionally, the VLRAAM's powerful rocket engine will push it to Mach 6 speeds, which will increase the no escape zone (NEZ), that is the area where a target cannot outrun the missile, against even supersonic targets like stealth fighters.
Looking at takeoff photos, we estimate the missile is about 28 percent of the length of the J-16, which measures 22 meters (about 72 feet). The puts the missile at about 19 feet, and roughly 13 inches in diameter. The missile appears to have four tailfins. Reports are that the size would put into the category of a very long range air to air missile (VLRAAM) with ranges exceeding 300 km (roughly 186 miles), likely max out between 250 and 310 miles. (As a point of comparison, the smaller 13.8-foot, 15-inch-diameter Russian R-37 missile has a 249-mile range).
This is a big deal: this missile would easily outrange any American (or other NATO) air-to-air missile. Additionally, the VLRAAM's powerful rocket engine will push it to Mach 6 speeds, which will increase the no escape zone (NEZ), that is the area where a target cannot outrun the missile, against even supersonic targets like stealth fighters.
Another
researched VLRAAM function is datalinking; the papers called for the
VLRAAM to be embedded within a highly integrated combat networks. It is
envisioned as just part of a larger wave of networked solutions
aggregated through multiple Chinese systems. For example, a J-20 stealth
fighter wouldn't mount the missile (the VLRAAM is too large to fit in
the J-20's weapons bay), but could use its low observable features to
fly relatively close in order to detect enemy assets like AEW&C
aircraft (which are vital to gather battlespace data for manned and
unmanned assets, but subsonic in speed and less able to evade missiles).
Then before breaking off contact, the J-20 would signal a J-16 400 km
(249 miles) away (outside the range of most air to air missiles)
providing it the data needed to launch the VLRAAM at the target. This
would offer China a longer range version of present U.S. tactics that
involve using the fifth generation F-22 as a sensor for 4th generation
fighters as the "shooters."