China uses Tomahawk replica to threaten the US in the East Sea

After using the DF-21D missile, China continued to use the 093B nuclear submarine to "threaten" when the US simultaneously sent two aircraft carrier groups to the East Sea.

Russian-American copy

Chinese media said the photos of 093B were published in the country's People's Navy newspaper, and this is the first time official Chinese media has publicly released photos of 093B.

Based on the ship's structure, especially the 093B's rear conning tower, there is a bulge, which seems to indicate that the 093B is equipped with a vertical launch system, capable of carrying 16 long-range cruise missiles with supersonic speeds such as the YJ-18 or DH-10.

According to some unofficial reports, the development of the DH-10 cruise missile had technical assistance from Russia and Ukraine. In addition, China is also actively hunting for lost and unexploded Tomahawk missiles.

A report by the 2049 Institute (a non-governmental organization specializing in Asian research based in Virginia, USA) said: In the campaign to attack and kill Bin Laden in Afghanistan (1998), the US launched 75 Tomahawk missiles and some of them fell without exploding.

China had no difficulty obtaining these "dud" missiles to study related technologies. As a result of these efforts, after a long time of diligently searching, researching, and copying, China has a "Russian-American hybrid" called the DH-10 based on the Kh-55 and Tomahawk.

China publicly released images of the 093B submarine.

DH-10 missile harmless

Although China considers it a treasure and uses it to show off to the US, according to the 2049 Institute, the DH-10 missile is considered harmless in Southeast Asia. One of the important requirements for a land-attack cruise missile is the guidance mechanism. This is the decisive factor of any guided weapon. For China, developing a guidance mechanism for the DH-10 is a big challenge.

To be able to accurately attack targets thousands of kilometers away, missiles require a very sophisticated guidance system and a combination of different guidance methods to increase accuracy. The DH-10 missile is said to use a guidance system that combines inertial guidance (INS), TERCOM terrain-following guidance and GPS.

However, for the missile to operate with the TERCOM terrain guidance system, a map of the target area must be prepared and entered into the missile's memory. At that time, the missile's altitude measuring radar will record parameters of the flying area and transfer them to a small memory in the missile to perform calculations.

The obtained parameters will be organized into a series of measurements similar to a map, this temporary map will be compared with a previously stored map to determine position and direction, this information will be used to adjust the missile's flight path.

Meanwhile, it is very difficult for China to create a topographic map for a geographically complex area like Southeast Asia. China cannot use spy planes to penetrate deep into the airspace of sovereign countries to create a ground map.

Furthermore, according to unofficial reports, the primary guidance system for the DH-10 missile is GPS. However, using civilian GPS signals to guide a military missile is certainly not a viable option, as civilian GPS signals are highly susceptible to jamming.

If the DH-10 missile relies on this guidance system, its threat capability is negligible. The DH-10 missile can rely on the inertial guidance system to find the target, but for this solution, the CEP index will be very large.

One possibility mentioned is that in case the US cuts off GPS signals in the combat area, the DH-10 missile can rely on Russia's GLONASS satellite navigation system to attack the target.

However, currently, the GLONASS system's civil signals are not yet globally covered, so the reliability of this method is not better than using civil GPS signals.

Another option is to use the Beidou satellite navigation system developed by China. However, the accuracy of this satellite navigation system is still an open question. It is worth remembering that the Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile becomes less effective in areas with difficult terrain.

So the DH-10 or other Chinese land-attack cruise missiles give the country a significant military deterrent... in theory.

According to Datviet