Christian Orr
This is the concluding episode in my – and 19FortyFive’s – series on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA’s) missile arsenal. As previously noted, I was inspired to pen this series after attending the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s (VOC)’s annual China Forum in Washington, DC, back on 6 December 2022.
In the first three parts of this series, we covered (1) the PLA’s intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), (2) intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) and medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs), and (3) close-range ballistic missiles (CRBMs) and short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs).
Now we’ll discuss China’s cruise missiles:
Definitions/Clarification
A technical differentiation between ballistic missiles and cruise missiles is in order here. For that purpose, a fact sheet provided by the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation is quite useful:
“Ballistic missiles are powered initially by a rocket or series of rockets in stages, but then follow an unpowered trajectory that arches upwards before descending to reach its intended target. Ballistic missiles can carry either nuclear or conventional warheads.”
“Cruise missiles are unmanned vehicles that are propelled by jet engines, much like an airplane. They can be launched from ground, air or sea platforms…Cruise missiles remain within the atmosphere for the duration of their flight and can fly as low as a few meters off the ground. Flying low to the surface of the earth expends more fuel but makes a cruise missile very difficult to detect…Cruise missiles are self-guided and use multiple methods to accurately deliver their payload, including terrain mapping, global positioning systems (GPS) and inertial guidance, which uses motion sensors and gyroscopes to keep the missile on a pre-programmed flight path.”
YJ-63 Land Attack Cruise Missile (LACM)
Introduced in 2004, this is an air-launched, land attack cruise missile LACM that carries a conventional payload – it is not nuclear-capable – of up to 500 kilograms, wields a payload of 20 – 90 kilotons, and has a range of 200 kilometers. It is a single-stage missile that utilizes liquid propellant.
As noted by Kristin Horitski, Van Cleve Fellow at the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA), “The YJ-63 is often deployed on the H-6K bomber, which is designed for long-range and stand-off attacks and has a combat radius of 3,500 km. This puts large portions of the western Pacific within range of the cruise missile and has the potential to be a strong anti-access area denial (A2/AD) capability in the event of a conflict.”
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