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The Hong Niao-2 (HN-2) is a medium-range, turbojet powered, single warhead cruise missile developed and manufactured by the People’s Republic of China. Ground-launched, ship-launched, and submarine-launched versions exist.

China is believed to have begun developing the Hong Niao family of long-range cruise missiles in 1977. The idea was to create a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead up to 3,000 km. Initial work was based on a design known as the X-600, which had a design range of 600 km. The X-600 used a Silkworm type body, either a Hai Ying-4 (HY-4) or Ying Ji-6 (YJ-6), with a turbojet engine attached at the rear of the missile underbody. The development program was directed by the No. 1 Research Institute, also known as the Hai Ying Electro-Mechanical Technology Academy. In the mid-1980s, all design and development work for cruise missiles was transferred to the 8359 Research Institute and the Cruise Missile Institute of China, and the manufacturing was transferred to the No. 7 Machine Building Facility.

The X-600 was first flight-tested in 1985, using a small turbojet engine specifically developed for the project. In 1988, China began developing an improved design, which was designated Hong Niao-1 (HN-1), or Red Bird-1. Two versions of the HN-1 exist: the ground-launched HN-1A and the air-launched HN-1 B. The HN-2 is a longer-range version of the HN-1, based largely on U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile technologies recovered from crashed missiles. Three versions exist: the ground-launched HN-2A with a range of 1,800 km, the ship-launched HN-2B also with a range of 1,800 km, and the submarine-launched HN-2C with a range of 1,400 km.

The HN-2 is a significant improvement over the HN-1. It includes an improved turbofan engine based in the Russian Omsk OKB-designed TRDD-50 engine used in the SS-N-21 and AS-15 missiles, and manufactured in China after 1992. In addition, as noted above, China has incorporated technologies recovered from U.S.-made RGM/UGM-109 “Tomahawk” cruise missiles that crash landed following their extensive use in Iraq, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Sudan. These technologies include the inertial navigation system/GPS guidance system, computer hardware and software, electronics, power supplies, airframe, wings, fuel system, and small turbofan engines.

Including the tandem mounted boost motor, the HN-2 is 7.2 m long, 0.7 m in diameter, and has a launched weight of 1,400 kg. The missile has a rectangular air inlet scoop halfway between the rear of the wings and the tailplane, on the underside of the body. In addition, the wing position has been changed to a mid-body position. The missile carries a 400 kg payload, either a 20 to 90 kiloton nuclear warhead, a high explosive warhead, or submunitions. An accuracy of 5 m CEP has been reported.

The HN-2 was reportedly tested in 1995, although some sources argue that this might have been another missile. Four additional tests were reported up to October 1997, and the HN-2 is believed to have started operational evaluation in 1998. A ground-launched HN-2 was tested in August 2001. As of yet, China has not offered the HN-2 for export.(1)

Footnotes

1. Duncan Lennox, ed., Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 45 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2006), pp. 34-36; Lennox, “More details on Chinese cruise missile programme,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, 6 September 2000; Lennox, “China’s new cruise missile programme ‘racing ahead’,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, 12 January 2000; Lennox, “Co-operation boosts missile proliferation,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, January 1, 2002.