The HN-5 () is a family of first generation Chinese man-portable air-defense systems (
MANPAD
Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters.
Overview
MANPADS were developed in the 1950s to provide military g ...
) based on Soviet technology. The HN abbreviation is used to avoid confusion with HY (Hai Ying, or Sea Eagle) series
anti-ship missile
An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good ...
s of
Silkworm missile
The SY (), and HY () series were early anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM) developed by the People's Republic of China from the Soviet P-15 Termit missile. They entered service in the late 1960s and remained the main ASCMs deployed by the People's ...
family. The HN-5 series in Chinese hands has been phased out in front-line and first line reserve units by
QW series MANPAD, but still being used by militia units.
Development
The HN-5 is a
reverse-engineered
Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...
version of the Soviet
Strela 2
The 9K32 Strela-2 (russian: Cтрела, "arrow"; NATO reporting name SA-7 Grail) is a light-weight, shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile (or MANPADS) system. It is designed to target aircraft at low altitudes with passive infrared homing guid ...
(SA-7).
Due to the urgent need for
MANPAD
Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters.
Overview
MANPADS were developed in the 1950s to provide military g ...
s, North Vietnam provided China with an original sample during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
and asked China to produce and supply NVA with copies. However, due to the political turmoil in China, namely, the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
, the reverse-engineering process was slow and by the time the first small production batch was sent to Vietnam for evaluation, the results were ineffective because American aircraft has already adopted
ECM to successfully counter HN-5 and its Soviet counterpart the Strela 2. The dimensions and performance of HN-5 is extremely similar to that of Strela 2.
Variants
HN-5A
As the result of unsatisfactory performance of the original HN-5, China immediately begun to improve the missile and North Vietnam once again provided China with the original Soviet sample during the Vietnam War, this time the Strela 2M. However, when the Chinese finally completed its improvement, it was already too late to see action, because the Vietnam War was over and the relationship between the two countries had soured.
*Length: 1.46 m
*Weight: 10.2 kg
*System weight: 16.5 kg
*Missile diameter: 72 mm
*Warhead: 0.5 kg
*Fuse: impact
*Speed: 500 m/s
*Range: 800 m – 4.4 km
*Altitude: 50 m – 2.5 km
HN-5B
Developed by China based on the Soviet
9K34 Strela-3
The 9K34 Strela-3 (russian: 9К34 «Стрела-3», 'arrow', NATO reporting name: SA-14 Gremlin) is a man-portable air defense missile system (MANPADS) developed in the Soviet Union as a response to the poor performance of the earlier 9K32 Str ...
. Although the missile had entered service with the Chinese army in the mid 1980s, it was not until 1990 when it was first publicly revealed in China. According to many domestic Chinese media sources and some sources outside China, Chinese obtained the Soviet samples via
Zaire
Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
from
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( pt, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the Popular Movement for ...
captured 9K34 Strela-3 from Angola governmental forces, the exact the same way China obtained the
9K310 Igla-1
The 9K38 Igla (russian: Игла́, "needle", NATO reporting name SA-18 Grouse) is a Russian/Soviet man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. A simplified, earlier version is known as the 9K310 Igla-1 (NATO: SA-16 Gimle ...
a short time later. The missile entered in service with the Pakistani army in January 1990.
Foreign Variant
Pakistan has produced a missile as the
Anza Mk I, based on tech from the HN-5B.
HN-5C
A vehicle-mounted version of HN-5B that first entered production in 1986, but was not revealed to the public in China until the early 1990s. A total of eight missiles are configured into two groups of four missiles mounted on a 4x4 vehicle with an
electro-optical
Electro–optics is a branch of electrical engineering, electronic engineering, materials science, and material physics involving components, electronic devices such as lasers, laser diodes, LEDs, waveguides, etc. which operate by the propag ...
fire control system
A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs the same task as a h ...
. The size of the vehicle determined whether reloads could be used. Although the missiles of the vehicle-mounted version can be used as MANPADs, they can not be used as such in the field, they need to be retrofitted first.
HQ-5C
HQ stands for Hong Qi, or Red Flag, the common Chinese designation for their surface-to-air missiles. The missile was specifically developed in the 1980s for export, and it is an ''Westernized'' HN-5B by adopting western standards. The reason was because despite its low price, when the Soviet style HN-5 had been exported to third world countries mainly armed with western weaponry, the compatibility issues and associated logistical problems increased the overall
life cycle cost of the missile.
To avert this, the missile is modified to be compatible with western standards.
Operators
*: 100 acquired in 1978.
*: 50 HN-5As acquired in 1991–1992, 21 HN-5JA1 acquired in 2001.
*: 30 HN-5As acquired in 1994.
*: 1,000 acquired in 1992.
*
*: 72 HN-5As acquired in 1995.
*
*: 500 acquired from 1986-1988.
*: 200 HN-5As acquired in 1992.
*: 600 acquired unknown number from 1983 to 1994.
*: 1,000 acquired from 1987-1988.
*: 1,150 acquired from 1987-1988.
Non-state actors
*
United Wa State Army
The United Wa State Army (; my, ဝပြည် သွေးစည်းညီညွတ်ရေး တပ်မတော်, ), abbreviated as the UWSA or the UWS Army, is the military wing of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), the ''de facto' ...
*
Afghan Mujahideen
See also
*
Anza
*
Misagh-2
The Misagh-2 (Also known as Mithaq-2) is an Iranian man-portable infrared-guided surface-to-air missile. The Misagh-2 is the successor to the Misagh-1. Like its predecessor, the Misagh-2 is based on Chinese technology, and in particular is beli ...
*
Qaem The Qaem (or Ghaem; ) refers to two completely separate Iranian weapons: an air-to-ground glide bomb and a surface-to-air missile. These two weapons are similarly sized and identically named, and are both developed from the Toophan missile, but are ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hn-5
Surface-to-air missiles of the People's Republic of China
Cold War weapons of China
Guided missiles of the People's Republic of China
Weapons of the People's Republic of China
China–Soviet Union relations
Surface-to-air missiles of Iran