While other countries are busy dealing with COVID-19 pandemic, China has been testing its new advanced air-to-ground missile. The test result shows that the new weapon can be used to attack moving targets, ground targets, and even large ships. The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that it is China's first long-range stand-off weapon.
Soldiers operate a ground control device to launch anti-tank missile. pic.twitter.com/G3daM8pQId — Chinese Military (@SuperPowerChina) July 18, 2020
In late June, the newly developed missile was tested at a desert location in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. A helicopter was used to fire the new weapon, which successfully hit its target, as reported by China Aviation News.
It was confirmed that the new missile is a stand-off weapon. Even if China's air-to-ground missile is launched from a distance, it can dodge any counter-attacks fired at it. The People's Liberation Army did not reveal its name and specification.
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It is the first weapon of China's military with guided systems, long-range features, and the capability to evade jamming. The missile developed by a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the China Helicopter Research and Development Institute (CHRDI), was delayed because of the global pandemic caused by COVID-19, but it is back on track again.
The AKD-10 and AKD-9 anti-tank missiles and Yj-9 anti-ship missiles, which are already in service, will be replaced by the new missile once it is fully functional. It can also be used by different types of helicopters, just like the US AGM-114 'hellfire" series.
China will build two more aircraft carriers
China is currently planning to develop its next-generation aircraft carrier within a year and build a sister ship. The Typen 002 aircraft carrier began the final assembly process. It is considered as China's third carrier and the second to be domestically developed.
BEIJING: China has recently test-launched a new type of air-to-ground missile, which can be fired from a helicopter, according to the team that developed the projectile@TeamPKGuardian #PakGuardian pic.twitter.com/0PzGeqEjtP — @ishaq baig (@ishaqbaig181) July 17, 2020
"Assembly of the new aircraft carrier has begun and is expected to be completed in the first half of next year because the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down progress," said one of the two independent sources coordination with South China Morning Post. The sources requested anonymity since the issue is sensitive, as stated by the report.
Type 002 carrier's sister ship had begun initial construction work as early as 2018. However, the operation was stopped because of technical reasons. Photos showing two huge parts in a dry dock, assembled from prefabricated vessel components, were circulating on mainland China's social media platforms.
The latest images revealed that the aircraft carriers made much more progress compared to the previous satellite images taken by the U.S. Centre for Strategic and International Studies in April 2019.
