I am far from certain, it was just a guess from the letter F possibly being Fushe in Chinese. I have asked for other suggestions but so far haven't seen anyone convincing me.
Chinese air to ground weapons (missiles, PGMs, etc)
- Thread starter AssassinsMace
- Start date
Hmm, shouldn't we be using the missile's appearance to guess what the F may mean, rather than making guesses about what the F means first and trying to see if it fits with the missile's appearance?
I mean, either way the missile just doesn't look like a classic anti-radiation missile at all.
As for what the F means, see my edit in the last post -- the F likely stands for fang qu wai (防区外), aka "standoff".
That would be consistent for an air launched ALCM like AKF-98A, as well as the extended wing range (aka SLAM-ER esque) AKF-088 that we've seen.
Well, IMO both are equally important and equally just guessing, see the reason below.
As you said
But I doubt the "F" refers specifically to a specific mission.
EDIT: lol okay the text itself gives an excellent answer -- fang qu wai (防区外), aka "standoff". So yeah, that makes sense for AKF-98 and AKF-88
I agree with that "F" should not refer to a specific mission. While "standoff" is IMO a specific mission. That is why I saw the suggestion by another member earlier but did not take it.
However I see that you do not see "standoff" as a specific mission. This is the reason that I think it is equally important to think in the other direction, going through possible PLA lexicon to find possibilities.
AKF-088 is a good reference, have we seen from other sources how it is more meaningfully designated or described (mission)? I have not paid attention in ammunitions, so this may have sound like a stupid question.
Yes, I don't think "standoff" is a specific mission, but rather a general category of munitions.
Also, in the case of both AKF-98 and AKF-88, doesn't it make sense that as both are more extended range powered munitions, that "standoff" makes the most sense?
At the very least I'm okay with the idea of keeping options open, but I don't see how one can look at the AKF-98 and see an anti-radiation missile.
Well given AKF-088 is a new missile that we've only discovered in the last 24 hours or so, we don't have much information about it.
But we do have past precedent for the way in which the same general missile has different variants.
For example, for the AKD-88 family of weapons, they have all had different variants like "KD-88A, KD-88B, KD-88C" which refer to different seekers or warheads or more advanced variants.
Same goes for AKD-20.
Certainly, I think the idea of "F" representing anti-radiation can certainly be ignored. If either AKF-98 or AKF-088 have an anti-radiation role, that would be in a separate variant of either missile (i.e.: AKF-98"X" or AKF-088"X") by replacing their seekers and/or warheads.
supercat
Major
The AKF98A may have a cover over its ventral intake that can be ejected right before launch, like the Storm Shadow missile.
As for the function of AKF98A, China already has the YJ-12 anti-radiation missile. If AKF98A also has a secondary function as an anti-radiation missile, it probably will serve as a loitering anti-radiation missile.
what's the difference between GB6 and YJ6?First off, I agree that it's a cruise missile -- those texts for the propellant all but confirms it.
But I'm curious, why do you think it is an anti-radiation missile?
The planform of this thing overall is very consistent with other LO cruise missiles in the world -- think JASSM, Taurus KEPD, Storm Shadow, JSM, SOM.
Those other cruise missiles of course are modular by nature, meaning that they can be equipped with different seekers and warheads as designed.
However they all tend to be characterized by a number of things: relatively decent range for their size, low observability, and the newer types also have a terminal supplementary EO terminal guidance.
In the case of this missile, it's just a mock up and meant to show external geometry and other details are omitted -- however the angled faceted nose on it is almost certainly meant to represent an EO terminal guidance window.
In terms of nose geometry, its closest international peer is the SOM missile from Turkey.
It's possible that there are other variants of this missile -- after all it's called AKF-98"A" -- there very well may be B, C and other variants with different guidance options and different warheads.
If it had an anti-radiation seeker, I expect it would not be angled and faceted like we see, but be more conventional, perhaps something like this (GB6A shown at a past airshow):
We also have that picture of the extended range KD-88 variant called "AKF-088C" suggesting there are also "AKF-088A/B" variants that exist as well. We know that KD-88 comes with different seeker options so the AKF-088 having it should be reasonable as well.
Perhaps "F" could represent any new phrase or word referring to a "multirole long range" weapon or something.
But I doubt the "F" refers specifically to a specific mission.
EDIT: lol okay the text itself gives an excellent answer -- fang qu wai (防区外), aka "standoff". So yeah, that makes sense for AKF-98 and AKF-88
They both show themselves to be 500 kg GPS guided dispenser
One is powered and the other is not?
The GPS just means Global Positioning System, not the US's GPS. It can be one or several of the four systems of US's GPS, Beidou, GLONASS and Galileo.
Both are unpowered and both seem like they're in the same weight category.
As we discussed, I'm not sure why they have procured both.
Someone claims it is a new general anti radiation missile between AKF98A and AKF088C.
Perhaps different warheads? 1 a penetrator, 1 GP?