The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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China Reinvents RAM
by James Dunnigan
December 3, 2014
November 6, 2014: China has introduced a short-range anti-missile system for its ships called HQ-10. Two models of the HQ-10 have been seen on so far, one with 21 missile launch tubes and one with 18. The HQ-10 missile have a guidance system with a microwave radar and a heat seeker. This makes these missile more difficult to jam. HQ-10 has actually been around since 2011 but now is has been officially announced.
The HQ-10 appears very similar to the RAM (Rolling Airframe Missile) anti-missile missile. RAM has been in service since 1992 and is a joint German-American development that began in the late 1970s. The RAM missiles are 127mm in diameter, three meters (9.3 feet) long, and weigh 73.6 kg (162 pounds) each. The terminal guidance system is heat seeking. Basically, it uses the rocket motor and warhead from the Sidewinder air-to-air missile and the guidance system from the Stinger shoulder fired anti-aircraft missile. The 11 or 21 cell RAM launchers provide flexibility. The RAM missiles cost about $450,000 each.
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