HQ-61A Chinese Surface to Air Missile

The cumbersome HQ-61 series has been largely superceded by the HQ-7 and HQ-64 point defense SAMs. The Chinese HQ-61 HongQi/Hungchi (Red Leader) is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system for land-mobile and shipboard use. The shipboard RF-61, the first in Chinese service, reportedly entered service before the vehicle-mounted HQ-61. The HQ-61 appears similar visually to the U.S. Sparrow, but is slightly longer and heavier and has a semi-active radar (SAR) homing seeker and midcourse command link guidance. The missile is a thin, pointed cylinder with cruciform steerable foreplanes at mid-body and cruciform delta tailplanes aft that are indexed 45 degrees to the foreplanes. The missile’s SAR homing seeker tracks continuous wave (CW) illumination from a target-illuminating radar and is reported to have good electronic counter countermeasures (ECCM) capabilities. The system can handle only one missile at a time. Detonation is by a dual-fuze system (proximity and infrared). The HQ-61 is powered by a solid-propellant rocket. The rectangular, traversable mount is topped by an elevating, twin-rail launcher that is pivoted at the rear. There is little visible difference between land-mobile and shipboard mounts. The land-mobile version is deployed in groups of four launch vehicles (tracked or on 6 x 6-wheeled chassis). Other vehicles transport target acquisition radars (C-band Type 571), target-tracking and illumination radars, a battery command post and mobile generators. Source: Military Periscope, June 2017