QW-2 Chinese Man-Portable Infrared Homing Guided Surface-to-Air Missile

The QW-2 is a Chinese all-aspect man-portable infrared homing guided surface-to-air missile. It is not clear when the missile first entered service, but it is likely to have been between 1998 and 2002. The QianWei 2 (or Vanguard 2, its export name) is the third-generation shoulder-launched, all-aspect IR-homing, 'fire-and-forget' surface-to-air missile developed by Shenyang-based CASIC 119 Factory (Shenyang Hangtian Xinle Ltd). The QW-2 was first revealed during the 1998 Farnborough Airshow. The missile and launcher of the QW-2 bear a strong resemblance to those of the Russian 9K310 Igla-1, and the two missile systems are believed to be comparable in performance. QW-2 is a development of the QW-1 Vanguard series and is considered by many domestic Chinese media sources as the Chinese equivalent of FIM-92E Stinger. Compared to the QianWei 1, the minimum operating altitude of the QianWei 2 has been reduced from 30m to 10m; the operating range has been increased from 5 km to 6 km; and the missile’s reaction time has been reduced to below 5 seconds. The QianWei 2 features a newly developed dual-band passive IR seeker with strong resistance to heat flares dispensed by the target and solar/ground heat, thus improving the missile’s performance in day/night, all-weather conditions.