China conducts vehicle-launched loitering munition live-fire exercise

AVIC's ASN-301 anti-radiation loitering munition displayed at IDEX 2017 held in Abu Dhabi. (Janes/Huw Williams)

China has conducted a live-fire test of a truck-mounted canister-launched loitering munition indicating that the system could be soon inducted into operational service.

State-owned China Central Television (CCTV) reported on 27 October that the loitering munition was tested by the People's Liberation Army's (PLA's) Eastern Theater Command (ETC), which is headquartered at Xuanwu in Nanjing province, close to China's east coast.

Footage published by CCTV showed the loitering munition being fired from a 6×6 launcher vehicle. The vehicle features six mounted launch containers from which the loitering munitions are fired. The loitering munition appears to be launched with the help of a rocket booster and propelled by a pusher propeller.

The loitering munition features mid-mounted double delta wings with full-span elevons, tip-mounted fins and rudders, and two retractable side-force panels in each wing.

The loitering munition tested by the ETC was not identified by CCTV. However, it is possible that the newly tested system is an updated version of the visually similar ASN-301 anti-radiation loitering munition, which was developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). The ASN-301 was unveiled at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) 2017 in Abu Dhabi and was also integrated onto a 6×6 launcher vehicle.

Janes reported at the time that AVIC had described ASN-301 as a “mobile anti-radiation drone system” that “can be applied in [a] long-range attack and suppress enemy radar systems in war”.