WS-2
The WS-2 (卫士 -2, WeiShi-2) is a long-range multiple rocket launcher system of the People's Republic of China . It is used to combat area targets.
development
The system was developed by the state arms manufacturer SCAIC (Alit) in the early 2000s . It is a further development of the WS-1 . The WS-2 was first presented to the public in 2004. In 2006, the system was observed to be installed on DropShips .
variants
- WS-2: Standard variant with six turret tubes; with missiles with a max. Combat distance of 200 km; installed on a Taian TAS-5380 truck .
- WS-2C: Prototype with missiles with a max. Combat distance of 350 km.
- WS-2D: Prototype with rockets with a max. Combat distance of 400 km.
- WS-2F: Project with missiles with a max. Combat distance of 500 km.
- WS-3: Variant with missiles with GPS guidance system. Max. Combat distance 200 km.
- GWS-1: Simplified export version of the WS-2; installed on a Tiema XC-2030 truck .
- A-200: Export version of the WS-3. 2 × 4 launchers installed on a WS2400 truck .
technology
On the four-axle truck Taian TAS-5380 is a tubular package with six tubes of the caliber mounted 400 mm. A rocket launcher is capable of firing all six rockets within twelve seconds. It takes twelve minutes to reload an empty launcher. A battalion of six WS-2 systems covers a target area of 1000 m × 1000 m with a total of 36 missiles.
The missiles are spin and wing stabilized and use a rudimentary inertial navigation platform . The maximum spread of a rocket volley is 0.17% of the combat distance (around 340 m with a maximum combat distance of 200 km). The missiles of the WS-3 system have a GPS guidance system and, according to the manufacturer, have a hit accuracy ( CEP ) of around 45 m.
The WS-2 uses the following missiles:
- ZDB-1 with 540 pieces of bomblets (submunitions) with combined fragmentation and armor penetrating effect. Each bomblet has a fragmentation circle of around 7 m and can penetrate 85 mm of armored steel .
- ZDB-2 with a 200 kg fragmentation warhead with 90 kg of explosives. Splinter effect circle 85–90 m.
- ZDB-3 with 61 bomblets with combined armor-piercing, fragmentation and incendiary effects. Each bomblet can penetrate 180 mm of reinforced concrete and produce 200 splinters. The incendiary charge has an effective area of around 4 m.
- ZDB-4 with combined splinter and fire effect. The warhead contains 38,000 steel balls and 10,000 incendiary pellets. Effective area 85 m (splinter), 45 m (fire)
- ZDB-5 with a thermobaric (FAE) warhead with an incendiary charge of 120 kg. This develops an overpressure of 0.1 Mpa within a radius of 25 m .
distribution
-
People's Republic of China ( Army ) -
Sudan 1 battery ( army )
Technical data missiles
| system | WS-2 |
|---|---|
| rocket | ZDB-2 |
| Manufacturer | SCAIC |
| drive | single stage, HTPB solid |
| speed | Do 5.6 |
| length | 7.3020 m |
| Hull diameter | 400 mm |
| Weight | 1,285 kg |
| Warhead | 200 kg fragmentation warhead |
| min. Combat distance | 70 km |
| Max. Combat distance | 200 km |
| Course deviation | <0.17% |
Individual evidence
- ↑ janes.com: Guided Wei Shi-2 (WS-2) (China), Offensive weapons. Retrieved June 30, 2011 .
- ^ Military of China: A200 long-range guided weapons. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on April 2, 2015 ; Retrieved April 16, 2011 .
- ↑ janes.com: Chinese moves to adopt new guided rocket system show ongoing value of domestic competition to PLA. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on March 30, 2015 .
- ^ The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS): The Military Balance 2018 . 1st edition. Routledge, London 2018, ISBN 978-1-85743-955-7 , pp. 489 (English).
Web links
- Weishi (WS-1 / -2) Multiple Launch Rocket Systems ( Memento from January 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) with a detailed description, as of September 23, 2016 (English)