HJ-73

Description

The HJ-73 (9M14) missile with fins folded and deployed (scale is approximate)

The HJ-73 (红箭-73), Officially the AFT73式反坦克导弹 (AFT73 ATGM) under post-2003 nomenclature, is an ATGM developed in Mainland China during the 1970s based on the Soviet missile 9K11 Malyutka (NATO designation: AT-3 Sagger). By 1960s, although there were domestic efforts to built ATGMs, due to the complete lack of experience on this concept, engineers have to seek for foreign examples; after acquiring some examples of 9K11 from different sources and reverse-engineer efforts, the new HJ-73 won the bidding for PLAGF ATGM over the J-201 and served the armed force for more than 5 decades with upgraded variant HJ-73E.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• ZBD86

General info

As it was based on the Soviet Malyutka ATGM, the HJ-73 shares the same characteristics. It is a MCLOS missile flying at a lower speed than most of its counterparts at the same BR.

Missile characteristics
Calibre	125 mm
Mass	10.9 kg
Guidance	Hand-aiming (MCLOS)
Maximum speed	140 m/s
Firing range	3 km
Missile guidance time	30 secs
Explosive mass	3.25 kg TNTeq
Fuze delay	0.05 m
Fuze sensitivity	0.1 mm
Armour penetration	400 mm

Effective damage

The missile comes with a warhead of 2.6 kg TNT equivalent and deals the armour the damage equivalent of a HEAT shell, along with overpressure damage to lightly armoured vehicles.

Penetration table
Distance	Angle of attack
	0°	30°	60°
10 m	400 mm	346 mm	200 mm
100 m	400 mm	346 mm	200 mm
500 m	400 mm	346 mm	200 mm
1000 m	400 mm	346 mm	200 mm
1500 m	400 mm	346 mm	200 mm
2000 m	400 mm	346 mm	200 mm

Comparison with analogues

The HJ-73 is a reverse-engineered 9K11 ATGM so they perform equally in many aspects. At its BR, only the Japanese Type 64 ATGM falls way behind it in terms of its speed while their NATO counterpart SS.11 flies faster to its target.

Usage in battles

Since its carrier is the ZBD86, a reverse-engineered BMP-1, the HJ-73 requires players using their WASD key to control the missile to its target, making the launcher vulnerable to any possible attacks from enemies. The best way to utilize this missile is stay hidden and look for targets that are not on the move, then deliver your blow with this missile.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Sufficient speed at its tier.
• Can used as a last-ditch weapon in case gun barrel was knocked out.
• Penetration is sufficient at its tier.

Cons:

• MCLOS meaning that players have to keep full control of the missile with your keyboard.
• It has trajectory that makes it not suitable for close-quarter combat.

History

During the late 1960s took place the Sino-Soviet border conflicts, especially around the Zhenbao / Damansky Island where the Mainland Chinese Army captured a Soviet T-62 from the Soviet Border Troops. The PLA found they were behind in terms of anti-armor weaponry, especially regarding ATGM capabilities (which were inexistent in Mainland China). A long-time friend of Mainland China, North Korea (DPRK), provided some 9K11 Malyutka missiles samples and Romania later provided another batch of samples for the PLA in 1973.

With the continuous efforts from different institutes and factories, in 1979, the HJ-73 has finally passed field tests and was ready to be commissioned in PLAGF. Its debut would be on 2nd July, 1985 during the border skirmish period of Sino-Vietnamese War; a platoon of ATGM troops arrived at the position defended by 138th Division, 46th Army Corps for a bizarre plan to neutralize Vietnamese frontline command outpost - using the four newly arrived HJ-73, the unit stationed at 35th Position "sniped" the commanding outposts at the Height 1031, 2.1km away from the site and achieved all-hit, as well as detonating the ammunition stored alongside with 17 officers on the Vietnamese side.

Later with its latest HJ-73E modification, it served as a last-ditch weapon for PLAGF/PLA Airborne troops/PLANMC to defeat more protected, heavier targets with its tandem warhead while the original HJ-73 would serve as the training missile for PLAGF troops and sometimes anti-fortification munition.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

• 9M14 - AT-3, its Soviet ancestor
• HJ-73E (AFT07E) - post-2000 modification with tandem warhead and SACLOS control.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.