TY-90
Contents
Description
The TY-90 (天燕-90; Sky Swallow, also known as AKK-90) is a Chinese infrared homing air-to-air missile. It was introduced in Update "Danger Zone".
Introduced in the 1990s as a product of NORINCO for surface-to-air defense system, TY-90 was also designated as the first "dedicated anti-rotorcraft missile" ever invented; thanks to its overall lightweight frame and UFO-like trajectory, this missile gives light helicopters a chance to fight back against aircraft which fly upon players and the last thing they would see is the trail of TY-90.
Vehicles equipped with this weapon
General info
| Missile characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Mass | 24 kg |
| Guidance | IR |
| Aspect | All-aspects |
| Lock range (rear-aspect) | 11 km |
| Lock range (all-aspect) | 6 km |
| ECCM | Yes |
| Launch range | 6 km |
| Maximum speed | 2.2 M |
| Maximum overload | 20 G |
| Missile guidance time | 12 secs |
| Explosive mass | 1.5 kg TNTeq |
Effective damage
TY-90 with its 1.5 kg TNT equivalent of explosive fillers can cause blast and shrapnel damage against both aircraft and rotorcrafts.
Comparison with analogues
FIM-92 Stinger; 9M39 Igla; Mistral - The trio of MANPADS-based helicopter AAMs, due to their nature of MANPADS, the overall locking range and overload is nowhere close to the TY-90, making them falls in short in this sector.
Starstreak- Only found of British's AH Mk.1 Apache as its AAM option, the Mach 3 speed and 7 km range of Starstreak can certainly shoot down other rotorcrafts faster; However, it suffers from the lack of proximity fuse and thus requires skill players to lead the missile onto the target.
Usage in battles
The TY-90 is an effective weapon against air targets, as it has a high overall G overload and speed that are sufficient to shoot down even jets at transonic speeds. It is especially deadly in lower rank battles. The optimal acquisition range for the TY-90 is within 4 km, where most aerial targets can be locked by the heat seeker. If targets cannot be found, players can use the gunner sights to help search for targets and then unleash the missile. Players who do not perform enough manoeuvres to evade the missile will certainly meet their demise. Helicopters equipped with the TY-90 have earned the nickname "flying SPAAG" due to its effectiveness against airborne targets.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- 20G tracking overload
- All-aspect tracking
- Electric Counter Counter Measures
Cons:
- Slow speed, can be outrun by some aircraft
- Relatively low explosive mass
History
In the early 1990s, the PLAGF concluded that the conversion of MANPADS into helicopter-mounted systems would not be sufficient for future battlefields where heat-suppression systems would become common. After an unknown development process, the earliest variant DY-90 appeared in the 5th Zhuhai Airshow as a ground-based surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. Later, the TY-90 was incorporated onto wheeled chassis such as the WZ551 (known as Yitian 倚天) or various PLAGF HUMVEE-like vehicles. The navalized version, HQ-10/FN-3000, was upgraded with the seeker from the QW series MANPADS and served as CIWS missiles for the PLAN and their export vessels.
However, to the present day, there are no records of the TY-90 or DY-90 being sold to any other countries.
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the article about the variant of the weapon;
- references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.
External links
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- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
