YJ-18

A Chinese ship- and submarine-launched cruise-missile family that combines subsonic cruise with a supersonic terminal sprint and includes reported anti-ship and land-attack variants.

Overview

The YJ-18, or Yingji-18 ("Eagle Strike-18"), is a Chinese cruise-missile family fielded by the People's Liberation Army Navy. The US designation is CH-SS-NX-13. It is reportedly derived from the Russian 3M-54E Klub and uses a two-stage flight profile: economical subsonic cruise followed by a high-speed terminal attack intended to compress a defending ship's reaction time. CSIS Missile Threat identifies anti-ship and land-attack members of the family and places entry into service around 2014.

Ship-launched YJ-18A missiles are carried in the vertical launch systems of Type 052D and Type 055 destroyers, while other versions are associated with Song-, Yuan- and Shang-class submarines. Reported maximum range varies substantially, from about 220 km to approximately 540 km, and neither the missile's inventory nor its unit cost is publicly established. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission assessed that its range and terminal sprint could greatly expand the area threatened by Chinese submarines, although effective use near the upper end of that range depends on timely over-the-horizon targeting.

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