China successfully test-fires new air-to-air missile
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China has claimed to have successfully test fired an indigenously built next-generation air-to-air missile, which is projected as a "secret weapon" to gain air superiority.
China has independently developed a next-generation air-to-air missile without assistance from foreign specialists or borrowed technology, state-run People's Daily reported.
"The new missile offers the military and country another trump card. The Key Model is an international-advanced AAM model. It is a secret weapon for gaining air superiority.
It plays a crucial role in reinforcing the power of national defence and strengthening the influence of China," it said.
Designed by Fan Huitao, the deputy director of the Air-to-Air Missile Research Institute under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the missile, known as the "Key Model," successfully passed the designed type approval test and achieved an excellent result, with all seven missiles hitting their targets, it said.
"Its successful development indicates that China already fully possesses the ability to independently develop internationally-advanced air-to-air missiles," it said projecting it a historic breakthrough in China's air-to-air missile development.
The missile has met the Chinese Air Force's requirement for the model to be designed, produced, delivered and made combat effective within one year, it said adding that only a few developed countries around the world possess such a capability.
"The complicated system of the model and the high-grade, high-precision and advanced technologies needed to develop it has never been seen in the development of other models," it said.
Facing host restrictions for access to high end defence technology from EU and US, the missile was considered a breakthrough as no foreign military experts were involved in its development.
The successful completion of the missile is the culmination of Fan Huitao's career in the aviation industry, it said.
In 2000, Fan took over as the chief model designer and began to lead a group in researching China's new-generation air-to-air missile.
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