C-704
The C-704 is a lightweight, subsonic anti-ship missile developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation to target naval vessels displacing between 1,000 and 4,000 tons, such as frigates and patrol boats.[1][2] Featuring a solid rocket booster for initial acceleration and options for radar, television, or infrared guidance, the missile achieves ranges of up to 170 kilometers with a warhead weighing approximately 110 kilograms.[1] It supports launches from air, surface, coastal, and potentially submarine platforms, enhancing its versatility for littoral warfare.[3] Introduced for export in the early 2000s, the C-704 has been acquired by operators including Indonesia, Pakistan, and Iran, where it influenced the development of the locally produced Nasr-1 variant.[1] In 2011, a shipment of C-704 missiles aboard the vessel Victoria was intercepted en route from Iran to Gaza, highlighting concerns over proliferation to non-state actors amid the vehicle's links to Hamas armament efforts.[4] The system's reported hit probability exceeds 95 percent in testing, underscoring its role in asymmetric naval denial strategies despite limitations against larger, defended warships.[1] Variants like the extended-range C-705 extend operational reach, reflecting iterative improvements in Chinese precision-guided munitions.[2]Development and History
Origins and Initial Development
The C-704 anti-ship missile originated from development efforts by the China Haiying Electro-Mechanical Technology Academy (CHETA), operating as the Third Academy under the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), commencing in the early 2000s.[5][6] This initiative built upon the foundational C-701 light anti-ship missile, scaling it up to address limitations in engaging larger targets while preserving compactness for export markets.[7] Primary design goals centered on neutralizing mid-sized naval vessels displacing 1,000 to 4,000 tons, including patrol craft and frigates, to enable cost-effective asymmetric engagements against superior fleets reliant on smaller, distributed platforms.[2] Engineers prioritized affordability through simplified construction and modular components, alongside a low-altitude sea-skimming trajectory to minimize radar exposure and enhance penetration against point defenses. Initial engineering focused on versatile guidance to counter agile, evasive targets in littoral environments, incorporating active radar seekers for adverse weather operations and electro-optical or infrared options for daylight precision strikes, with interchangeable heads to adapt to mission requirements.[2][6] These features aimed to provide reliable terminal homing resistant to basic electronic countermeasures, distinguishing the C-704 from heavier, more complex systems suited only to high-end navies.[1]Entry into Service and Testing
The C-704 anti-ship missile entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in 2006, marking its maturation as a lightweight, multi-platform weapon system optimized for tactical coastal operations.[9] This adoption followed initial development phases focused on integrating active radar homing with subsonic propulsion, enabling deployment from surface vessels, aircraft, and coastal launchers to counter amphibious or littoral threats.[1] Testing emphasized propulsion reliability and low-altitude flight profiles, with successful trials validating a hybrid system combining a solid rocket booster for initial acceleration and a small turbojet engine for sustained cruise.[10] These evaluations demonstrated sea-skimming trajectories at altitudes as low as 12-15 meters, achieving speeds around Mach 0.85-0.9 to evade radar detection while maintaining terminal accuracy against maneuvering surface targets up to 1,500 tons displacement.[11] Integration tests confirmed compatibility with PLAN platforms, prioritizing rapid launch sequences for defensive scenarios against larger naval assets. The missile's capabilities were publicly unveiled at the 2008 Zhuhai Airshow, where air-launched variants were showcased in simulated strike demonstrations against naval targets, highlighting its versatility beyond shipboard use.[10] These displays underscored the system's operational readiness by the mid-2000s, with flight tests confirming seeker performance in electronic warfare environments typical of contested maritime zones.[1]Export Development and Proliferation
The C-704 missile was developed by China as an export-oriented anti-ship weapon, with early efforts focused on markets like Iran to bolster local production capabilities. In the late 2000s, China assisted Iran in establishing a factory for assembling and producing the missile, enabling Iran to manufacture the Nasr-1, a reverse-engineered variant based on the C-704 design.[10][1] Mass production of the Nasr-1 commenced in 2010, incorporating modifications such as enhanced guidance options including radar and television-signal homing, which extended its utility in littoral environments.[12][13] This technology transfer facilitated Iran's self-sufficiency in short-range anti-ship systems, reducing reliance on imports while allowing for indigenous upgrades like increased warhead size to 150 kg in some versions.[14] Proliferation risks emerged prominently through Iran's transfers of C-704-derived missiles to non-state actors, exemplified by the 2011 interception of the MV Victoria by Israeli naval forces. The vessel, en route from Iran to Sudan and allegedly destined for Gaza, carried approximately 50 tons of armaments, including six C-704 anti-ship missiles equipped with radars and capable of engaging targets at 35 km range.[15][4] This shipment, concealed in shipping containers, marked the first documented seizure of such advanced anti-ship missiles bound for Gaza-based groups like Hamas or Hezbollah, intended to threaten Israeli naval assets in asymmetric warfare scenarios.[16][17] The incident underscored the missile's role in enabling proxy forces to challenge superior naval forces, though operational effectiveness remains constrained by vulnerabilities to electronic countermeasures and the need for line-of-sight acquisition in contested waters.[18] Such developments highlight the C-704's proliferation pathway, originating from Chinese export adaptations and amplified by Iranian replication and distribution, posing sustained risks to regional maritime security. Empirical assessments from intercepted cargoes and proxy arming patterns indicate potential for saturating defenses against smaller vessels like corvettes, yet real-world deployments reveal limitations against integrated air defenses and jamming.[19][20]Design and Technical Features
Physical and Aerodynamic Design
The C-704 features a streamlined cylindrical fuselage measuring approximately 3.5 meters in length and 0.28 meters in diameter, providing a compact form factor suitable for integration across diverse platforms.[1] Its cruciform wing configuration incorporates folding mechanisms, with wings stowed at 0.48 meters span for canister storage and extending to 1.018 meters when deployed, optimizing aerodynamic lift while minimizing launch volume constraints.[3] The missile's aerodynamic profile is tailored for sea-skimming trajectories, maintaining altitudes of 15-20 meters over water to exploit surface clutter for evasion during terminal approach phases.[3][1] This low-level flight path, supported by the missile's stable wing and control surface geometry, facilitates dynamic maneuvering to counter anti-missile defenses in anti-ship engagements. Adaptability to multiple launch environments defines the design's structural versatility, accommodating ventral or wing-mounted configurations on fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, vertical canister erectors on surface ships and fast attack craft, and truck-borne horizontal launchers for coastal batteries.[1][7]Guidance and Seeker Systems
The C-704 missile employs inertial navigation for mid-course guidance, directing the weapon toward a pre-designated target area using onboard gyroscopes and accelerometers to track position and velocity without external inputs during this phase.[7] This approach provides autonomy against initial electronic interference but accumulates errors over longer ranges without corrections, limiting inherent precision to the capabilities of the inertial measurement unit.[1] In the terminal phase, the missile activates an active radar seeker to detect and home in on maneuvering surface targets, enabling engagement of ships up to several thousand tons displacement by locking onto radar returns and adjusting trajectory in real time.[7][1] The radar operates in the X-band for high resolution, supporting sea-skimming low-altitude flight paths that exploit horizon masking to evade detection.[1] Variants like the C-704KD replace or supplement the radar with imaging infrared (IIR) or television (TV) seekers, which require electro-optical contrast for terminal guidance and permit operator confirmation of targets to mitigate non-combatant risks, though these impose constraints in low-visibility conditions compared to all-weather radar.[2] This guidance architecture facilitates hits on dynamic targets by transitioning from coarse inertial positioning to fine terminal acquisition, with manufacturer specifications indicating circular error probable (CEP) accuracies in the 10-20 meter range under ideal conditions; however, real-world performance depends on environmental factors, target motion, and countermeasures, as demonstrated by limitations in distinguishing decoys during Iranian Nasr variant tests. The seeker's frequency agility enhances resistance to basic jamming by rapidly shifting operating bands, yet assessments of comparable active radar systems reveal exploitable vulnerabilities to advanced electronic warfare, including noise jamming and deception by platforms like Western frigates equipped with integrated EW suites.[21]Propulsion and Warhead
The C-704 employs a solid-fuel rocket motor for propulsion, delivering subsonic cruise speeds of approximately Mach 0.8 to 0.9 during its flight profile.[2][22] This configuration provides rapid initial acceleration without the complexity of air-breathing engines, supporting sea-skimming trajectories at altitudes as low as 3-5 meters to minimize radar detection.[1] The rocket's burn sustains the missile over its operational range of 35-50 km in the baseline variant, prioritizing structural simplicity and multi-platform compatibility over extended endurance.[2] The warhead is a high-explosive semi-armor-piercing (HE/SAP) or fragmentation type weighing 110-130 kg, constituting over 36% of the missile's total mass of approximately 250-320 kg.[9][3] This payload is optimized for penetrating the hulls of mid-sized surface vessels displacing 1,000-4,000 tons, such as frigates or patrol boats, by combining explosive force with fragmentation effects to inflict above-waterline damage and disable critical systems like radar or propulsion.[1][9] The design reflects a focus on lethality against agile, smaller naval targets rather than heavily armored capital ships, with reported hit probabilities exceeding 95% under optimal conditions.[1]Specifications
General Specifications
The C-704 is a short-range anti-ship missile with a launch weight of 320–360 kg, depending on configuration and seeker type.[2][1] Its baseline dimensions include a length of 3.3–3.5 meters, a body diameter of 0.28 meters, and a wingspan of 0.9–1.0 meters when unfolded.[1][3] The missile operates at low altitudes of 12–20 meters above sea level during cruise to minimize radar detection by exploiting the horizon limit.[2][1] For air-launched employment, it supports release from altitudes up to approximately 5 km, enabling compatibility with fixed-wing aircraft platforms.[1]| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Launch weight | 320–360 kg |
| Length | 3.3–3.5 m |
| Diameter | 0.28 m |
| Wingspan (unfolded) | 0.9–1.0 m |
| Operational altitude | 12–20 m ASL |