HJ-8

HJ-8 / Baktar-Shikan
Baktar-Shikan ATGM, a licence-manufactured variant of HJ-8
Type	Anti-tank missile
Place of origin	People's Republic of China
Service history
Used by	See Operators
Wars	Yugoslav wars, Syrian Civil War, Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
Production history
Designer	Research Institute 203
Designed	1970–1984
Manufacturer	NORINCO (Factory 282, Factory 5618)Khan Research Laboratories (Pakistan)
Variants	see variants
Specifications
Weight	25 kg
Length	1,566 mm
Diameter	120 mm
Engine	Solid-fuel rocket
Operational range	3000–4000 m
Speed	220 m/s
Guidance system	SACLOS wire guidance
Launch platform	Tripod, vehicle, aircraft

The HJ-8 or Hongjian-8 ("红箭-8" translated as "Red Arrow-8") is a second generation tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided anti-tank missile system which was originally deployed by the Chinese People's Liberation Army since the late 1980s. Pakistan produces this missile system under licence as the Baktar-Shikan at Khan Research Laboratories. It is able to defeat explosive reactive armour (ERA).

In 1970, Chinese armoured corps first proposed to develop a successor to HJ-73 and this was later approved, designated as the AFT-8 or HJ-8. The missile was jointly developed by Research Institute 203 and 282nd Factory, but the program was interrupted by political turmoil. The key designers were Wang Xingzhi (王兴治) and Zhao Jiazheng (赵家铮), who developed the missile. Development was not completed until the early 1980s, after the end of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. After receiving state certification the missile entered mass-production in 1984. HJ-8 is an optically tracked, wire guided ATGM. A series of upgraded variants have been developed since. HJ-8 and its variants are manufactured by NORINCO's Factory 282 (Jiangnan Machine Factory—江南机器厂), Factory 5618 (Hunan South China Photoelectricity Instrument Plant—湖南华南光电仪器厂) of China and Khan Research Laboratories of Pakistan.

The HJ-8 series can be considered the Chinese equivalent of the American BGM-71 TOW and Franco-German MILAN / Euromissile HOT anti-tank missiles. HJ-8 is a tube-launched, optically tracked and wire-guided missile system armed with a HEAT anti-tank warhead. The HJ-8 is a combination many experts believe of three Western antitank missile systems obtained from nations in the Middle East and Asia that were then examined and reverse engineered and modified: the tripod from the US BGM-71 TOW; the tracker-control unit from the French/German MILAN; and the missile from the UK Swingfire.