HN-2

HN (reported short for Hong Niao, or Hongniao, 红鸟 meaning Red Bird) missiles are a series of turbofan powered Chinese land attack cruise missiles, based on the X-600.

Although China was satisfied with the performance of its own Changfeng series land attack cruise missile, an inherent problem with this turbojet powered Changfeng (missile) meant that the size and weight of the missile were too large to be carried by aerial platforms in Chinese inventory and the range of the missile was inadequate. A turbofan powered version was needed, but due to the limitation of Chinese R&D and industrial capability of the time, this could not be achieved immediately. As a result, China decided to take a two-step approach, first to have the turbojet powered Changfeng missile meet the immediate need, then complete development on a turbofan powered version like the Tomahawk (missile) for deployment on aerial platforms while China was building up its industrial infrastructure.

The breakup of the former Soviet Union provided a great boost for Chinese efforts in developing its own turbofan powered cruise missiles. According to US intelligence, by the end of 1992, China had successfully recruited more than fifteen hundred former Soviet missile scientists to work in China, and around twenty percent, roughly totaling around three hundred, were assigned to work in Shanghai to specifically aid the Chinese cruise missile development project. Although many Chinese sources agreed with US intelligence assessments, they disagree on the contributions of Russian/Soviet scientists. Instead of helping China to develop a specific missile type, Russian/Soviet expertise was first utilized on a much broader strategic scale in helping China to build the necessary industrial infrastructure needed to indigenously develop its own missiles in the future. These Chinese claims have been corroborated by the fact that despite a complete Kh-55 production facility being transferred to China in 1995 and the Russian public announcement of helping China in developing cruise missiles at the 1996 Paris Airshow, the first Chinese turbofan powered land attack cruise missile did not enter service until somewhere between the late 1990s and early 2000s, well after turbojet powered CF series land attack cruise missiles had already entered Chinese service.