Hamas used the "Red Arrow-8L" missile to blow up the Israeli army's armored vehicle, which is only a low-end product of China
On June 24, Palestinian Hamas posted a video of a battlefield strike on social media. In the video, a Kasam Brigade combat group uses a rare anti-tank missile to blow up a squad of Israeli armored vehicles near the border wall several kilometers away.
Judging from this video, the anti-tank missile used by the Kasan brigade is the "Red Arrow-8L" missile with Chinese origin. Although it is not yet 100% certain, judging from the picture information, it is indeed close to the height of China's "Red Arrow-8L" missile.
The Red Arrow-8 anti-tank missile is a second-generation anti-tank missile developed by China and is known as China's Tao missile. Finalized in 1984. The missile adopts optical aiming and tracking, infrared semi-automatic guidance, and wired transmission of commands. The control mode is gas spoiler and tube launch. Missiles use a variety of launch platforms and can be launched by infantry, tracked and wheeled launchers, helicopters, and more. Effective firing range 3000 meters. The early Red Arrow 8 has an armor-piercing ability of 600 mm.
"Red Arrow-8L" is a lightweight version of the mainland's "Red Arrow-8" anti-tank missile, which was successfully developed in the 90s of the 20th century, because of its high quality and low price, a missile is only tens of thousands of yuan, and has been exported to Pakistan, Sudan, Morocco, Sri Lanka, Equatorial Guinea and other countries. A total of 200,000 missiles are said to have been exported. Egypt, Sudan and Pakistan have also been licensed to produce such weapons.
The upgraded "Red Arrow-8L" missile, not to mention that it is only 11.2 kg, is said to have increased the range to 4,000 meters, and the armor-piercing thickness has increased to 850 mm, which can be called the king of cost performance in the tank killer world!
The Red Arrow-8 series of anti-tank missiles has long had a good track record. In the Bosnian civil war in the former Yugoslavia in the 90s of the 20th century, the Serbian M84 main battle tank similar to the T72 was destroyed by the Muslim Red Arrow-8, and one of the turrets was lifted off. In addition to destroying the M84 tank, the Red Arrow-8 also destroyed the Serb T55 tank and the BMP infantry fighting vehicle.
In Kashmir in 2019, there was a skirmish between India and Pakistan. Pakistan used its homegrown Red Arrow-8 to destroy several Indian military posts, killing and wounding dozens of people. India also believes that 24 soldiers died from anti-tank missiles.
It is impossible for China to directly supply anti-tank missiles to Palestinian armed groups. We have repeatedly reiterated that no weapons have been provided to them. Israel and the United States and the West have never accused China of supplying them with weapons. So if Hamas really used the "Red Arrow-8L", where did he come from?
It should have been from the country that had acquired this missile and the technology to produce it. In the Syrian civil war, there have been many "Red Arrow-8L", which were purchased by a third party in the Middle East and then sent to Syria. The specific source of the "Red Arrow-8L" used by the Kasam Brigade this time is not clear for the time being, and it should still be a product of Sudan or Pakistan purchased by a third party in the Middle East.
Although Hamas successfully used the "Red Arrow-8L" to attack Israeli armored vehicles, it once again proved that this anti-tank missile has good performance. But for China, the "Red Arrow-8L" is already a "Mrs. Cow".
China now has a fiber-optic guided heavy anti-tank missile Red Arrow-10, with a range of about 10 kilometers, greatly exceeding the range of the main gun of the main battle tank, and after improvement in the future, the range may break through to about 20 kilometers, which can penetrate up to 1800mm homogeneous steel plate armor, and the current tank armor thickness is about 800-1000mm
China's latest "Britney" and "Red Arrow"-12, using an advanced thermal imaging focal plane array homing head, has the ability to "lock before launch" and "ignore after launch", and can also carry out top attacks, which can penetrate 1100 mm thick homogeneous steel plates protected by reactive armor, and can destroy any active tank in the world at present. Its performance is comparable to that of the "Javelin" anti-tank missiles currently in service with the US military and the Israeli "Spike" series of anti-tank missiles, and is completely world-class.
The Red Arrow-8L, used by Hamas, is a piece of cake for the Chinese army. China has already prepared a feast for the militaries that try to intervene militarily.