Tank warfare's latest toy in Tibet, China deploys HJ-12s

The new addition is understood to be deployed against hundreds of T-72, T-90 tanks, and BMP II infantry combat vehicles that are among India’s prominent deployments in eastern Ladakh after the latest border conflict broke out between Asia’s two giant neighbours. A story by senior journalist Sanjib Baruah.

New Delhi:Scaling up the confrontation with India across the Line of Actual Control (LAC), China has introduced another new weapon in Tibet—the man-portable HJ-12 anti-tank missile.

Chinese media posted July-dated pictures of a PLA soldier attached to a Tibet Military Command brigade training with a HJ-12 man-portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM).

The new addition is understood to be deployed against hundreds of T-72, T-90 tanks, and BMP II infantry combat vehicles that are among India’s prominent deployments in eastern Ladakh after the latest border conflict broke out between Asia’s two giant neighbours.

Believed to have been copied from the US’s Javelin ATGM, the HJ-12 or ‘Red Sparrow-12’ can be operated and fired by a single individual, making it highly mobile and ideal for terrain such as the Tibetan plateau.

China deploys HJ-12s

A third-generation fire-and forget missile with lock-on capability before launch, the HJ-12 is equipped with an advanced guidance system and anti-jamming capabilities. It can penetrate strengthened and protective steel armour up to 1,100 mm, making it a deadly weapon that can target tanks and even low-flying aircraft.

Interestingly, the export variant of the HJ-12, called the HJ-12E, has already been bought by a country in 2020 that many experts believe to be Pakistan.

Last year, the PLA had introduced the high-altitude and mountainous terrain specific Type 15 tanks across eastern Ladakh.

While the T-72 and T-90 tanks weigh more than 40 and 45 tons respectively, the PLA Type 15 tank weighs just about 33 tons.

Eastern Ladakh has two kinds of terrain—expanses of totally barren flat rocky wasteland like in Chushul or Demchok that is ideal for tank warfare—and high altitude craggy mountains where more than 40 feet of snow falls every winter.

With this, China has already used the opportunity provided by the eastern Ladakh confrontation to try out and field its latest defence equipment, weapon systems, and gizmos to the maximum.

Having deployed drones and unmanned aerial platforms on an extensive scale to meet military and logistics aims, China has deployed a wide array of equipment that includes the light Type-15 tanks and DongFeng Mengshi vehicles.

These are besides the deployment of Z-20 helicopters, GJ-2 attack drone and PCL-181 advanced vehicle-mounted howitzers besides an array of aerial platforms including the brand new fight generation stealth fighter J-20, and other legacy fighters like J-11 and J-16s.

The about PLA 70,000 soldiers deployed near the LAC and in depth areas are believed to be trying to gain expertise and experience in at least one domain including mountain warfare, artillery and air defence, military aviation, and electronic warfare.