HJ-8

Tungsten alloy swaging rod is made of tungsten alloy rod through calcinations. The normal method used in the processing are extruding, forging and sintering. After calcinations, tungsten alloy swaging rod has higher ductility, toughness and tensile strength than tungsten alloy rod, so it can be used for a longer time. Tungsten alloy swaging rod is widely used in industry as well as military areas, such as rifle bullet, armor piercing, snipe rifle penetrator, etc. Tungsten alloy swaging is used for penetrator which is adopted by HJ-8.

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

n 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 early 1980s, after the end of the 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 Kahuta 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.

There are numerous improved models following the original HJ-8, designated HJ-8A to HJ-8H, each incorporating improved features over the previous model. HJ-8E entered service in mid-1990. The HJ-8E anti-tank missile weighs 24.5 kg, has a range of up to 4,000 m, and can also defeat explosive reactive armour (ERA). The latest variant is the HJ-8H.

Designed to be both dependable and accurate, HJ-8 is now the standard anti-tank armament of the WZ-9, Mi-17, and Gazelle (replacing the original Euromissile HOT first carried) helicopter gunships of the PLA.