The YJ-20 (Chinese: 鹰击-20; pinyin: Yīngjī-Èrlíng; lit. 'eagle strike 20') is a hypersonic anti-ship aeroballistic missile, featuring biconic aerodynamic configuration. The missile was first observed during the preparation of the 2025 China Victory Day Parade in August 2025. The missile was officially revealed at the Parade on the 3rd of September, 2025.[1][2]
History
[edit]In 2022, an unidentified hypersonic missile was revealed by the Chinese Navy ahead of its 73rd anniversary, launching from a universal vertical launch system of the Type 055 destroyer. The Chinese Navy did not reveal the missile's designation, but defense analysts at that time believed it to be the ship-launched version of the YJ-21.[3][4] However, with the emergence of the YJ-20 hypersonic missile in 2025, which has a more closely aligned shape to the unidentified missile launched by Type 055, analysts believed these were two separate missile developments.[5][6][7]
Design
[edit]The YJ-20 is a hypersonic[8][9] anti-ship ballistic missile, featuring a biconic aerodynamic configuration. The configuration allows for manoeuvrable re-entry after its initial ballistic launch.[10][11] The missile can be launched from surface vessals.[12]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ AFP (1 September 2025). "Missiles, drones, lasers: New weapons expected at Beijing military parade". France 24.
- ^ Buckley, Chris; Chang, Agnes (3 September 2025). "China's Latest Missiles, Drones and Submarines, Up Close". The New York Times.
- ^ Chan, Minnie (20 April 2022). "Chinese navy shows off hypersonic anti-ship missiles in public". South China Morninhg Post.
- ^ Gatopoulos, Alex (22 April 2022). "Russia's Sarmat and China's YJ-21: What the missile tests mean". Aljazeera.
- ^ Trevithick, Joseph (19 August 2025). "All The New Chinese Missiles Spotted During Its Massive Military Parade Rehearsal". The War Zone.
- ^ Pryhodko, Roman (17 August 2025). "China to Demonstrate New Hypersonic and Supersonic Missiles at Beijing Parade". Militarnyi.
- ^ "对比东风-17：解析鹰击-20高超弹的独特优势与性能短板". Tencent News. 30 August 2025.
- ^ Yeo, Mike (3 September 2025). "China showcases nuclear triad, new missiles and lasers at military parade". Breaking Defense.
- ^ Rahaman Sarkar, Alisha (3 September 2025). "All the new weapons unveiled by China at Xi Jinping's massive military parade". The Independent.
- ^ Zhen, Liu (18 August 2025). "New missiles, drones and tanks: what's been rolling through Beijing's streets?". South China Moring Post.
- ^ Chan, Ryan (18 August 2025). "China To Reveal New Weapons To Sink US Ships". Newsweek.
- ^ Chen, Chuanren (10 September 2025). "Chinese Victory Day Parade Spotlights New Weapon Priorities". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 10 September 2025.