The Bangladesh Navy received delivery of a new man-portable air defence system for its ships and onshore installments from CPMIEC.
The missile, known as the QW-18A is an improved version of the QW-18, which was first publicly displayed at the Zhuhai Air Show in 2002 alongside the QW-11G.
The QW-18 is described as an all-weather man-portable air defence system, having an excellent anti-jamming function that incorporates infrared to attack a target in low-altitude and speeds of 300 m/s.
The missile uses many advanced technologies and has extremely powerful anti-jamming capabilities. “Qianwei” 18 adopts a dual-band infrared passive seeker, which can sense two heat sources of target tail flame and skin, thereby firmly locking the target. Therefore, QW-18’s anti-jamming capability and sensitivity, and accuracy have been enhanced, making it more suitable for countering anti-cruise missiles and supersonic targets.
The weight of the whole system has reached 18 kg, of which the launch tube weighs 4 kg and the power supply and firing mechanism weighs 1.7 kg.
The biggest feature of QW-18 is that it adopts a dual-band infrared passive seeker to detect two heat sources of target tail flame and skin, thus firmly locking the target. Therefore, QW-18’s anti-interference ability is very strong compared to other available Chinese MANPADS.
The QW-18A, which the Bangladesh Navy uses features new electric servo control actuators for improved guidance and flight characteristics plus a laser proximity fuse not found on the earlier QW-18.
These improvements provided better capabilities against terrain-hugging cruise missiles at supersonic speed. It can be safely said the QW-18A has surpassed Russia in the MANPADS department and is now more than ever compared to the latest FM-92 Stinger MANPADS of the US.
The QW-18A has a missile speed of 600 m/s, an interception altitude of 10 ~ 4,000 m, a slant range of 500 ~ 5,500 m. Once launched the missile can self-destruct within 14~18 s. The total weight of the system is 18 kg, which includes 4kg weight of the launch tube. The weapon system has a shelf life of 10 years.
The Bangladesh Navy currently uses QW-2 and QW-18A MANPADS. The Navy also has target drones, optical aiming, and IR night sights for the QW-18A.
The Bangladesh Army also has displayed interest in the QW-18. It competed against the Igla-S and RBS-70E for a new generation MANPADS contract.
