- Yes
- No
Cardoen Piraña I 6x6 - HJ-8A Missiles
History:
In 1980 Chile obtained the contract for the licensed production of the Mowag Piranha I being one of the few countries to build these vehicles, production began in 1983 by the Chilean company Industrias Cardoen which was in charge of the construction of the Piraña I in its 6x6 version building hundreds of these vehicles and equipping them with different turrets and armaments. In this suggestion we will look at the version with the Chinese HJ-8A missile launcher.
Different versions of the Cardoen Piraña I 6x6 built in Chile, on the left you can see the vehicle of this suggestion
The Cardoen Piraña I 6x6, built in Chile, follows the original model of the Swiss Mowag, also retaining its amphibious capacity, so it keeps the propellers for the water at the rear of the vehicle. The driver is located in the front left of the vehicle right next to the engine and the crew behind the driver in the middle of the vehicle. The vehicle has 8mm armor, which protects it from 7.62mm machine gun fire and explosive shrapnel, making it vulnerable to larger-caliber fire. The biggest advantage of this vehicle is its great mobility and speed.
During the 1980s, Cardoen Industries tested various weapons on the Piraña I 6x6, promoting different versions for possible sale to the Chilean army or abroad. In 1988, one of the Cardoen Piraña 6x6 vehicles was fitted with a turret manufactured by the Chinese company Norinco. This turret carried four HJ-8A anti-tank missiles and was operated by a single man, capable of 360° rotation. It also featured a vision and magnification device for the gunner, located on top of the turret between the missiles, as seen in the photos. While I haven’t found the exact specifications, it’s reasonable to assume it has a zoom similar to that of its Chinese cousin, the AFT09, with a 3.0x-12.0x zoom. However, given the Chilean vehicle’s age, I doubt it has thermal imaging and likely only infrared vision.
The Chinese HJ-8A anti-tank missile is a second-generation missile introduced in the early 1980s, replacing the older first-generation HJ-73. The HJ-8A uses semi-automatic guidance (SACLOS), requiring the gunner to maintain line of sight to the target at all times until impact. It has a maximum speed of 220 m/s, making it relatively slow, and a maximum range of 3 km. Its HEAT warhead can penetrate up to 480 mm at a 0° angle of incidence, allowing it to penetrate most tanks and vehicles of its era. However, it will have difficulty penetrating tanks with additional armor due to the lack of a tandem warhead, however, because it has 4 missiles ready to fire in its turret, the gunner will have multiple opportunities to take out the target.
Because the Cardoen Piranha 6x6 is spacious inside, the vehicle can carry more missiles for reloading, presumably up to eight more, as is typical for this type of wheeled vehicle. This specific variant also features four smoke launchers, two on each side of the vehicle, which will undoubtedly be very useful during a tactical withdrawal.
Within the game, it could be a good vehicle for events, either in the Israeli tree through a Chilean subtree or in the Chinese tree. It’s the smaller sibling of the AFT09 vehicle with a BR of 9.0, which is very similar but has better missiles, namely the HJ-9 with greater penetration and a tandem payload. Therefore, I would place this vehicle at a BR of 8.3-8.7.
Specifications:
- Crew:
- 4 (Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver)
- Armament:
- Primary: 4x HJ-8A anti-tank missiles, 8x more housed inside
- Dimensions:
- Length: 5.97 m
- Width: 2.5 m
- Height: 1.85 m (without weapons)
- Weight: 10.5 t (vehicle)
- Maneuverability :
- Engine: Detroit diesel 6V-53T, 300 hp at 2800 rpm
- Max. speed on roads: 100 km/h
- Speed in water: 10.5 km/h
- Transmission: Allison MT-653 automatic with 5 forward and 1 reverse gears
- Turning circle: 11.3 m
- Gradient: 70%
- Side slope: 30%
- Vertical obstacle: 0.5 m
Photos:
Sources:
- Jane's Armoured Fighting Vehicle Retrofit Systems 1993 94 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
- Famae-Cardoen Piraña (1981)
- Cardoen Bell 206 LIII: Proyecto Helicóptero de Industrias Cardoen
- Janes Armour and Artillery 1991-92 (Page 293)
- Janes Armour and Artillery 1990-91 (Page 297)
