C-301

The C-301 (also known as HY-3, with NATO reporting name CSSC-6 Sawhorse) is a large supersonic coastal defense anti-ship missile (AShM), and it is the basis on which two other members of the C-300 series AShM C-302 and C-303 developed from.

C-301 is the first member of the C-300 series AShM with four solid rocket boosters and two ramjet sustainer engines located aft of the missile body. When the booster motors have accelerated the missile to past Mach 1.8, the kerosene-fueled ramjet engines kick in, accelerating the missile to a cruise speed of greater than Mach 2.0. The maximum range is 180 km, and it can fly below 50 meters at its cruise altitude. The missile is programmed to descent from cruising altitude to a much lower altitude before the active-radar terminal phase begins, then dive onto the target just prior to impact. The general designer of C-101 is Mr. Liang Shoupan (梁守磐), who is also the general designer of another Chinese supersonic AShM C-101.

The C-301 only saw very limited service in the People's Liberation Army Navy as a coastal defense missile, and a stopgap measure in a limited scale production as more capable missiles becoming more widely available. C-301 is also used as a stopgap measure to replace the obsolete C-601 anti-ship missile, the air-launched version of the Silkworm missile carried on the Xi'an H-6 bomber (with one missile under each wing, like the C-601), until more potent supersonic anti-ship missiles become widely available.