Hongniao

The HN (reported short for Hong Niao, or Hongniao, 红鸟 meaning Red Bird) missiles are a series of turbofan powered Chinese land attack cruise missiles, based on the X-600.

==Development== Although China was satisfied with the performance of its own Changfeng series land attack cruise missile, an inherent problem with this turbojet powered Changfeng (missile) meant that the size and weight of the missile were too large to be carried by aerial platforms in Chinese inventory and the range of the missile was inadequate. A turbofan powered version was needed, but due to the limitation of Chinese R&D and industrial capability of the time, this could not be achieved immediately. As a result, China decided to take a two-step approach, first to have the turbojet powered Changfeng missile meet the immediate need, then complete development on a turbofan powered version like the Tomahawk (missile family) for deployment on aerial platforms while China was building up its industrial infrastructure.