scale did not begin until January, 1973, almost two years after certification. The missile entered very limited Chinese service for evaluation purposes, and based on the feedback from the field, improvement work on the missile began immediately. J-202 J-202 ATGM is the improvement of earlier J-201 ATM. In comparison to Cobra ATGM, the maximum range is increased by a quarter to 2 km from the original 1.6 km of Cobra ATGM. However, the minimum range is also doubled, from the original 200 meters of Cobra ATM to 400 meter for J-202. The guidance remained to be MCLOS and the ATGM can pierce armor plates up to 120 mm thick when impacting at a 65 degrees angle. In 1978, the J-201/202 ATGM had won a reward in the Chinese National Science and Technology Conference. During its brief service, J-202 had experienced a grave mishap that almost ended in disaster. The missile was scheduled to have a demonstration in 1977, and on August 17, August 18, and September 15, the missile performed well in these separate occasions, scoring an impressive 15 out 21 hits against both mobile and fixed target 1.4 km away. The round failed to score direct hits were all near misses and the demonstration appeared to be going well. However, for the last extra round to be added at the very last moment, something went terribly wrong. This last round hit ground and then bounded up, turning 180 degrees, flew directly toward the launchers where it was originally fired. Though the missile eventually failed to detonate and dropped to the ground before reaching the launcher, everyone at the scene was surely spooked. Like its predecessor J-201 ATGM, J-202 ATGM did not enter mass production either, and only saw very limited service with Chinese military. The main disadvantage of J-201/202 included that the wings cannot be folded, so the container was bulky and clumsy to carry, despite the ATGM itself being intended for infantry use. Furthermore, in comparison to later Chinese ATGM, namely, HJ-73, the effective range of the J-201/202 is shorter than the latter. Therefore, after the successful development of HJ-73, the small-scale production of J-201/202 ATM stopped and it is believed that all of 265-I, J-201 and J-202 ATMs in the inventory were exhausted in trainings. 265-I, J-201/202 ATMs are not known to be exported by China. Operator : People's Liberation Army People's Liberation Army Ground Force References