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 . C - 302 . An improved C - 301 version , called C - 302 was later developed as an upgrade . C - 302 is highly digitized and fully solid state , and the cruising altitude is also decreased further . After entering Chinese service in very limited numbers for evaluation purposes , C - 302 did not enter mass production , due to the obvious shortcomings of liquid fuel rocket : the operational cost is high because periodic maintenance is required much more frequently and the safety standard during handling is also higher in comparison to solid rocket powered AShM . The advantage of supersonic speed can be achieved via ramjet powered AShM . During its very limited service with the Chinese navy for evaluation , C - 302 was only known to be land - based , though in theory , it could be deployed by large aerial platforms . However , unlike its smaller cousin C - 101 that can be carried by numerous aircraft in the Chinese inventory , the C - 301 and its upgrade C - 302 can only be carried by Xi ' an H - 6 due to their large size and weight . It is safe to conclude that as newer missiles entering services in greater numbers , the C - 301 / 302 would eventually reduced to a sole coastal defense missile . Just like its smaller cousin C - 101 , Chinese claim that other type of seekers such as infrared imaging and television seekers have been successfully developed for the missile , but the status is rather uncertain . C - 303 . The last member of C - 300 series AShM is C - 303 , which differs drastically from C - 301 & C - 302 . The C - 303 differs from the other two AShM in that its flight path : instead of sea - skimming , C - 303 would climb to 20 km altitude first before transition to level flight , and after cruising at 20 km altitude for most its journey , the seeker of the missile of would be turned on around 50 km away from target , dive down on its target at the terminal stage in a near vertical dive in a way similar to SS - N - 19 . C - 303 can be either launched at a slant angle like most other AShM ' s , or launched vertically like a space exploration rocket . Just like its smaller cousin C - 301 & C - 302 , C - 303 only entered Chinese service in extremely limited numbers , mostly for test and trial purposes , due to the inherit drawback of liquid fuel rocket that prevented C - 301 & C - 302 AShM from being widely adopted . Unlike C - 301 & C - 302 , C - 303 can only be land - based . It is rumored on Chinese internet that future Chinese supersonic long - range AShM developed & under development utilizes experience gained from C - 303 , but such claims have yet to be verified by official Chinese governmental sources and other independent sources . Original developer : CHEMTA ( China Sea Eagle Electromechanical Technology Academy , 中国海鹰机电技术研究院 , formerly the 3rd Design Academy of the Aerospace Ministry ) , China Precision Machinery Import - Export Co . References . C - 301