Announcement of combat readiness comes amid row over South Korea’s decision to deploy missile defence shield
PUBLISHED : Monday, 29 August, 2016, 2:32pm
UPDATED : Monday, 29 August, 2016, 11:56pm
The air force’s overhauled surface-to-air missile system is combat ready and primed to take greater aim at other missiles.
The air force’s announcement on the defence ministry’s website on Monday comes as tensions with the United States rise over China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. Beijing has also protested against South Korea’s plans to deploy a US missile shield on the Korean peninsula.
In a statement, air force spokesman Shen Jinke said the air force had completed a domestically developed, ground-based air defence and anti-missile system that could strike short-to-long-range and low-to-high-altitude targets. “Air defences and anti-missile systems are critical parts of the air force’s strategic capacity,” Shen said.
He said the air force was “building an integrated space and air defence system”, and changing from a territorial air defence force to one that could both defend and attack.
Beijing-based military expert Song Zhongping said there was also a major shift towards targeting missiles, because future threats from the air were no longer likely to be aircraft. “With a focus on countering missiles, now the Chinese air force has completed a comprehensive system capable of both mid-course and terminal interception,” Song said.
The announcement follows the military’s release of footage in July of a successful test of a mid-course interception.
Shen said that during the overhaul, the air force absorbed foreign technologies and improved Chinese-developed missiles, including the HQ-9, HQ-6 and HQ-12 systems.
Song said China had to improve its own anti-missile air defence network as a countermeasure to the US-developed Terminal High Altitude Area Defence anti-missile system. “[And] by being more transparent in terms of weapons development the People’s Liberation Army has also shown its confidence in its combat capability,” Song said.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as:
Air force primes anti-missile system for combat
Original post: scmp
HQ-9 SAM
The Hong Qi 9 or HQ-9 is a Chinese air defense missile system. It is broadly equivalent to the Russian S-300. Some sources report that the HQ-9 was developed with Russian assistance and benefits from Russian technology transfers. It has been report that it was adopted by the Chinese armed forces in 1997. Its export version, the FD-2000, has been exported to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Pakistan and Turkey are negotiating with China to purchase this air defense system.
The HQ-9 can intercept various aircraft, helicopters, UAVs, cruise missiles, air-to-ground missiles, guided bombs and theater ballistic missiles at medium- to long ranges.
The HQ-9 surface-to-air missile system was developed much later than the Russian S-300 and incorporates advancements in the electronics. Notably it employs newer computing technology.
The HQ-9 uses two-stage missiles with thrust vector control. Missiles have a range of 125 km against aircraft and 15-25 km against cruise and ballistic missiles. Missiles can reach aircraft at an altitude of 27 km and cruise and ballistic missiles at an altitude of 15-25 km. The missile has inertial guidance with mid-course update and terminal active radar homing. This air defense system can perform air defense engagement in a massive air raid under intense electronic jamming.
A battery of HQ-9 consists of 8 TEL vehicles with missiles, mobile engagement radar based on Taian TA5570 10x10 chassis, engagement radar based on a North-Benz ND1260 series truck chassis, command and control vehicle, reloading vehicles and various support vehicles. The basic formation can be expanded into a larger formation. The HQ-9 battery can employ a wide range of radars, both search, surveillance, acquisition, tracking and fire control.
Entered service
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1997 (?)
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Missile
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Missile length
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6.8 m
|
Missile diameter
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0.7 m
|
Missile weight
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1 300 kg
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Warhead weight
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180 kg
|
Warhead type
|
HE-FRAG
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Maximum range
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125 km
|
Maximum altitude
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27 km
|
Number of targets engaged simultaneously
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?
|
Source: military-today
HQ-6 SAM
The HQ-6 ("Red flag-6") was the second member of the LY-60/PL-10/HQ-6/6D/64/DK-10 family developed, but it entered service before the air-to-air version PL-10, despite an earlier start by the PL-10. The entire SAM system consists of four truck mounted radars (one search/surveillance radar and three tracking/fire control radars), one power supply truck, and six transporter erector launchers (TEL)s. The missile itself is directly derived from the air-to-air version PL-11. Unlike the Italian Aspide which utilizes containers as launchers, HQ-6 utilizes missile launching rails (MLR) instead, and each truck-mounted launcher has two MLRs/missiles. Specifications:[1]
- Length: 5.99 m
- Diameter: 134 mm
- Wingspan: 1.23 m
- Weight: 600 kg
- Speed: Mach 1
- Maximum Flight Speed: 150 meters per second
- Maximum maneuvering overload: 5 g
- Maximum maneuvering overload [interception]: 1 g
- Range
- Normal: 5 meters - 40 meters
- Slant: 14 meters - 16 meters
The PL-10 (Pi Li, "Thunderbolt") air-to-air missile was developed for the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), and is carried by Jian J-8B fighters. Although it was the first member of the LY-60/PL-10/HQ-6/6D/64/DK-10 series to be developed, it was actually the second member to become operational, after the HQ-6, the surface-to-air version.
Source: wikipedia
HQ-12 (KS-1)
HQ-12: A derivative of the KS series that utilizes the SJ-202/212 radar. The original SJ-202 is the radar used by the HQ-2 series SAM and its successor; the SJ-212 is a fully solid-state version which is also completely digitized, although both radars look very similar externally. In comparison to the KS-1/1A, the fire control radar of the HQ-12 allows the SAM to have the option of engaging either three targets with a pair of missiles for each target, or alternatively, engaging six targets with a single missile for each.
Deployment
Standard deployment of a KS-1A SAM battery typically includes:
- 1 Planar Passive phased array radar (PPAR)
- 4 launchers, each with 2 missiles
- 24 missiles
- Other support equipment
Specifications
- Weight: 900 kg
- Warhead: > 100 kg
- Length: 5.6 m
- Diameter: 0.4 m
- Speed: 1,200 m/s
- Maneuverability: > 20 g
- Maximum target speed: 750 m/s
- Maximum target maneuverability: > 5 g
- Maximum range: > 50 km
- Minimum range: 100 m
- Maximum altitude: > 25 km
- Minimum altitude: < 500 m
* Note figures are for KS-1A *
Source: wikipedia
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