Anti-missile defense of the PRC … Despite the cessation of anti-missile weapons work in 1980, the design of early warning missile radars in China has continued. The experience gained during the creation and operation of the Type 7010 and Type 110 radars made it possible to start designing over-the-horizon and over-the-horizon radars designed to detect launches of ballistic missiles and warheads in near-earth space. Simultaneously with the work on the early warning radar, the possibility of launching artificial earth satellites, designed for constant monitoring of areas of the earth's surface, from which ballistic missiles could be launched, was investigated. Without satellites fixing the launch of the MRBM and ICBM, the missile attack warning system cannot be considered complete. Ideally, an early warning missile system should include an orbital grouping of military spacecraft (first echelon), registering the torches of launching ballistic missiles, and a network of ground-based radar facilities (second echelon), which determine the parameters of their flight trajectories.
Unlike the Russian media, which usually extol Russian early warning radars and describe the Voronezh stations as “unparalleled,” Chinese official sources have very little information on over-the-horizon and over-the-horizon radars. In this regard, the Russian reader is poorly informed about the real capabilities of the PRC in the timely detection of missiles launched on Chinese territory. Many visitors to the Voennoye Obozreniye website are sincerely convinced that China still does not have modern early warning systems, or that work on them is in its infancy.
At present, a number of research organizations are engaged in the problems of timely detection of ballistic missile launches and tracking objects in low-earth orbits in the PRC. The main developers of the Chinese early detection and space surveillance system are: 14th Research Institute (Beijing), Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing), Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST) (Beijing), Shanghai Institute of Satellite Engineering (Shanghai), Southwest China Research Institute of Electronic Equipment (Chengdu), Xi'an Institute of Space Radio Engineering (Xi'an). More than 50 years have passed since the creation of the first Chinese early warning radars, and during this time the developers have accumulated serious experience, creating a number of stations embodied in metal and put on alert.
Chinese over-the-horizon missile early warning radars
Construction of new missile warning radar stations in the PRC began in the late 1980s and early 1990s. At the same time, the main emphasis was placed on the construction of radars that scan space from the side of the USSR and India. In addition to directly fixing a possible attack from Soviet territory, Chinese specialists were interested in missile tests carried out at ranges in Kazakhstan. If the stations aimed at the northern neighbor were built in flat areas, then radars were placed on the tops of the Tibetan mountains to control launches from India.
According to Indian sources, in 1989, a few kilometers west of the village of Reba, in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China, at an altitude of 4,750 meters above sea level, the construction of a large radar post began. In 2010, to the two stationary radars under the dome, protecting from the harsh climate of Tibet, another one was added, as well as a capital structure in the form of a truncated pyramid, measuring 25x25 m at the base.
According to the Indian military expert, Colonel Vinayak Bhat, initially in the vicinity of the village of Reba, radar stations of the decimeter range YLC-4 were stationary, designed to detect aerodynamic and ballistic targets at medium and high altitudes, at a distance of up to 450 km. Under the third, recently erected dome, there is most likely a modern three-dimensional radar JYL-1 with a phased array, which in the west is considered an analogue of the American radar with AN / TPS-70.
In 2015, a satellite image of the facility built in the area was obtained. The structure is very similar to the over-the-horizon radar with AFAR, directed to the southwest. The approximate length of the antenna array is 15 m, the height is 9 m. According to Google Earth, this structure is located at an altitude of 4590 m above sea level.
In 2013, near the village of Zangzugulin, on a mountain peak 5180 m high, 4 km from the border with Bhutan, radio-transparent domes of large radars and two antenna arrays appeared, looking towards India.
China has deployed in a limited area, in the immediate vicinity of the border with India and Bhutan, several large radar nodes capable of detecting aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles. The construction of radar stations and associated communication centers in the highlands is very complex and costly. However, given that India possesses nuclear missiles, the Chinese top military-political leadership, regardless of the difficulties and high prices, decided to keep this direction under constant radar control.
In the late 1980s, the question arose about replacing the first Chinese Type 7010 over-the-horizon radar, located north of Beijing and directed towards the USSR. For this, in the Heilongjiang province, 30 km west of the city of Shuangyashan, a new early warning system was built. In appearance, it is a state-of-the-art active phased array radar.
The exact characteristics of the radar are not known, but according to Western data, it operates in the 8-10 GHz frequency range and has a detection range of more than 5000 km. This radar controls practically the entire Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia.
Relatively recently, the Chinese media reported that in the Zhejiang province, 100 km west of the city of Hangzhou on the eastern spur of the mountain range, at an altitude of 1350 m, two over-the-horizon radars were built. One radar station is oriented towards the Taiwan Strait, the other controls the space from the side of Japan.
In the direction of Taiwan, one of the largest Chinese radar complexes also operates, located 30 km south of the city of Quanzhou, in the Fujian province, at an altitude of 750 m above sea level. The complex is located just 210 km from the coast of Taiwan.
In addition to several radars, hidden in radio-transparent spherical fairings, an early warning radar was built here in 2008, oriented to the southeast and monitoring near space up to the coast of Australia. The station was put into operation in 2010. By 2017, the construction of the entire radar complex was completed. Judging by the presence of small spherical fairings in this area, in addition to radars, there are also satellite antennas here. This makes it possible to broadcast the received information in real time to higher command posts and promptly issue target designation to the missile defense and air defense systems' guidance stations.
In 2017, Chinese officials announced that a radar station with AFAR, covered in a radio-transparent fairing with a diameter of 30 meters, was commissioned in the Shandong province in the east of the country on September 26. A radar with an antenna consisting of several thousand transmit and receive modules monitors the area over the Korean Peninsula.
Special mention should be made of the early warning radar located on the outskirts of the town of Korla in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The history of the appearance of this object is very interesting. After the overthrow of Shah Mohammed Riza Pahlavi in January 1979, American intelligence stations in Iran were liquidated. In this regard, against the background of aggravation of relations between the USSR and the PRC, the Americans secretly proposed the creation of posts in China to monitor Soviet missile tests carried out in Kazakhstan. In Soviet times, this union republic hosted the Sary-Shagan missile defense range and the Baikonur cosmodrome, where, in addition to launching carrier rockets, ballistic missiles and anti-missile systems were tested.
A formal agreement between the two governments was concluded in 1982. Initially, the United States offered to locate American stations on Chinese soil on a lease basis. The Chinese leadership insisted that the shared facilities be under the control of the PRC, and the operation took place in complete secrecy.
The CIA stations were based in Korla and Qitai. The missile launches were tracked using radars and by intercepting telemetry radio signals. After the events in Tiananmen Square in 1989, Sino-American cooperation in this direction was curtailed, but the intelligence stations, which now functioned only in the interests of China, continued their work.
In 2004, on the southern outskirts of Korla, the construction of an early warning radar with AFAR began. A unique feature of this station is its placement on a turntable, which allows for all-round visibility.
According to information published by Global Security, the station, operating in the decimeter frequency range, can operate in a detection mode and issue accurate target designation to missile defense systems. The lower base of the antenna is about 18 m in size.
According to satellite images, after commissioning about 50% of the time, the radar antenna at Korla was oriented southward, controlling the area over India and the Indian Ocean. The rest of the time the radar is turned northwest and north.
According to the available information, in the near future, it is planned to build an early warning radar in the southeastern province of Guangdong and in the province of Sichuan in the southwest of China. Thus, China will have a continuous 3000-5000 km long radar field outside the country. Given that Russia is not currently formally considered by the PLA command as a potential threat, the greatest threat to densely populated areas in the east and southeast of the PRC is posed by American ICBMs attacking from the northeastern direction. Of particular concern are American SSBNs conducting combat patrols in the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific.
At the moment, six over-the-horizon radars are operating in the PRC. The first Chinese radar early warning system Type 7010, located north of Beijing, is currently out of service. The modernized Type 110 station, located not far from Kunming, is not on constant combat duty, and is used in the course of various experiments and to accompany test launches of ballistic missiles.
In 2012, a map was published in Western publications showing the viewing areas of China's fixed missile attack early warning radars and their deployment areas. However, taking into account information about the currently known Chinese early warning radars, this map cannot be considered relevant.
Chinese over-the-horizon radars
In 1967, the PRC began research in the field of over-the-horizon radar. Originally, over-the-horizon Chinese radars were designed to detect large sea targets. In the mid-1970s, a pilot plant was built with an antenna length of 2300 meters. However, due to the imperfection of the radioelement base, it was not possible to achieve stable operation of the radar. The next stage of work in this direction started in 1986, after Chinese specialists gained access to Western technologies. The first ZGRLS in China was built in 2003; now the PLA has five such stations at its disposal.
Four fixed VHF over-the-horizon radars are located on the coast along the Taiwan Strait. According to Global Security, three stations are bistatic radars with antennas spaced apart from each other at a distance of 800-2500 m. These ZGRLS have two independent transmitting antennas and two receiving antennas.
According to the same source, ZGRLS operate simultaneously at different frequencies, viewing most of the Philippine Sea at a distance of more than 3000 km, right up to Saipan Island. According to the estimates of American naval experts, in the near future we should expect the appearance of similar over-the-horizon stations near Hong Kong and on the island of Hainan.
The statements about the deployment of ZGRLS on artificial islands, which were reclaimed by China at the site of reefs in the South China Sea, are unreliable. All the islands built by the PRC on the site of disputed land areas do have radars. But they are not over-the-horizon, and, when stationary, are covered with protective domes that protect against the adverse effects of meteorological factors. The absolute record holder for the number of radars and satellite communication systems per 1 sq. km can be considered an artificial island on the site of the Fiery Cross reef in the Paracel archipelago.
The reason why the Chinese do not build ZGRLS on the islands is simple: the area of artificial islands is too small. So, the length of the island of the Fiery Cross is a little more than 3 km, and the width is about 1 km. Given that the length of the receiving antenna of over-the-horizon radars built on the coast in Fujian province exceeds 600 m, if bulky radar stations are placed, there will simply be no room on the island for other objects and structures: an airfield, hangars for aircraft and helicopters, warehouses, fuel storage sites, sites for the placement of air defense missile systems and anti-ship missiles.
In the interior of the PRC, at a distance of about 950 km from the coast, north and south of the city of Xiangyang, in Hubei province, there are elements of a much larger over-the-horizon radar station. The receiving and transmitting antennas of this radar are separated from each other by approximately 110 km. Just like the ZGRLS located on the coast, this installation is oriented to the southeast. American radio amateurs on the west coast of the United States regularly record characteristic repetitive impulse signals in the 5, 8-14, 5 MHz frequency range.
China does not comment on the purpose of over-the-horizon radars, but, according to foreign experts, the radar in Hubei province is functionally similar to the Soviet Duga-type stations that were part of the USSR early warning system. The "two-hop" stations operating in the HF band were capable of seeing high-altitude air targets and launching ballistic missiles at a range of 3000-6000 km in favorable conditions. Chinese radars deployed on the coast are mainly designed to track large surface objects, but can also work on air targets, as well as record the launch of ballistic missiles from submerged submarines.
For all its advantages, ZGRLS are certainly not a solution for all occasions, in addition to their advantages, they have a lot of disadvantages. The construction and maintenance of such radars is very costly. Their capabilities are directly related to the state of the atmosphere and weather conditions. Over-the-horizon radars are not capable of delivering accurate target designation for air targets and, in fact, are peacetime systems, which, due to their stationary placement and very significant size, are extremely vulnerable to air attack weapons.
Radio telescopes and optoelectronic ground stations for observing outer space
American experts specializing in the means of observing space objects have repeatedly written that Chinese civilian research organizations, which have large radio telescopes at their disposal, use them, in addition to purely scientific purposes, to intercept radio signals from foreign satellites. Most often, the radio telescope of the Yunnan Astronomical Observatory in Kunming, which has a mirror diameter of 40 m, is associated with defense research.
In addition to the Kunming radio telescope, the PRC has: a 50-meter radio telescope of the Beijing Astronomical Observatory, 25-meter radio telescopes in Urumqi and Shanghai.
A laser-optical center for observation of spacecraft in low-earth orbit is located 50 km northeast of Beijing in the mountains. The center, operated by the military, is designed to track objects in low-earth orbit using powerful optical telescopes and accurately measure their coordinates using laser ranging.
In the east of China, in the Jiangsu province, 90 km west of Nanjing, in a mountainous area at an altitude of more than 880 m, there is a military facility that is organizationally part of the Chinese military space surveillance system.
The functions of this station are not entirely clear, but next to it is the LLQ302 radar and the position of the HQ-12 air defense missile system, which indicates the important military significance of the installation. US military analysts, citing intelligence sources, write that optical and radar tracking devices are designed to classify and track foreign spacecraft in low-Earth orbit.
In total, at the moment there are six command and communication centers on the territory of the PRC, where the analysis and retransmission of information received from the early warning systems radars and optical observation stations is carried out. According to US data, the central command post of the Chinese space surveillance system is located in Weinan, Shaanxi province. In addition to stationary ground stations, the network for tracking objects in space includes several mobile systems and four ships capable of operating in the World Ocean. Also, there are Chinese objects used for monitoring outer space in Namibia and Pakistan. In addition to timely warning of missile attacks and tracking of satellites in near-earth space, early warning radars and laser-optical surveillance equipment are involved in testing ballistic missiles, anti-missile defense systems and anti-satellite weapons. In addition, on the basis of data analysis in China, a catalog of active and out-of-service satellites and large fragments of "space debris" in Earth's orbit has been compiled. This is necessary for the safe launch of Chinese spacecraft into space.
Development in the PRC of space-based missile attack warning systems
While it is possible to draw certain conclusions about the ground component of the Chinese missile attack warning system based on articles by Western authors and an analysis of publicly available satellite images, the information on Chinese satellites designed to fix ICBM launches is very sparse. There is no doubt that work is underway in China to create such satellites, but how far it has advanced is difficult to say.
The PRC has sufficient experience in the creation and operation of space reconnaissance systems. Reconnaissance vehicles of the FSW family, launched from 1975 to 1987, after being put into low-earth orbit for 3-5 days, took photographs of specified areas of the earth's surface. After that, the photographic materials were lowered into the returned capsule. For financial reasons, China could not afford to constantly maintain a group of "short-lived" reconnaissance satellites in space, and therefore the "FSW" was launched 1-2 times a year for scheduled periodic verification of stationary strategic targets on the territory of states that were among potential adversaries.
The improved satellites of the "FSW-1A" type, used from 1987 to 1993, had a service life of 8 days. The FSW-2 series vehicles could stay in orbit for 15-16 days. This was achieved thanks to the use of more powerful batteries and improved equipment for Earth imaging. The "FSW-2" satellites had orbit correction engines. In addition to photographic equipment, advanced optoelectronic and electronic reconnaissance technology was being worked out. Until 2003, China launched a total of 22 "FSW" / "FSW-1" / "FSW-1A" / "FSW-2" satellites. Due to the fact that the short-lived FSW-2 satellites were outdated, did not provide continuous (year-round) reconnaissance and were unable to transmit information in real time, they were abandoned for further operation.
In March 2001, at a meeting of the Central Military Commission of the PRC, a special program "1-2b" was adopted, which provided for the creation and introduction of high-tech weapons, including reconnaissance satellites. Within the framework of this program, ZY-2 spacecraft were developed, equipped with optoelectronic reconnaissance equipment with data transmission over a radio channel in real time.
The first launch of a spacecraft of the ZY-2 family took place in September 2000. According to the Chinese press, "ZY-2" is intended "to determine the resource base, control the environment, prevent emergencies. However, foreign experts believe that the priority is the military use of satellites capable of taking pictures with a resolution of 1.5 to 3 m."
In May 2002, China launched the first HY-1 marine reconnaissance satellite into orbit, capable of monitoring the waters of the Yellow, East China and South China Seas in real time. The service life of "ZY-2" and "HY-1" is 2-4 years.
The spacecraft JВ-6 and JB-9, the launch of which became known in 2009, are even more advanced. It is believed that in their intelligence capabilities they are comparable to satellites used by other technologically advanced states. According to foreign experts, with the creation of a space component capable of detecting launching ICBMs and SLBMs, the launch of the Yaogan-30 satellite into geostationary orbit, carried out on May 2, 2016, is connected. The devices of this type were also launched on January 25, 2018 and July 26, 2019.
Thus, it can be stated that China is quite capable of creating a satellite early warning system, comparable in its capabilities with the Russian "Oko-1". However, at the moment, given that the military doctrine of the PRC does not provide for a retaliatory strike against the enemy, there is no urgent need to deploy a Chinese satellite constellation for early detection.
Russian geostationary satellites with IR sensors, which were part of the Oko-1 system, which operated until 2014, only recorded the launch of missiles, the construction of their trajectories fell on ground-based early warning systems, which significantly increased the time required to collect information. To correct this deficiency, at present, Russia is creating EKS-2 (Unified Space System No. 2), which should consist of two ground stations in the Moscow Region and the Far East, as well as the Tundra satellites (product 14F142). Taking into account the statements of assistance from Russia in building a Chinese early warning system, it is quite possible that our country will share secret developments with its "strategic partner."
