As already mentioned in the first part of the review, the final tests of the HQ-2 anti-aircraft missile system began in 1967, that is, a year after the official adoption of the PLA air defense forces of the HQ-1 air defense system. The new modification had the same range of destruction of air targets - 32 km and a ceiling - 24,500 m. The probability of hitting a target with one missile defense system, in the absence of organized interference, was about 60%.
The anti-aircraft missiles of the HQ-2 complex at first differed little from the missiles used in the HQ-1, and generally repeated the Soviet B-750 missiles, but the SJ-202 Gin Sling guidance station created in China had significant external and hardware differences from the Soviet prototype SNR-75. Chinese specialists used their own element base and changed the location of the antennas. However, the fine-tuning of the hardware part of the guidance station took a long time. In the early 70s, the Chinese radio-electronic industry lagged far behind not only the Western countries, but also the USSR, which in turn negatively affected the noise immunity and reliability of the first SJ-202 type stations.
Simultaneously with the refinement to the required level of reliability of the guidance equipment, the capacity of the tanks of the rocket was increased, which gave an increase in the launch range. The theft of improved Soviet missiles supplied to Vietnam through the territory of the PRC allowed Chinese specialists to create a more reliable radio fuse and a new warhead with an increased probability of hitting a target.
According to data obtained by American intelligence, until the second half of the 70s, the combat effectiveness of the anti-aircraft missile divisions available in the PLA air defense units was low. Approximately 20-25% of the HQ-2 air defense systems had technical malfunctions that impeded their fulfillment of the combat mission. The low preparation of Chinese calculations and the general decline in the culture of production and the technological level that occurred in the PRC after the "Cultural Revolution" had a negative impact on the combat readiness of the air defense forces. In addition, there were very serious problems with the creation of a reserve of anti-aircraft missiles in the troops. The Chinese industry, with great effort, ensured the supply of the minimum required amount of missiles, while the quality of production was very low, and the missiles often refused after launch.
Since the missiles often had fuel and oxidizer leaks, in order to avoid accidents that could lead to the destruction of expensive equipment and the death of crews, the PLA air defense command issued an order to conduct combat duty with a minimum number of missiles on the launcher, and carry out a thorough check. The technical reliability was improved in the HQ-2A modification, the production of which began in 1978.
The maximum range of destruction of air targets on this model was 34 km, the altitude was brought to 27 km. The minimum launch range was reduced from 12 to 8 km. SAM speed - 1200 m / s. The maximum speed of the fired target is 1100 m / s. The probability of being hit by one missile is about 70%.
After the creation of the HQ-2A air defense system, the developers frankly stalled. Of course, there were certain reserves in terms of increasing the reliability of all elements of the complex, and the Chinese specialists had a vision of how to improve the flight characteristics of the rocket. At the same time, its own scientific school was just emerging in the PRC, and there was no necessary base for fundamental research and technological developments. The break in military-technical cooperation with the USSR led to a slowdown in the development of new types of high-tech weapons, and the improvement of Chinese air defense systems was continued by stealing Soviet secrets.
Unlike North Vietnam, the most advanced air defense equipment was supplied to Syria and Egypt in the second half of the 60s and early 70s. So, Egypt became the recipient of fairly modern modifications of the C-75 family. In addition to the 10-cm SA-75M Dvina complexes, this country until 1973 received: 32 S-75 Desna air defense systems and 8 S-75M Volga air defense systems, as well as more than 2,700 anti-aircraft missiles (including 344 B -755).
After Egyptian President Anwar Sadat decided to make peace with Israel and took a course of rapprochement with the United States, all Soviet military advisers were expelled from Egypt. Under these conditions, Chinese intelligence was able to find approaches to the Egyptian leadership, and a number of samples of the latest military equipment and weapons of Soviet production were exported to the PRC. Thus, a fairly fresh export modification of the S-75M air defense system with B-755 extended-range missiles has become a source of inspiration for Chinese specialists in the creation of new versions of the HQ-2.
In view of the damaged relations, the Soviet Union stopped cooperation with Egypt in the field of defense. Since, as the resource of the air defense systems depleted in the early 80s, the problem of their maintenance, repair and modernization arose, this prompted the Egyptians to start independent research in this direction. The main purpose of the work was to extend the service life and modernize the V-750VN (13D) anti-aircraft missiles that have served their warranty periods. With Chinese technical and financial support near Cairo, on the basis of workshops built by the USSR for the repair and maintenance of air defense equipment, an enterprise was created where the restoration of the air defense missile system and other elements of the air defense system was carried out. In the second half of the 80s, Egypt began its own assembly of anti-aircraft missiles, with some key elements: control equipment, radio fuses and engines supplied from China.
After the specialists of the French company "Tomson-CSF" joined the modernization program, part of the equipment of the Egyptian air defense systems was transferred to a new solid-state element base. The modernized version of the Egyptian "seventy-five" received an oriental poetic name - "Tair Al - Sabah" ("Morning Bird").
At the moment in Egypt, about two dozen C-75s are deployed in positions. The main part of the medium-range air defense systems modernized with the help of the PRC and France is located along the Suez Canal and protects Cairo. All Egyptian S-75 air defense systems are based on perfectly prepared and well-fortified stationary positions. Their control cabins, diesel generators, transport-loading vehicles with spare missiles and auxiliary equipment are hidden under a thick layer of concrete and sand. On the surface, only the bunded launchers and the antenna post of the guidance station remained. Not far from the air defense missile system, there are prepared positions for small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery, which should cover the S-75 from low-altitude attacks. Attention is drawn to the fact that the positions themselves and the access roads to them are thoroughly cleared of sand and are in very good condition.
At the moment, Egypt, thanks to Chinese and French support, is the world's largest operator of modernized Soviet complexes of the C-75 family. Due to the implementation of a large-scale overhaul program, the renewal of electronic units and the well-established production of anti-aircraft missiles, in the country of the pyramids, "seventy-fives" built in the USSR more than 40 years ago are still on alert.
However, based on the analysis of satellite images of Egyptian anti-aircraft systems taken in previous years and in 2018, it can be seen that the S-75 air defense system is gradually being removed from service. At the same time, the former positions, where the "seventy-five" were on alert for a long period of time, are undergoing major reconstruction and expanding, and the anti-aircraft missile battalions based here are often deployed in an "open field" nearby. Based on all this, it can be assumed that in the near future it is planned to deploy long-range anti-aircraft missile systems with large self-propelled launchers, in size corresponding to the Russian S-400 or Chinese HQ-9.
Mutually beneficial military cooperation with Egypt made it possible to get acquainted with the original Soviet modifications of the S-75 air defense system previously unknown to Chinese specialists, which gave a new impetus to the improvement of Chinese anti-aircraft systems. The modernization of the HQ-2 was carried out in several directions. In addition to increasing noise immunity and increasing the likelihood of hitting a target, in the early 70s, on the basis of existing developments, an attempt was made to create a complex with a firing range of more than 100 km and give it anti-missile capabilities. The new air defense missile system, created on the basis of HQ-2, received the designation HQ-3, but it was not possible to successfully complete work on it.
The Chinese designers chose to use the existing components and assemblies of the rocket, with a significant increase in the capacity of the fuel and oxidizer tanks and the use of a more powerful first booster stage. The range of tracking and targeting missiles to the target was increased by increasing the power of the emitted signal and changing the operating mode of the SNR equipment.
During test launches, the experimental rocket demonstrated a controlled flight range of more than 100 km. However, due to the increased mass and dimensions, the new missile defense system had much worse maneuverability compared to the HQ-2. In addition, at a distance of more than 50 km, the previous radio command guidance system gave too much error, which sharply reduced the guidance accuracy. The new missile was capable of hitting targets at an altitude of more than 30 km, but this was not enough to combat ballistic missiles. In addition, the probability of destroying an ICBM warhead by a fragmentation warhead was very small, and the PRC did not consider it possible to create a small-sized "special" warhead for installation on a relatively narrow missile defense system in those years. As a result, the creation of long-range and anti-missile modifications based on the HQ-2 was abandoned.
The 1979 Sino-Vietnamese conflict demonstrated that the PLA's ground units are in dire need of a mobile medium-range air defense system capable of covering troops on the march in and concentration areas. The basic modification HQ-2 turned out to be completely unsuitable for this. Like its Soviet counterpart of the S-75 air defense system, the Chinese complex included more than two dozen technical units for various purposes and was deployed on engineering-prepared sites.
Although the complex was considered mobile, most of the Chinese air defense systems were on combat duty in a stationary version, in positions that were perfectly prepared in engineering terms, where there were reinforced concrete shelters and routes for the delivery of hard-surface missiles. In these conditions, the low cross-country ability and low speed of movement of rocket tractors and cab conveyors did not matter. But since the armed forces of the PRC did not have medium-range military complexes, the PLA command demanded the creation of a highly mobile air defense system based on the HQ-2. The main way to increase the mobility of the HQ-2V air defense system, which was put into service in 1986, was the introduction of the WXZ 204 self-propelled launcher, created on the basis of the Type 63 light tank.
All other elements of the HQ-2V air defense system were towed. For this modification, a more anti-jamming guidance station was developed, and a missile with a launch range of up to 40 km and a minimum affected area of 7 km. After getting acquainted with the Soviet V-755 (20D) missiles received from Egypt, the new Chinese anti-aircraft missile used more advanced radio control and radio imaging equipment, an autopilot, a radio fuse, a warhead with ready-made striking elements, a regulated-thrust liquid-propellant rocket engine and a more powerful starting accelerator. At the same time, the mass of the rocket increased to 2330 kg. The flight speed of the SAM is 1250 m / s, the maximum speed of the fired target is 1150 m / s. The launcher on a tracked chassis, with a rocket fueled, weighed about 26 tons. The diesel engine could accelerate the car on the highway to 43 km / h, the cruising range - up to 250 km.
However, it was impossible to move with a fully loaded rocket at high speed and for a considerable distance. As you know, anti-aircraft missiles with liquid-propellant rocket engines in a fueled state are quite delicate products for which significant shock and vibration loads are categorically contraindicated. Even minor mechanical influences can lead to loss of tightness of the tanks, which is fraught with the most sad consequences for the calculation. Therefore, placing a launcher of S-75 missiles on a tracked chassis does not make much sense. The presence of a self-propelled launcher, of course, somewhat reduces the deployment time, but the mobility of the complex as a whole does not dramatically increase. As a result, having suffered with self-propelled tracked launchers, the Chinese abandoned the mass production of the HQ-2B air defense system in favor of the HQ-2J, on which all elements were towed.
If you believe the advertising brochures presented in the late 80s at international arms exhibitions, the probability of being hit by one missile, in the absence of organized interference, for the HQ-2J air defense system is 92%. The anti-aircraft missile system, thanks to the introduction of an additional target channel in the CHP SJ-202В, is capable of simultaneously firing at two targets in the working sector of the guidance radar, guiding up to four missiles at them.
SJ-202В missile guidance station and control cabins at the position of the HQ-2J air defense system in the vicinity of Beijing
In general, the air defense systems of the HQ-2 family repeated the path traveled in the USSR with a delay of 10-12 years. At the same time, the PRC did not create an analogue of the Soviet V-759 (5Ya23) missile defense system with a firing range of up to 56 km and a defeat height of 100-30,000 m. Soviet SAM V-755 (20D).
There is also no information that the Chinese specialists managed to repeat the characteristics of the noise immunity of the guidance equipment of the S-75M3 "Volkhov" air defense missile system, adopted in service in the USSR in 1975. At the same time, Chinese specialists were able to install television-optical sighting devices with the introduction of an optical target tracking channel on the later versions of the HQ-2J, which made it possible, under conditions of visual observation of an air target, to conduct its tracking and shelling without using radar air defense systems in radiation mode. Also in the second half of the 80s, to protect the positions of the air defense missile system in the PLA air defense forces from anti-radar missiles, portable simulators appeared, reproducing the radiation of missile guidance stations.
In addition, all Chinese complexes, deployed on a permanent basis around important administrative, industrial and military facilities, were located in well-equipped stationary positions. According to information published in Western reference publications from 1967 to 1993, more than 120 HQ-2 air defense systems of various modifications and about 5,000 anti-aircraft missiles were built in the PRC. As of the mid-90s, there were approximately 90 operating positions of the HQ-2 air defense system on the territory of the PRC.
About 30 anti-aircraft systems were exported to Albania, Iran, North Korea and Pakistan. Vietnamese sources mention that two divisions of the early modification of the HQ-2 were sent to the DRV as part of Chinese military assistance in the early 70s. However, after being turned on, due to low noise immunity, they were quickly suppressed by electronic warfare and destroyed by American aircraft.
As new options were adopted, the previously released complexes were refined during medium and overhaul repairs. At the same time, in order to increase the combat capabilities of some HQ-2V / J air defense systems, the H-200 multifunctional combat mode station with a phased array antenna was introduced. The N-200 radar was originally developed for the KS-1A air defense system, which, in turn, has been developed since the mid-80s to replace the HQ-2 family complexes. For use as part of the HQ-2V / J air defense system, the equipment for the radio command guidance of anti-aircraft missiles is introduced into the hardware of the N-200 radar.
According to Western experts, the N-200 radar was created by borrowing technical solutions from the American AN / MPQ-53 radar. According to Chinese data, the N-200 radar is capable of detecting a high-altitude target with an RCS of 2 m ² at a distance of up to 120 km and taking it for escort from 85 km. With a flight altitude of 8 km, the stable tracking range is 45 km. The station, after the completion of the HQ-2В / J complex, can simultaneously fire at three targets, directing six missiles at them. This modernization made it possible to significantly increase the combat capabilities of the rapidly aging first-generation air defense systems. Most of the HQ-2J air defense systems, modified for joint use with the N-200 radar, are located in the vicinity of the Chinese capital.
In the past, more than 20 HQ-2 divisions have been deployed around Beijing. The greatest density of anti-aircraft positions was located from the north-western direction, on the path of the most probable breakthrough of Soviet long-range bombers. At the moment, most of the obsolete HQ-2 air defense systems previously deployed around the capital of the PRC have been replaced by modern long-range multi-channel air defense systems of Russian and Chinese production: C-300PMU1 / 2 and HQ-9.
