The PLA anti-aircraft missile forces of the PRC are armed with 110-120 anti-aircraft missile systems (divisions) HQ-2, HQ-61, HQ-7, HQ-9, HQ-12, HQ-16, S-300PMU, S-300PMU-1 and 2, for a total of about 700 PU. According to this indicator, China is second only to our country (about 1500 PU). However, at least a third of this number of Chinese air defense systems are obsolete HQ-2 (analogue of the C-75 air defense system), which are being actively replaced.
The first air defense missile systems were delivered to China from the USSR in the late 1950s. It was then that the foundations were laid for the development of military-technical cooperation between the USSR and the PRC, the main goal of which was to create in the PRC, with the help of the USSR, a modern scientific and technical base capable of ensuring the production and improvement of various types of weapons and military equipment.
In October 1957, a Soviet-Chinese meeting on military-technical cooperation was held in Moscow, following which an agreement was signed on the transfer of licenses to the PRC for the production of various types of missile weapons, technical documentation, as well as a number of the latest defense technologies. In addition, supplies to the PRC of some types of missile weapons, including aviation, tactical and anti-aircraft missiles, were started. The role of the latter especially increased in connection with the outbreak of the Taiwan crisis at the end of August 1958. The large-scale deliveries of American weapons to Taiwan made in those years significantly strengthened the army of this state. Aviation of Taiwan received several high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft RB-57D (and soon Lockheed U-2), the characteristics of which significantly exceeded the capabilities of the Chinese air defense systems.
The Americans who armed Taiwan were not altruists - the main purpose of the reconnaissance flights to be carried out by the Taiwanese pilots was to obtain the information the United States needed about the work on the creation of nuclear weapons in the PRC.
In the first three months of 1959, the RB-57D flew ten hours-long flights over the PRC, and in June of the same year, reconnaissance aircraft flew over Beijing twice. The celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the PRC was approaching, and the forecasts of a possible disruption of the anniversary celebrations looked quite real.
In this situation, the Chinese leadership turned to the USSR with a request to supply to the PRC, in conditions of increased secrecy, several of the latest SA-75 Dvina air defense systems, created at KB-1 (NPO Almaz) under the leadership of A. A. Raspletin. In the spring of 1959, five fire and one technical SA-75 battalion were delivered to the PRC, including 62 11D anti-aircraft missiles created at the Fakel ICB under the leadership of P. D. Grushin, and the first combat crews, consisting of Chinese military personnel. At the same time, a group of Soviet specialists was sent to China to service these missile systems, with whose participation a Taiwanese RB-57D reconnaissance aircraft was first shot down near Beijing on October 7, 1959.
As shown by the study of the fallen debris, the high-altitude reconnaissance RB-57D fell apart in the air and its fragments scattered several kilometers, and the pilot of the reconnaissance aircraft Wang Yingqin was mortally wounded.
It should be noted that this was the first aircraft shot down by an anti-aircraft missile in a combat situation. At the same time, in order to preserve the effect of surprise and hide the presence of the latest missile technology in China, the Soviet and Chinese leaders agreed not to report the downed plane. However, the very next day, Taiwanese newspapers reported that one of the RB-57D aircraft crashed during a training flight, fell and sank in the East China Sea. In response, the Chinese Xinhua News Agency issued the following statement: “On October 7, in the morning, a Chiang Kai-shek reconnaissance aircraft of the American production type RB-57D with provocative purposes entered the airspace over the regions of North China and was shot down by the Air Force of the People's Liberation Army of China”. However, analyzing the loss of their high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft over China, the Americans did not attribute this result to Soviet anti-aircraft missiles. All the more stunning for them was the event that happened on May 1, 1960, when a previously unattainable U-2 was hit by a Soviet anti-aircraft missile near Sverdlovsk.
In total, 5 more U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, under the control of Taiwanese pilots, were shot down over the PRC, some of them survived and were captured.
The high combat qualities of Soviet missile weapons prompted the Chinese leadership to acquire a license for the production of the SA-75 (Chinese name HQ-1 ("Hongqi-1")), about which all the necessary agreements were soon reached. However, which began to grow in the late 1950s. The Soviet-Chinese disagreements became the reason that on July 16, 1960, the USSR announced the withdrawal of all military advisers from the PRC, which served as the beginning of the practical curtailment of military-technical cooperation between the USSR and the PRC for several subsequent decades.
Under these conditions, further improvement in the PRC of anti-aircraft missile weapons began to be carried out on the basis of the proclaimed in the country in the early 1960s. self-reliance policies. However, this policy, which became one of the main tenets of the Cultural Revolution, in relation to the creation of modern types of missile weapons turned out to be ineffective, even after the PRC began to actively entice specialists of Chinese origin who had the relevant specialties from abroad, primarily from the United States. … In those years, more than a hundred prominent scientists of Chinese nationality returned to the PRC. In parallel with this, work was intensified to acquire advanced technologies in the military-technical field, and specialists from Germany, Switzerland and a number of other countries began to be invited to work in the PRC.
With their participation in 1965 in the process of mastering the production of HQ-1, the development of its more advanced version under the designation HQ-2 was started. The new air defense system was distinguished by an increased range of action, as well as higher performance when working in conditions of using electronic countermeasures. The first version of the HQ-2 entered service in July 1967.
In general, in the 1960s. in the PRC on the basis of the Soviet SA-75, three programs were carried out to create and produce air defense systems intended to combat high-altitude targets. Among them, along with the already mentioned HQ-1 and HQ-2, also included HQ-3, specially created to counter reconnaissance flights in the sky of the PRC of the American supersonic high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft SR-71. However, only the HQ-2 received further development, which in the 1970s-80s. it was repeatedly modernized in order to maintain its characteristics at a level corresponding to the development of air attack weapons.
So, the work on the first modernization of the HQ-2 was started in 1973 and was based on the analysis of military operations in Vietnam. The HQ-2A air defense system created as a result possessed a number of high-quality innovations and was put into service in 1978.
Soviet experts have repeatedly recorded cases of loss of samples of aviation and rocket equipment during their transportation through the territory of the PRC by rail to Vietnam. Thus, the Chinese, not disdaining banal theft, got the opportunity to get acquainted with modern Soviet developments.
A further development of the HQ-2 was the mobile version of the HQ-2B, work on which was started in 1979. As part of the HQ-2V, it was envisaged to use launchers on a tracked chassis, as well as a modified rocket equipped with a new radio fuse, the operation of which could be adjusted depending on the position of the rocket relative to the target. For the rocket, a new warhead was also created with a large number of submunitions and a sustainer engine with increased thrust. This version of the air defense system was put into service in 1986.
The version of the HQ-2J air defense system, created almost simultaneously with it, was distinguished by the use of a fixed launcher for launching a rocket.
The rate of production of various variants of the HQ-2 in the 1980s. reached about 100 missiles a year, which made it possible to equip them with about 100 anti-aircraft missile battalions, which in those years constituted the basis of China's air defense. At the same time, several hundred missiles of various HQ-2 variants were delivered to Albania, Iran, North Korea and Pakistan.
This complex is still in service with the PRC and a number of other countries.
Satellite image of Google Earth: SAM HQ-2 air defense of the PRC
On the basis of the American AIM-7 "Sparrow" air-to-air missile captured in Vietnam, the HQ-61 air defense system was created.
The creation of this complex was very difficult due to the 1960/70 Cultural Revolution that began at that time. In fact, the HQ-61 anti-aircraft complex became the first Chinese project to create equipment of this class. During the design and creation of the system, it was not a lack of experience and scientific potential that had a very strong impact.
The complex itself turned out to be not very successful, was built in limited quantities, and subsequently began to be replaced by the HQ-7 (Chinese version of the French Crotale). But after upgrading the system, an updated version was created called HQ-61A. Today, this complex serves as part of the People's Liberation Army of China. The main task of the system was to cover long-range air defense systems.
The creation of the HongQi-7 air defense system began in 1979. The complex, which is a localized copy of the French Crotale air defense system, was developed at the Second Aerospace Academy of the People's Republic of China (now the China Academy of Defense Technology / CADT).
The tests of the complex have been carried out since July 1986. to June 1988 The HQ-7 is currently in service with the Army, Air Force and Navy of the People's Liberation Army of China. A self-propelled version of the complex on an automobile chassis has been developed for the PLA units, for the Air Force - a towed version, which is used for air defense of airfields and infrastructure facilities.
The upgraded version of the HQ-7B (FM-90) complex is mounted on an AFV armored vehicle chassis with a Chinese 6x6 all-terrain wheel arrangement.
Compared to the prototype, the HQ-7B complex uses a new dual-band guidance radar instead of the Type-345 monopulse. The information processing unit is made on very large-scale integrated circuits (developed by Institute 706). The transition to completely digital processing of information instead of analogue made it possible to significantly increase the noise immunity of the complex in conditions of active and passive interference.
A thermal imager was integrated into the optoelectronic tracking system to ensure shooting at night, the complex is equipped with a radio communication system that provides information exchange between the command post and launchers, similar to the Crotale "4000 series" air defense system.
An improved solid propellant charge was used in the rocket engine, which provided a significant increase in the flight range, the fuse and control system equipment were modernized.
The development of another "clone" missile for the HQ-64 air defense system (export name LY-60), this time based on the Italian Aspid missile, was launched in the late 1980s. At that time, negotiations were underway between China and Italy to start production of this missile in China on a licensed basis. However, after the Beijing events of the spring and summer of 1989. The Italians refused to cooperate with China, but, apparently, the materials received earlier were enough to start and bring to completion the next development.
In recent years, the improvement in the characteristics of Chinese air defense systems is largely associated with the acquisition by the PRC of a limited number of Russian S-300PMU air defense systems and self-propelled Tor air defense systems. So, in the 1990s. The PRC purchased four S-300PMU air defense systems and about 100 anti-aircraft missiles for them, as well as several dozen Tor air defense systems, intended mainly to compensate for the existing shortcomings in the country's air defense system. The successful development of the S-300 in the Chinese army and the satisfaction of the Chinese leadership with the high combat and operational qualities of this system became the main incentives for the acquisition in Russia in 2002-03. its more advanced version of the S-300PMU-1 air defense system.
Satellite image of Google Earth: SAM S-300PMU in the suburbs of Beijing
After reviewing the air defense systems received from Russia, work began in the PRC to create systems of its own production. Based on the technical solutions of the Russian S-300 air defense system, at the end of the 90s, a Chinese long-range anti-aircraft missile system HQ-9 (HongQi-9, "Hongqi-9", "Red Banner-9", export designation - FD- 2000). Designed to destroy enemy aircraft, cruise missiles and helicopters at all altitudes of their combat use, day and night in all weather conditions. The HQ-9 is the most advanced example of the third generation of China's anti-aircraft missile systems and is characterized by high combat effectiveness in a difficult jamming environment, incl. with the massive use by the enemy of various means of air attack.
An upgraded version of the complex, designated HQ-9A, is currently in production. The HQ-9A is characterized by increased combat performance and effectiveness, especially in terms of anti-missile capabilities, achieved through improved electronic equipment and software.
The development of a medium-range air defense system led to the creation of HQ-12 (HongQi-12, "Hongqi-12", "Red Banner-12").
The HQ-12 complex was developed by the Chinese company Jiangnan Space Industry, also known as base 061. The development of a prototype of the complex began in the early 80s of the last century, as a replacement for the outdated HQ-2 air defense system (Chinese copy of the Soviet C-75 air defense system). The transported version of the complex under the designation KS-1 went for testing in 1989. and was first demonstrated at the Paris Air Show in 1991. The development of the KS-1 air defense system was completed in 1994.
Failures in testing the new KS-1A complex slowed down its adoption. In July-August 2007, when China celebrated the 80th anniversary of the PLA, a new air defense system, as part of a mobile launcher and an H-200 radar, was publicly exhibited at the Chinese Military Museum of the Revolution, under the designation HQ-12, which indicates its possible adoption. for service with the PLA. Several HQ-12 batteries in 2009. participated in the military parade dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the PRC.
It seems that the new Chinese medium-range air defense system HQ-16 (Hongqi-16) turned out to be more successful. It is a "conglomerate" of technical solutions borrowed from the Russian S-300P and Buk-M2. Unlike the Buk, the Chinese air defense system uses a “hot - vertical” start.
The HQ-16 is equipped with 328 kg anti-aircraft missiles and has a firing range of 40 km. Self-propelled launcher is equipped with 4-6 missiles in transport and launch containers. The radar of the complex is capable of detecting air targets at a distance of 150 km. The elements of the air defense missile system are located on six-axle off-road vehicles.
The complex is capable of striking army, tactical and strategic aircraft, fire support helicopters, cruise missiles and remotely piloted aircraft. Provides effective repulsion of massive air raids by modern air attack weapons in conditions of intense electronic suppression. He is capable of performing a combat mission in various weather conditions. LY-80 is multi-channel. Its firepower can fire simultaneously up to six targets, targeting each of them with up to four missiles from one launcher. The target firing zone is circular in azimuth.
As can be seen from all that has been said in the PRC, great attention is paid to the creation and improvement of modern air defense systems. At the same time, according to most experts, the capabilities of Chinese air defense systems in the fight against most types of modern air targets, including cruise missiles, remain very limited. In accordance with the materials of special reports on the military potential of the PRC, which are annually prepared by the US Department of Defense, the PRC also currently does not have a universal integrated national air defense system, and the existing ground-based air defense systems are only able to provide solution to the tasks of object air defense. Also, the PRC has only an elementary tactical joint air defense system. At the same time, as a rule, it is noted that an effective air defense system can be deployed in the PRC only by 2020.
