China has shown off the People's Liberation Army's latest hardware on primetime state television, an advanced short-range missile defence system said to have a “high success rate” destroying incoming missiles and aircraft.
The Hongqi-10 (Reg Flag 10) surface-to-air missile was shown in China Central Television's evening news bulletin Wednesday being fired from ships and land-based mobile launchers, and exploding in the sky on impact with its target.
It will protect warships against rockets over a limited area, and will be used alongside an “area defence system” which covers a larger area but has a slower response time, the state-run Global Times newspaper said Thursday.
“As a naval point defence missile system, HongQi-10 boasts a particularly quick response to low-altitude missiles that area defence systems fail to intercept,” it quoted Lan Yun, deputy chief editor of monthly journal Modern Ships, as saying.
It cited him adding that it had a high success rate in hitting its targets.
Incoming missiles only 1.5-10 metres above sea level can be targeted with the new system, which takes only 10 seconds to launch, Lan said.
The missiles can also used to protect ground forces from air attacks by ”jets, unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles”, the Global Times report said, citing an expert.
The Hongqi-10, whose export version is known as FL-3000N, has been installed on some of China's most advanced warships including the 1,300-tonne Type 056 frigates and 7,000-tonne Type 052D destroyers, Chinese media have reported.
Beijing has been increasing its military might and naval reach in recent years, and President Xi Jinping regularly urges the country to strengthen its ability to “win battles”.