20:00 02.08.2016(updated 20:03 02.08.2016)

With the televised demonstration of China’s latest system of intercepting incoming ballistic missiles during the intermediate stage of their flight, it looks like the People’s Republic is poised to become the second country after the US to deploy a missile shield.

In an interview with Sputnik, Vasily Kashin, a Moscow-based military expert, said that in their effort to develop what may be dubbed HQ-19, the Chinese may possibly be working closely with Russia, whose S-500 Prometey missile defense system, now under development, and the strategic missile system A-235 Nudol, which is currently undergoing trials, will be able to shoot down incoming warheads even before they enter the atmosphere.

The long-range A-235 missile will have a range of up to 1,500 km and will be able to carry a nuclear warhead which will dramatically improve its ability to shoot down enemy warheads.

“What really matters here is just how many such missile defense systems China will be able to deploy and who they are going to be used against. The modern US ballistic missiles are either land or sea-based intercontinental ones the ATACMS short-range Chinese missiles will hardly be able to deal with,” Kashin said.

As for Japan, Kashin said that even though it has no ballistic missiles of its own, Tokyo, with its advanced space program, could have no problem developing such missiles.

Taiwan shuttered its ballistic missile programs back in the 1990s, relying instead on cruise missiles.

South Korea’s Hyunmoo ballistic missiles have limited range and pose no real threat to China.

“The deployment of a limited missile defense system will give the Chinese an edge over regional powers, like Iran, Pakistan, India and North Korea, capable of building medium-range missiles and eventually relatively primitive types of ICBMs. And it will also come as a potent means of containing the imaginary missile threat by India,” Kashin added.

With the new system in place, China will also be able to shoot down US spy satellites.

Vasily Kashin said that even though the publicized tests of China’s new missiles defense system were apparently meant as Beijing’s answer to the deployment of US THAAD missiles in South Korea, it would hardly be able to effectively counteract the American missile shield, primarily due to the obvious US edge in the number of nuclear warheads.

“China’s most probable answer to the emergence of THAAD in South Korea could be the deployment of its newly developed cruise missiles to destroy the Americans’ THAAD system during the initial stage of an armed conflict,” Vasily Kashin said in conclusion.

The United States and South Korea announced plans in July to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system, ostensibly to counter threats from North Korea, but the move received immediate condemnation from Russia and China, who view the installation as a veiled attempt by Washington to undermine Beijing and Moscow’s mutual nuclear deterrent.

Moscow immediately joined Beijing in warning the United States that the deployment would have “irreparable consequences.”

Original post sputniknews.com

-END-

Main picture of HQ-19 shephardmedia.com

Russian Aerospace Forces to Get State of the Art S-500 Air Defense Systems

Selling S-400s to China: A New Front in the Cold War?

THAAD missile defense

Chinese media show footage of possible HQ-19 test

HQ-19 – Image @janes.com

In a television report about China’s development of anti-ballistic missile (ABM) capabilities, Chinese state media revealed for the first time details of a test the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted of what appears to be an HQ-19 anti-missile system.

Read rest of article: Here

HONGQI-19 (HQ-19)

The HongQi-19 (HQ-19) is said to be China’s counterpart to the U.S.’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) ballistic missile defense system.

In January of 2010, American ballistic missile defense analysts speculated that the variant of the HQ-19 that was tested was either “co-developed or stolen from the Russian S-400 Triumf.” However, others have speculated that they have nothing to do with each other.

Not much else is known about the HQ-19 at this time. More information will be added as it becomes available. Source missilethreat.com

Long-range A-235 missile Nudol

A–235 Nudol (Russian: Система А-235 / РТЦ-181М / Нудоль) is a Russian anti-ballistic missile system in development. This system is designed to deflect a nuclear attack on Moscow and important industrial regions. The main developer of the system is JSC Concern VKO Almaz-Antey. The new system should replace the current one — A-135. Missile defense system A-235 will be using the Don-2N radar and the range radar Don 2NP / 5N20P with updated software and hardware; the guidance system of the A-235 complex will be similar to the existing system A-135.

Don-2N radar

Source revolvy.com

Russian Radars Started Active Combat Duty in 2014

Voronezh Radar Coverage (KMZ by Pavel Podvig)

Excerpt

The long range Voronezh class radars located at Yeniseysk,Barnaul, Irkutsk and Kaliningrad are currently in a mixed state of full active and experimental combat duty.

The two variants, the Voronezh-DM and Voronezh-M/VP have been in the sights of Russian watchers for some time. That’s because they help form the backbone of Russia’s new early warning radar system, scheduled to be complete by 2020.

Their deployment supports Russia’s ongoing efforts to modernize the military which suffered following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The four radars joined a network of existing Voronezh and older Dnepr, Daryal, and Volga radars located across Russia and the near abroad.

The latest in the series, they are meant to be more cost effective, capable and scalable, according to Russia’s Kommersant Daily. For example, the Voronezh-DM was reported to consume only 0.7 megawatts of power—down from 2 MW and 50 MW that the older Dnepr and Daryal consume.

However, procurement costs have risen in recent years and the radars now range between RUB 2.85 billion and RUB 4.4 billion, up from initial estimates of RUB 1.5 billion. Despite doubling in price, gains have been made in other areas such as faster assembly using prefabricated modules and a lower personnel requirement for operation.

With a reported range of 4200 km, these third generation radars are designed to detect ballistic and cruise missile launches well beyond Russia’s borders. As the primary land-based component for the early warning mission, Russia has moved quickly to complete their construction. Once in operation, they compliment Russia’s early warning space assets, Cosmos 2422 and Cosmos 2446, both in highly-elliptical orbit.