China Advances in Air Defence Missile System Development

Researchers from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp's Second Academy have developed a  control systems or the  "brain" of a new air defence missile system.

“Compared with previous generations of air-defense missiles, the new-generation missile system will have a wider range of targets……, taking China into the ranks of a handful of nations capable of designing and producing such a system, an article in Chinamil, the official news website of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) said.

While technical details of the system were not mentioned, the new system could be targeting the United States-built Patriot system and Russia’s S-400 air defence missile system. Both can target a various types of missiles while the latter can shoot down aircraft as well.

China has a history of developing cutting edge defence technology in a relatively short time and offering it to developing countries at a fraction of the price of comparable US and Russian defence products.

The article quoted Wang Mengyi, deputy head of the Second Academy's General Design Department as saying,"metaphorically put, the mission of these control systems is to guide a needle to fly 1,000 kilometers to pierce the eye of another needle."

Wang said control systems are mainly tasked with working out a missile's best trajectory and making sure it can hit its target.

The successful development of China's new air-defense missile system would be unachievable if researchers at the laboratory had failed to design world-class control systems, he said, noting that they adopted new design methods that have reduced design time tremendously and improved missile performance.

China had earlier offered an air-defence missile system to Turkey which had short-listed it but later went in for the Russian S-400 system. China itself became the first international customer for the S-400 air defence system later on.