HQ-9 what is it? A long-range air defense system of China
Technical Specifications
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Long-range air and missile defense system |
| Manufacturer | CASIC / CPMIEC (China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation) |
| Export Name | FD-2000 |
| Range | ≈100-200 km (basic); 250-300 km (HQ-9B) |
| Altitude | ≈500 m – 30 km |
| Target | Fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles (variant B) |
| Missile | HT-9 family — basic and long-range variants |
| Speed (missile) | Mach 4.2 |
| Guidance | Command + INS + terminal active/semi-active radar |
| Radar | HT-233 phased array or advanced AESA variants |
| Launcher | 4-cell vertical launch system on truck chassis |
| Command Post | Mobile command center |
| Service | 1997+ (Chinese inventory) |
| User | China, Pakistan, Algeria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Egypt (HQ-9B 2024) |
Adventure in Turkey
- 2013: Turkey selected HQ-9 — $4 billion
- Outperformed Patriot, S-400, SAMP/T in comparison
- Non-compliance with NATO — issues with IFF, data
- Political pressure from the USA and Israel
- 2015: tender canceled
- Turkey then acquired S-400 from Russia (2017+)
- Result exclusion from F-35
- Turkish equivalent: SİPER program
