What is HQ-9? China’s Long-Range Air Defense System
Technical Specifications
| Feature | 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, helicopter, cruise missile, ballistic missile (B variant) |
| 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 | Truck-mounted 4-cell vertical launcher |
| Command | Mobile command center |
| Service | 1997+ (Chinese inventory) |
| Users | China, Pakistan, Algeria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Egypt (HQ-9B 2024) |
Turkey Adventure
- 2013: Turkey preferred HQ-9 — 4 billion dollars
- Surpassed Patriot, S-400, SAMP/T in selection
- Incompatible with NATO — IFF, data link issues
- US-Israel political pressure
- 2015: tender canceled
- Turkey then acquired S-400 from Russia (2017+)
- Result of being removed from F-35
- Turkish domestic counterpart: SİPER program
