Missile Defense Systems of Various Nations - People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China does not have a strategic missile defense system capable of intercepting a Medium / Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM/MRBM) or an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). The DF-21 is not suitable as the first stage of an Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) as it is too large and lacks acceleration. China’s modest Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) capability rests with the S-300 series surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems purchased from Russia. Four versions of the S-300 are in service the PMU, PMU1 and PMU2 and the navalised S-300FM Rif. Based on the S-300PMU1, the Rif equips the PLAN’s two Type 51C Luzhou air-defence destroyers enabling them to contribute to the protection of a coastal site against SRBM attack.

The S-300PMU2 has the best chance of intercepting an SRBM missile as it employs the 48N6E2 missile which has a warhead optimised for destroying ballistic missiles, and better kinematics compared to earlier 48N6 missiles.

HQ-9 may have some ABM capability.

However, it might be noted that on 11 January 2007 the Chinese successfully performed an anti-satellite missile test using a KT-1 missile with a Kinetic Kill Vehicle mounted.

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