Sea and sky shields, iron curtain barriers - at the military parade held on September 3rd commemorating the 80th anniversary of China's victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, four types of ship-based air defense weapons made their systematic debut, demonstrating the military's diverse defensive capabilities against various incoming targets for surface vessels.
Military experts indicate that the four types of ship-based air defense equipment displayed each have distinct characteristics. When used in combination, they can achieve comprehensive air defense coverage at long, medium, and short ranges at sea, counter saturation attacks from various anti-ship weapons, and construct a complete defense system for naval combat units.
The four types of ship-based air defense weapon systems featured in the parade are the HHQ-9C, HQ-16C, close-range air defense systems, and LY-1 ship-based laser weapon. These four systems form an integrated, three-dimensional air defense network with seamless coverage from long to short range. Among them, the ship-based laser weapon making its debut possesses outstanding advantages of precise damage and continuous strike capability, becoming a "blade of light" that reshapes the rules of naval combat offense and defense.
"Among these four ship-based air defense weapon systems, the HHQ-9C ship-based air defense missile will primarily counter attacks from ballistic missiles and other high-altitude, high-speed, high-value anti-ship weapons," military expert Zhang Xuefeng explained. He anticipates that the HHQ-9C can effectively engage ballistic missiles with higher efficiency for naval missile defense. "It's clearly visible that the HHQ-9C, as a long-range naval air defense missile, has well-controlled missile body dimensions, which can increase the ammunition capacity of vertical launch systems," Zhang noted.
He further explained that the HQ-16C, as a medium-range ship-based air defense missile, can form a high-low combination with the HHQ-9C. Due to its smaller missile body size, it can be loaded in large quantities into the vertical launch systems of naval frigates, effectively intercepting incoming subsonic and even supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles.
The ship-based air defense weapon formation also showcased a close-range ship-based air defense missile. Zhang believes this missile serves a "gap-filling" role within the ship-based air defense system, also possessing the capability to intercept supersonic anti-ship missiles. "The combined application of these several ship-based air defense weapons can basically effectively intercept attacks from various types of anti-ship missiles and can effectively resist saturation attacks from anti-ship missiles."
The debut of the ship-based laser weapon LY-1 can be considered a major highlight of this naval equipment display. Zhang explained that as a ship-based laser weapon, the LY-1 has sufficient space to accommodate energy units, meaning its power can be greater. It can not only intercept incoming unmanned maritime equipment but can even be used to intercept anti-ship missiles, while maintaining very low per-shot interception costs.
"As a laser weapon, the LY-1 can also effectively avoid the time lag that exists between ship-based fire control radar target lock-on and traditional air defense weapon firing, and effectively avoids the large dispersion pattern problem of traditional ship-based close-in weapon systems," Zhang believes. The LY-1 ship-based laser weapon truly achieves "aim equals lock, fire equals hit" with extremely high interception accuracy.
"Additionally, ship-based laser weapons can effectively damage the optical sensors of enemy weapon equipment. Their emergence truly changes the rules of naval combat," Zhang stated.