Illustrative image. (Chinese Ministry of National Defense)
Egypt has acquired the “HQ-9B” long-range air defense system from China, retired high-ranking Egyptian military official Samir Farag revealed in an interview with the country’s Sada El-Balad TV that was cited by several reports from July 2 and later one.
Farag did not specify how many batteries were purchased by Egypt, or when exactly the system was shipped to the country.
Last May, The Diplomat reported that Cairo had confirmed purchasing the Chinese air-defense system and speculated Beijing “may use Y-20 aircraft to deliver HQ-9B systems to Egypt, just as it previously transported HQ-22 air defense missile systems to Serbia when the landlocked European country was virtually isolated.”
While both Farag and The Diplomat specify that Egypt received the “HQ-9B” version of the system from China, that version is not for export.
What Caior more likely bought is either the FD-2000B, an export version with a range of 250 kilometers, or the HQ-9P a custom export version developed by the manufacturer, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, especially for Pakistan with a range of 125 kilometers.
All HQ-9 versions are believed to use track-via-missile, or TVM, guidance combining inertial guidance, mid-course uplink, and terminal active radar. The system is also reported to have anti-ballistic missile capabilities, although it is unclear if this is available for all versions.
Export versions of the HQ-9 usually come with a set of radars, the HT-233 target-acquisition radar, Type 120 low-altitude search radar, and Type 305A search radar, which features an active electronically scanned array antenna.
The HQ-9 is a derivative of the Russian S-300. Egypt already operates the export version of the S-300VM, the Antey-2500. Thus, integrating the Chinese system into the country’s air defense network will not likely be difficult.
The purchase of the HQ-9 may be the first step towards wider military cooperation between Egypt and China. Cairo is also said to be interested in purchasing fighter jets from China, namely the Chengdu J-10. The fighter jet can be armed with the PL-15 beyond-visual-range radar-homing air-to-air missile, whose export version has a range of 145 kilometers.
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