The ministry said in a brief statement that it was a ground-based medium-range missile that was tested within China’s borders, adding that the test was defensive in nature and not targeting any country.
Anti-ballistic missile systems are intended to protect a country from potential attacks by using projectiles to intercept incoming missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Some analysts liken it to dropping a bullet with another bullet.
This is China’s sixth known test of a land-based anti-ballistic missile, according to the state-run Global Times. The state has been conducting such tests since 2010, usually every few years.
Before Sunday, China conducted its last anti-ballistic missile test in February 2021, according to state media.
“China plans to build a multi-layered missile defense system consisting of several components,” said Tong Gao, a senior fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
These efforts are aimed at addressing short-, medium- and long-range missiles. So far, Zhao said, China has developed the HQ9 and HQ19 missile defense systems for the first two, and has not yet announced the development of a system that can intercept long-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
It is not clear which system was tested on Sunday, as Chinese officials have not disclosed any other information.
But when measured by the size of the closed airspace, it could be a mid-range HQ19, similar to the US’s THAAD system, or another new mid-lane system, Zhao said.
He added that it is similar to the “hit-to-kill” missiles used by the United States, referring to the technology that allows the interceptor to strike and completely destroy incoming threats.
The test comes amid heightened tensions in the region, with a string of recent missile tests from North Korea including presumed short-range ballistic missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles. South Korean and US officials have also warned that renewed activity at North Korea’s nuclear test site indicates the country could conduct a nuclear test any day – its first since 2017.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office in May, has vowed to take a tougher line on North Korea — and has suggested he will. seeking to install A second anti-ballistic missile system.
In 2016, when South Korea announced it would deploy the US-built THAAD system, and sparked a year-long diplomatic dispute with China, which argued the missile defense system would jeopardize its national security.
THAAD is designed to shoot down short, medium and medium ballistic missiles and is used by the US Army to protect units in places like Guam and Hawaii.
Zhao said that despite its criticism of South Korea’s use of the THAAD system, China has good reason to develop its own missile shield program.
“China cannot leave itself behind in this important area of military technological competition,” he said. “China looks to other great powers. The United States is the primary concern, but Russia is also developing missile defense technologies with increased capability.”
And while North Korea’s missile tests have alarmed South Korea and Western observers, Beijing’s friendly relationship with the North means it is likely to be more concerned about other threats — such as from India, with which it shares long-running border tensions. And the United States, which has deployed military equipment in the region close to China.
Earlier in May, China criticized the United States for its deployment of medium-range ballistic missiles in the Asia-Pacific region, saying it had a “serious negative impact” on international arms control.
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