China shows off advanced ship missile defence system

China has shown off the People's Liberation Army's latest hardware on primetime state television, an advanced short-range missile defence system said to have a “high success rate” destroying incoming missiles and aircraft.

The Hongqi-10 (Reg Flag 10) surface-to-air missile was shown in China Central Television's evening news bulletin Wednesday being fired from ships and land-based mobile launchers,  and exploding in the sky on impact with its target.

It will protect warships against rockets over a limited area, and will be  used alongside an “area defence system” which covers a larger area but has a  slower response time, the state-run Global Times newspaper said Thursday.

“As a naval point defence missile system, HongQi-10 boasts a particularly  quick response to low-altitude missiles that area defence systems fail to  intercept,” it quoted Lan Yun, deputy chief editor of monthly journal Modern  Ships, as saying.

It cited him adding that it had a high success rate in hitting its targets.

Incoming missiles only 1.5-10 metres above sea level can be targeted with the new system, which takes only 10 seconds to launch, Lan said.