Dragon increased the strength of its HQ-16 air defense by 4 times, still it is a child in front of Russia’s S-400

China, embroiled in border dispute with India from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, is busy day and night in polishing its military strength. In this series, the Chinese Army has claimed that it has upgraded the strength of its indigenous medium range missile defense system HQ-16, making it four times more powerful than before. Dragon is pretending to make its air borders impenetrable through this new upgrade. However, according to defense experts, despite millions of claims, Chinese technology does not seem to be a match for Russian and Indian weapons.

Even after increasing the power four times, the Chinese system is a ‘child’ in front of the S-400. China may have said that it has improved the range, radar tracking capability and interceptor speed of its missile defense system by four times, but at the global level, when it is compared with Russia’s dangerous S-400 Triumph system, the Chinese system stands nowhere. Russia’s S-400 is considered to be the world’s most dangerous and accurate air defense, which can destroy multiple enemies simultaneously from a distance of 400 kilometers. India also has this Russian system. The range and radar technology of the Chinese HQ-16 even today appears very primitive and weak like a child in comparison to this Russian technology.

How will Dragon stand against Indian Army’s ‘BrahMos’ missile? The biggest headache and real challenge for the Chinese army is not Russia’s S-400, but India’s supersonic cruise missile ‘BrahMos’. BrahMos is among the fastest and most accurate missiles in the world, which wreaks havoc in enemy territory at its fixed Mach speed (about three times faster than the speed of sound). The Chinese HQ-16 is primarily designed to intercept slow-moving fighters, drones and conventional missiles. When it comes to a hyper-maneuverable and extremely low-flying lethal missile like BrahMos, China’s radars with this upgraded system will struggle to track it.

How safe is India from this new maneuver of China on the border? The Indian defense establishment is keeping a close eye on this military modernization being done by China. India has already strengthened its position along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). India not only has defense cover like S-400 but also deployed lethal weapons like indigenous Akash Prime, MRSAM and Pinaka rocket system. In such a situation, China’s improvement in its old missile technology HQ-16 reflects its own nervousness and compulsion, because both the offensive and defensive strategies of the Indian Army have the power to destroy every intention of the Chinese Army in the blink of an eye.