China has declassified for the first time one of its dedicated missile defense weapon systems, and it will be displayed at an upcoming arms show.

The HQ-19 surface-to-air missile system has been deployed by the People's Liberation Army Air Force and was highly classified until Tuesday, when the Air Force announced its participation in the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition scheduled to begin next week in Zhuhai, Guangdong province.

According to the Air Force, the missile system was developed by Chinese aerospace industry researchers on their own. It is tasked with intercepting incoming ballistic missiles, featuring a large defense coverage and the ability to take strong countermeasures against its targets.

The Air Force calls the HQ-19 "a pillar to the country's air-defense and missile inception system", but has yet to disclose any of its technical specifications such as operational range and hit speed.

Carried by a large, eight-wheel launch vehicle, each HQ-19 unit has six firing tubes that will be erected before launching the missiles.

The missile system uses cold-launch technology, which releases compressed gas to eject the missile before ignition, thus helping protect the launch vehicle from flames and stabilize the firing process.

Zhang Xuefeng, a military hardware observer, said that the HQ-19 is a new flagship ordnance in the Chinese military's air and missile defense arsenal.

"Previous weapons such as the HQ-9 air-defense missile system are mainly used to protect comparatively small zones from hostile aircraft," he said.

"Though they can also defend against ballistic missiles, their hit radius is limited, usually in a matter of tens of kilometers. By comparison, the HQ-19 is a regional missile inception platform and can safeguard a much wider expanse of areas. For instance, each of the United States' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system is capable of covering an area that normally needs dozens of Patriot missile units."

According to Zhang, deploying missile defense systems brings a military a great deal of strategic advantages in a war because they can substantially reduce its enemy's air and missile strike capabilities.

"The combination of the HQ-9 series and the HQ-19 will form a powerful, multi-layer network to keep our important assets from threats from the air and exosphere," the observer noted.

Wang Yanan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said that in addition to conventional ballistic missiles, the HQ-19 is able to defend against hypersonic glide vehicle weapons that are extremely fast and agile. As cutting-edge hardware, the hypersonic glide vehicle weapon poses a significant threat to high-value assets, and it is virtually impossible for other existing air-defense missiles to intercept it.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn