Analysis: China to get SAMs from Russia
Published: May 2, 2008 at 6:04 PM
By ANDREI CHANG
HONG KONG, May 2 (UPI) — Russia will deliver to China four battalions of 200-kilometer-range S-300PMU2 surface-to-air missiles this summer, the last batch in a series ordered by China. The first batch of four battalions of the same missiles was delivered in July 2007.
Starting in 1993, China received 12 battalions of S-300 SAMs, four of them S-300PMUs and eight S-300PMU1s. This means there are a total of 20 battalions of S-300 SAMs deployed in China. These missiles are expected to play a major role in China’s core air defense system.
These missiles now cover the whole of the Chinese coast facing the Taiwan Strait. Positions previously covered by HQ-2 ground-to-air missiles have been upgraded to S-300 launch positions.
In the combat theater centered on the city of Fuzhou in Fujian province, Longtian Airport is armed with S-300s, which are intended to cover the whole northern section of the combat area. The S-300PMU1/2s deployed along the Taiwan Strait are right along the coastline, providing the first line of air defense for the operations of AWACS and bombers behind the front lines.
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