Facing Iran’s intensive ballistic missile attacks, the anti-ballistic missile systems of Israel and the U.S. military stationed in the Middle East quickly became “overloaded,” reducing their interception capabilities. The American “Fun Engineering” website pointed out that while Israel and the U.S. continue to rely on the traditional approach of deploying more anti-ballistic missile systems, China has already begun testing next-generation radar capable of countering hyper-saturation attacks. In a high-difficulty test involving the simultaneous interception of 16 ballistic missiles, the radar demonstrated remarkably high accuracy in target identification.
Data shows that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted a live-fire test in the western Gobi Desert, where its new-generation dual-band radar successfully passed an anti-saturation attack test against 16 simultaneously launched ballistic missiles. It is reported that China’s tested dual-band radar system is similar to the equipment installed on U.S. Navy missile observation ships, combining wide-area surveillance (S-band radar) with high-resolution targeting (X-band radar). For instance, the USNS Howard O. Lorenzen missile observation ship can track over 1,000 targets simultaneously.
Although the U.S. frequently conducts missile defense tests, most are simulations. Even in actual interception tests, only one or two dedicated rocket target missiles are used to simulate enemy attacks. Ballistic missiles are extremely costly, making them one of the most expensive weapon systems today.
Rockets with relatively limited performance can only roughly simulate the flight trajectory of target missiles. In contrast, to test the detection capabilities of its new dual-band radar, the PLA launched 16 ballistic missiles simultaneously during an interception test. The cost of deploying such a staggering number of ballistic missiles in a non-combat test mission is exceptionally high.
The report cited sources stating that this new radar system not only enables early detection but also precisely measures the trajectory of incoming missiles and accurately predicts the impact points of warheads. This capability is particularly useful for intercepting hypersonic glide vehicles and multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs) equipped with decoys.
The report further described that during the test, the radar continuously tracked and identified 31 decoys and secondary targets while accurately prioritizing seven high-value threats. “This represents a leap in anti-saturation attack capability.” In modern warfare, adversaries often use decoys and deception to overwhelm missile defense systems, rendering them ineffective. Thus, this precise tracking technology is crucial.
During Iran’s large-scale ballistic missile attack on Israel in October last year, Israel and the U.S. deployed advanced missile defense systems, including Arrow-2, Arrow-3, David’s Sling, MIM-104 Patriot, and THAAD. However, over 30 Iranian ballistic missiles still penetrated the defenses. U.S. media reported that the Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 systems, which incorporate American technology, struggled to prioritize threats effectively under saturation attacks.
In its recent missile defense test, China replicated scenarios similar to those faced by the U.S. and Israel. China’s missile defense system demonstrated the ability to track conventional ballistic missiles, accurately identify decoys released by warheads, and even counter electronic interference and other countermeasures during flight. It appears that China has found a breakthrough in anti-ballistic missile systems.
