SAST HQ-16B - Piercing through the skies

Surbaissemaxxing · October 14, 2025, 4:46pm

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Suggestion No.103

G’day lads. I want to suggest a capable Chinese anti air missile system, that being the HQ-16B with 70km range :)

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Description:

Spoiler

The HQ-16B is a Chinese medium range SAM system developed as an upgraded version of the earlier HQ-16 series. Produced by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), it is meant for the People’s Liberation Army as a mobile air defense platform made to intercept aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, and cruise missiles. Compared to the original HQ-16A, the HQ-16B offers improved range and engagement altitude, reaching targets up to about 70km away and at higher altitudes (20km). The missile uses solid fuel propulsion for rapid acceleration and employs a guidance system combining inertial navigation for the mid course phase with semi-active radar homing in the terminal stage. Its warhead is a high explosive fragmentation type triggered by a proximity or impact fuse.

History:

Spoiler

The HQ-16 family traces to a Chinese development effort that began around 2005 under the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, initially meant as a shipborne system and informed by study of earlier Russian Buk class designs. The naval variant (HHQ-16) was deployed aboard Type 054A frigates as those ships entered service from 2008, and the land-based HQ-16A followed into PLA service around 2011 as China modified the design for ground units.

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The system was further upgraded over the 2010s. Higher performance land and naval derivatives were revealed in open sources by 2016 (commonly identified as HQ-16B and HHQ-16B), with photographic releases documenting PLA units and production vehicles at that time, and the HQ-16 line continued to be updated thereafter with improved marks reported in open reporting as HQ-16C and a longer range HQ-16FE variant.

Parallel export versions were developed under the LY-80/LY-80N designations and were offered to foreign customers; Pakistan negotiated purchases in the mid-2010s and inducted LY-80 systems around 2017.

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Armaments:

Spoiler

1 TEL can carry up to 6 missiles. The B variant has an extended range of about 70 km thanks to a higher-performance solid rocket motor while retaining the same volume/launch weight for launcher compatibility, reduced cropped delta wing area to lower drag at higher speeds, strapdown inertial guidance with mid course command updates and dual mode terminal guidance (active for long/saturation engagements and semi active for medium/short ranges), proven interception of ultra-low sea skimming and low-altitude supersonic targets. The missiles should go up to 35G or so.

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For it’s radar, a truck carrying an passive phased array antenna PESA radar (?), which illuminates on the L-Band and has a range up to 85km. The system’s main radar can detect six targets, escort four of them simultaneously, and direct up to eight semi-active radar illuminators to provide terminal illumination for missiles.

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Specifications:

Spoiler

The system is mounted on a Taian TA5350, but sadly I cannot find any info about it (let alone the HQ-16B being on said truck), hence why I have to resort to using info of the TA5310. The truck has a length of 10.46m, a width of 2.20m and a height of 3.30m. It’s curb weight is around 15 tons, meanwhile it’s gross weight is around 31 tons. Powering it is a Deutz BF8L513LC engine, giving it 337hp and therefore making it go up to 80km/h.

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