Washington: During India’s Operation Sindoor, the Chinese missiles used by the Pakistani military were soundly defeated for four consecutive days, according to a recent report.
Operation Sindoor was India’s targeted, non-escalatory, tri-service military operation carried out May 7-8, last year, in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, which resulted in the death of 26 people.
The military action dismantled key terrorist infrastructure and neutralised perpetrators in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
China has become a subject of international ridicule as its HQ-9B missiles, once touted as the best air defence system, have failed catastrophically in Pakistan, Venezuela and now Iran within a year. While China’s HQ-9B missiles and JY-27A radars impressed on military parades, in actual combat, they have proven ineffective, appearing “blind, deaf, and mute”, according to a report in American newspaper ‘The Hill’.
“Since May of last year, serious concerns have been raised about the HQ-9B’s inadequacy. In India’s Operation Sindoor against Pakistan, the Chinese missiles were soundly defeated for four consecutive days. They were unable to defend, destroy or track anything,” the report said.
Unlike the Chinese systems, India used a successful multi-layered air defence network during Operation Sindoor, primarily utilising the S-400 Triumf (named ‘Sudarshan’) for long-range, and the indigenous Akash missile system for medium-range threats.
The system successfully intercepted Pakistani aircraft, drones, and missiles.
According to ‘The Hill’, the HQ-9B, also known as Red Flag 9, is a “cheap copy” of the US Patriot missiles and the Russian S-300. In theory, the report mentioned that the HQ-9B have built-in radar systems to track and engage multiple targets simultaneously; however, in practice, “they have demonstrated the opposite”.
China’s JY-27 radar is a system “capable of identifying and scanning targets” between 280 and 390 kilometres away and “specialises in the early detection of fast, supersonic F-22 and F-35 fighter jets”, the report said.
“But in real combat, when Maduro was captured in Venezuela, the Chinese radars became a point of national humiliation and shame, failing to detect even one of the 150 aircraft that penetrated Venezuelan airspace,” it added.
According to the report, during US-launched Operation Epic Fury in Iran, resulting in deadly strikes killing Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some 49 high-ranking military officers, the Iranian defence system — including the Chinese HQ-9B missile system — failed.
“Chinese power failed miserably. The US has demonstrated technological capability and extraordinary military expertise. China’s propaganda is effective, but its military technology is not. A few years ago, countries like Egypt, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Iran spent billions on Chinese air defence systems; today, they regret it,” it mentioned.
“Events in Pakistan, Venezuela and Iran also give hope to Taiwan. China has lost credibility, and its arms race is no longer as formidable. Although Beijing is still a nuclear power, its combat technology and radars have already proven unreliable, vulnerable and of low quality when compared to those of the US,” it noted.
