The Chinese HongQi 64 SAM

The Chinese HongQi 64 SAM

The Aspide is an Italian medium range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile produced by Selenia (now part of the Alenia consortium). It is provided with semi-active radar-homing seeker.

In the mid 1980s, China imported a small batch of the Aspide Mk.1 from Italy, then signed an agreement with Alenia to produce the missile locally under license. In 1989, China produced its first batch of Aspide Mk.1 missiles using imported parts from Italy. However, due to the EU arms embargo imposed after the Tiananmen Square incident, China was unable to purchase additional Aspide kits. China subsequently developed its own version based on Aspide Mk.1, designated as LY-60.

The Chinese HongQi 64 SAM battery fire unit comprises one 4X4 truck-mounted surveillance radar, three 4X4 truck-mounted tracking/illumination radars, one emergency power supply vehicle, and six 6X6 truck-mounted transporter-launcher platforms. Each of the launch platform has five ready to launch missiles in individual sealed containers.