HQ-2 Surface-to-Air Missile
Last updated: 12 April 2008
The HQ-2 (HongQi-2, HongQi = “Red Flag”) is a long-range, medium- to high-altitude surface-to-air missile (SAM) developed from the HQ-1, a Chinese copy of the Soviet Almaz S-75 (NATO codename: SA-2 Guideline). The HQ-2 remained the sole weapon system in service with the PLA SAM forces to protect China’s key targets before the early 1990s. The PLA has been trying to find a successor to the forty-year-old weapon system but all attempts to develop an indigenous SAM have been unsuccessful so far. As a result, the PLA was forced to continue upgrading the HQ-2 with new technologies to extend its service life into the 21st century.
The S-75 (SA-2 Guideline) surface-to-air missile entered Soviet service in 1956. The PLA received a limited number of Soviet-made S-75 missile in early 1960 to arm its first two SAM battalions. On 8 October 1960, one of the SAM battalions used the S-75 missile to shoot down a U.S.-made RB-57D spy plane operated by the Taiwanese air force—the first ever example of using SAM to shoot down a plane in the world. In the next four years, the PLA SAM units shot down another three U.S.-made U-2 spy planes operated by the Taiwanese air force using the S-75 SAM.
While the S-75 SAM began to enter PLA service, a licensed production of the missile in China was also agreed. However, Moscow suspended all of its assistance to China and called back its advisers before the production could begin. The First Ministry of Machinery Industry and 5th Research Academy of Ministry of Defence took the lead in the reverse-engineering of the missile, and the first Chinese-built S-75 missile designated HQ-1 rolled out in 1964. By the mid-1960s, the S-75 and indigenous HQ-1 could no longer shoot down the U-2 after the U.S. added active jamming devices to its reconnaissance aircraft. The PLA urgently needed a SAM with strong electronic countermeasures capabilities.
In 1965 the PLA began to develop an improved SAM based on the HQ-1. 2nd Space Academy (now China Academy of Defence Technology, CADT) was responsible for the general system design, with 139 Factory and 786 Factory in charge of missile and ground station respectively. The main design targets were to improve the missile’s accuracy and resistance to enemy electronic jamming, as well as to increase the missile’s operational zone. The new SAM, which was designated HQ-2, passed its certification test in 1966. Since then, the HQ-2 has been produced in mass numbers for the PLA to protect China’s major cities, military bases, and industrial complexes. The PLA has also introduced a number of improved variants including the HQ-2A and HQ-2B in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
On 8 September 1967, the PLA air defence troops fired three SAM (two HQ-2s and one HQ-1) at a Taiwanese-flown U-2 spy plane, and one of the HQ-2 missiles hit the target despite the plane’s use of electronic jamming. The latest score of the HQ-2 SAM took place on 5 October 1987, when the PLA air defence troops shot down a Vietnamese Air Force MiG-21R (Fishebed-H) reconnaissance plane using the HQ-2 SAM near the China-Vietnamese border.
In 1984, the PLA conducted a series of HQ-2 tests against the Tuqiang-3 guided target missile. According to reports, the HQ-2 and the Tuqiang-3 were launched approximately 100km apart and the HQ-2 SAMs were fired in “salvo shots” of two to three missiles per Tuqiang-3. Four out of five target missiles were shot down. In more tests the following year, the HQ-2 shot down seven out of eleven guided targets. In light of these two tests, the PLA expanded the HQ-2’s role to include anti-missile functions.
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| A HQ-2 SAM mounted on the fixed launcher in ready to fire mode (Source: Chinese Internet) |
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| A basic HQ-2 SAM unit includes six launchers and a guidance station (Source: Chinese Internet) |
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| The target illumination radar of the HQ-2 SAM system (Source: Chinese Internet) |
Design
The HQ-2 is a large two-stage missile designed to intercept high-altitude targets like strategic bombers and spy planes. Its radar guidance guarantees a single-shot hit probability of 68%, but according to the American's experience in the Vietnam War, this ratio drops sharply when the missile is used in a strong electronic jamming environment. The improved HQ-2B is said to have much improved capability against various active and passive jamming.
The second-stage of the HQ-2 missile is a large liquid rocket, which makes it inconvenient to be maintained and transported. Each missile is carried by a semi-trailer towed by a 6x6 truck, and needs to be loaded onto a fixed launcher before firing. The loading usually takes about 5 minutes but this really depends on the training and experience of missile operators.
The basic operational unit of the HQ-2 SAM is battalion, each including six fixed launchers, 18 spare missiles, early-warning radar, target illuminating radar (ground guidance station) and support units (command, power, communications, etc.)
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| The HQ-2 uses a liquid-propellant rocket motor in its first-stage, which requires complex and dangerous fueling operation before launch (Source: Chinese Internet) |
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| The HQ-2 missile is transported on a two-wheel semi-trailer towed by a 6X6 truck (Source: Chinese Internet) |
HQ-2A
The modifications on the HQ-2 SAM began in 1973 to enhance the missile's low altitude target engaging and electronic countermeasure capabilities based on the experience of the Vietnam War. The firing tests of the HQ-2A were undertaken between 1978 and 1982, and the final design certification for batch production was issued in June 1984. The 144 modifications on the HQ-2A include increasing the horizontal firing angle to ±75° from the original ±55°; increasing the speed to 1,200 m/s from the original 1,150 m/s; increasing the G limit to 1.5G from the original 1G; adding optical/TV guidance system and improving the missile's electronic countermeasure capability.
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