As for airspace surveillance radars, there is one JL-3D-90A L-band 3-D airspace surveillance radar operated by the PLAAF at the Ganba La radar station southwest of Lhasa, plus another one north of Shigatse Airport. These are joined by three Army-operated YLC-2V 3-D S-band acquisition radars located around Ngari Airport, Qamdo Bangda Airport, and at PLA SIGINT Stations north of Bum La.
The PLAAF’s Air-Defence Reporting Centre for monitoring TAR’s air-defence identification zone (ADIZ) is located at Ganba La.
the PLAAF will also begin making use of dual-use airports immediately north of Arunachal Pradesh, these being Qamdo and Linzhi.
The most notable among them being the introduction of a solitary KJ-500 turboprop-powered airborne early warning and control (AEW & C) platform of the PLA Air Force (PLAAF),
plus the deployment of LY-80 MR-SAMs in place of the HQ-12 ADK-12 KS-1D MR-SAMs, and lastly, the air-dropping of a Regiment of ZBD-03 airborne infantry combat vehicles (ICV) along with ‘Pathfinder’ elements drawn from the PLAAF’s XV Airborne Corps at two distinct locations: at the base of the Kunlun mountain range under XMD’s jurisdiction, and at a firing range southeast of Lhasa but north of the Yarlong Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) River.
LY 80 launcher unit ground air defence missile system China Chinese army defence industry
The HQ-16A is able to engage aerial targets at high altitude; the mid-range HQ-16 is also able to intercept very low-flying targets at a distance of up to about 40 kilometers, filling the gap between the HQ-7 short-range SAM and the HQ-9 long-range SAM systems.
The HQ-16A missile can hit targets of an altitude from 400 to 10,000 meters.
PLAAF has since 2010 been deploying Su-27SK/Su-27UBK/J-11A heavy-MRCAs belonging to the Shizuishan-based 6th Air Division’s 16th Air Regiment, and J-10A MMRCAs from the Mengzi-based 44th Air Division’s 131st Air Regiment (based in Luliang) out to the dual-use airports at Lhasa Gonggar (facing Sikkim and northern West Bengal) and Ngari (facing Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir, plus Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand)
These used to be accompanied by corresponding deployments of the HQ-12 ADK-12 KS-1D MR-SAMs of the PLAAF’s Chengdu-based 11th Anti-Air Artillery Brigade (Unit 95607), which has three Regiments — 21st, 22nd and 23rd — equipped with the
HQ-64/LY-60D E-SHORADS, and HQ-12 ADK-12 KS-1D MR-SAMs. The latter were routinely deployed at fixed launch-sites located at Lhasa Gonggar and the dual-use Shigatse Airport until now.
The air defense system HQ-64 ( export name LY-60)
- Range(PL-10) AA : 60 km
- Range (LY-60)
- Normal: 30 meters - 12000 meters
- Slant: 10 meters - 18000 meters
- Guidance Semi-Active Radar Homing
651st Independent Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade, based at Nyingchi, began taking over from the HQ-12 ADK-12 KS-1Ds of the 11th Anti-Air Artillery Brigade’s 22nd Regiment.
The 651st comprises a regiment of LY-80 70km-range MR-SAMs (containing 16 TELs each loaded with six MR-SAM vertical launch-cells), a Regiment of 18 tracked PGZ-04As (each armed with four FN-6 VSHORADS launchers missiles and four 25mm cannons),
a Regiment of FM-90 SHORADS, and a composite battalion that has 108 FN-6 VSHORADS/MANPADS launchers, 24 Type 73 towed 37mm anti-aircraft guns and 18 towed twin 35mm PG-99 ‘Giant Bow’ anti-aircraft guns.
Also included are
LIMAN ground-based jammers, JY-27A VHF-band anti-PGM volume-search radars as part of the LY-80 MR-SAM regiment, YLC-18 S-band 3-D acquisition radars for the FM-90s (now replacing the older LSS-1/Type 120 L-band 2-D low-altitude acquisition radars), YLC-6 S-band 2-D low-level air-defence radars for the FN-6s, Type 73s and PG-99s. For airspace surveillance, there is one JL-3D-90A S-band 3-D radar operated by the PLAAF at the Ganba La radar station southwest of Lhasa, plus another one north of Shigatse Airport.
These are joined by three Army-operated YLC-2V 3-D S-band acquisition radars located around Ngari Airport and Qamdo Bangda Airport, and these are supported by SIGINT stations located in an arc stretching from the Depsang Bulge in Ladakh all the way up to Walong in Arunachal Pradesh. The PLAAF’s Air-Defence Reporting Centre for monitoring the TMD’s air-defence identification zone (ADIZ) is located at Ganba La. A new radar station was commissioned in June 2016 in the western Sichuan plateau at an altitude of 3,996 metres.
