New missile can serve all-purpose role in air defense, designer says

Any nation seeking an effective, reliable and affordable air-defense weapon would be wise to consider a Chinese missile system capable of intercepting all types of air threats, a senior missile designer said.

The designer at China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp’s Second Academy, who asked to be identified as Wang, said the FM-3000 mediumrange air-defense missile system is able to detect and bring down all air threats including fighter jets, helicopters, combat drones and cruise missiles that enter its defense perimeter.

“The FM-3000 is the best of its kind in the international market in terms of overall capabilities. The model is stronger than its rivals in the market and has a competitive price. It has been recognized in the market, and several countries have expressed strong interest in it,” Wang said.

CASIC is China’s largest missile-maker, and its Second Academy is the nation’s major developer of air-defense systems.

Wang said the FM-3000 is particularly suitable for defense against precision guided munitions such as airto-ground tactical missiles and laser-guided bombs, adding that it’s an ideal weapon for safeguarding strategically important regions such as national capitals or places with key assets.

“Armed conflicts in recent years show that precision guided munitions have become the main threat to defense, which underscores the necessity of a mobile, capable and reliable air-defense system like our FM-3000,” he said.

First shown to the public at the 10th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, in 2014, the FM-3000 has been taken to several domestic and international arms shows. It was recently displayed at the Fifth International Exhibition of Weapons Systems and Military Equipment in Astana, Kazakhstan, in late May.

According to the Second Academy, each FM-3000 unit consists of four launch vehicles. Each vehicle carries eight missiles. An FM-3000 missile has a range of more than 30 kilometers.

The system features a host of advanced technologies, such as a three-dimensional rotary phased array radar, Wang said, explaining that the multifunctional radar is capable of not only scanning 360 degrees but also tracking targets and then guiding missiles to their targets.

Thanks to the missile’s ability to turn quickly, as well as its active guidance technology, anti-jamming capability and its radar’s rapid-response capacity, each combat unit can handle 32 incoming targets from different directions within a short time.

Moreover, because each launch vehicle has all the equipment needed in an airdefense operation and has its own electrical power apparatus, it can operate independently or work with other vehicles to form a network, giving flexibility in deployment, Wang said.

The designer said engineers at the Second Academy continue to improve and upgrade the FM-3000, and the missile’s test firings delivered “good results”.

Wang Yanan, editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said China has developed a large family of advanced air-defense missiles and has put them into the international market, enabling potential users to establish a powerful air-defense system.