China Created Amphibious Version of HQ-13 to Support Landing on Islands

China has developed an amphibious version of the HQ-13 anti-aircraft missile system for the Marines to support troops during island landings.

Japanese analyst Sugar Wsnbn, who published photos of the new vehicle, said that it is based on the Type 05 chassis.

The main idea of the project is to provide the marines of the People’s Liberation Army of China with their own mobile air defense system, which moves in a single formation with airborne infantry fighting vehicles and amphibious tanks.

The developers have retained the platform’s key technical advantage – the ability to glide through water at high speed.

The Type 05 amphibious vehicle switches to gliding mode on water, which dramatically increases speed and reduces the time spent under fire in the coastal zone.

This feature is important for airborne logistics and landing tactics, not least because the project was approved with the prospect of landing in Taiwan.

This is critical for air defense systems, as it makes it possible to accompany the landing wave without interrupting the maneuver, covering the convoy from attack UAVs or helicopters at low altitudes.

It is known that the export version of the HQ-13, the FB-10A, has a range of 1 to 17 km and a kill altitude of 20 to 7,500 meters.

To detect targets, the SAM combat vehicle is equipped with a radar station on a retractable mast.

The anti-aircraft guided missile has a combined guidance system: a radio command and thermal imaging homing system.

Earlier, this system was demonstrated on the Dongfeng Mengshi armored vehicle.

Other countries are also actively purchasing Chinese air defense systems. Recently, during a rehearsal for a military parade in Baku, the military demonstrated the Chinese FD-2000B (HQ-9B) anti-aircraft missile system for the first time.