" THAAD ", its full name is "Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (English: Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, abbreviation: THAAD, "THAAD" is the transliteration of the English abbreviation), which is the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and The land-based theater anti-missile system under the U.S. Army is generally referred to as the THAAD anti-missile system. The contractors of the "THAAD" system are Lockheed Martin , Boeing , Raytheon . A "THAAD" system usually consists of a command vehicle, fire control radar , 6 8-unit launchers and 48 interceptor missiles. Its technical and tactical performance has many unique characteristics. Germany's awareness began in July 2016.
On July 8, 2016, the United States and South Korea officially announced that they would deploy the "THAAD" anti-missile system in South Korea. This move caused great controversy in South Korea and strong dissatisfaction among countries in the region. China. On the 17th of the same month, the Naval Air Force organized 12 types of aircraft and 41 fighter aircraft to carry out sea-to-ground strike exercises in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. This is the first time that China has held a large-scale military exercise near the Yellow Sea. , its pertinence is self-evident.
Why did the Chinese military respond so fiercely?
In the final analysis, the core of lies in THAAD's powerful "offensive and defensive combat capabilities" (interception capabilities). It is known as the largest and most powerful land-based mobile radar in the world - X-band radar. The US military claims that its detection range is 500 kilometers. Since the detection range of radar is closely related to the radar cross-sectional area of the target, this type of radar. The radar's detection range for mid-range and intercontinental missiles in the ascending stage of the projectile that has not yet separated should be more than 2,000 kilometers. This type of radar can detect stealth targets with a small radar cross-section at a distance of 870 kilometers, so it has considerable anti-stealth capabilities. Type fighter capabilities. The narrow beam used by this type of radar can accurately assess the expected location of the target warhead at a distance of about 580 kilometers and identify false warheads. In other words, once South Korea deploys THAAD, China's missile will be launched. There are no secrets at all. Everything is under the control of the US military, which has greatly improved its ability to intercept Chinese missiles. In the face of the strict "Shield" (THAAD), China's "Spear" (missile) has lost its power. The violent reaction of the Chinese military is understandable.
And the reaction of the Chinese people made the people even more sensitive - just because South Korea's Lotte Group agreed to the South Korean government's deployment of THAAD in its golf courses , Lotte Mart supermarkets all over China quickly disappeared.
The then South Korean President Park Geun-hye originally had a large number of fans in China and was very popular among the Chinese people. However, she was "banished into limbo" because of this incident.
After Moon Jae-in came to power, in order to ease relations with China, he made "three no's" commitments to the THAAD system: South Korea is adding a "THAAD" system, joining the US anti-missile system, and developing South Korea. The US-Japan trilateral military alliance understands China's concerns and is committed to resolving relevant issues through consultations.
This makes the THAAD system in a "temporary deployment" state throughout Moon Jae-in's five-year term. Coupled with Moon Jae-in's "anti-Japanese" campaign, the relationship between China and South Korea has become closer in the past five years.
After leaving office, Moon Jae-in is a rare politician in South Korea in recent years
In May of this year, after the "pro-American and harmonious Japan" Yin Xiyue came to power, he made it clear that he would restart the deployment of THAAD, and began it in June He believes that "the deployment of THAAD is within the scope of South Korea's sovereignty, and China considers it a provocation and unacceptable." The restart of THAAD is a certainty.
However, unexpectedly, this time China’s official and private response was lukewarm.
Interestingly, China's "indifferent" attitude has attracted great attention from South Korea. Some experts have even analyzed the reasons. They believe that the reason for China's indifference is:
First of all, during the Park Geun-hye period, "THAAD" never existed. Arrive; and what Yin Xiyue wants to do is to go from being to deepening. The nature and severity of the two are different. China does not need to treat Yin Xiyue as hard as it treats Park Geun-hye.
Secondly, South Korea believes that now South Korea's status has been unprecedentedly highlighted, and its importance to the United States, China, the United States, Japan and South Korea, and even the entire Northeast Asia pattern has been greatly increased than in the past. Therefore, China is wary of the bargaining chip in South Korea's hands.
Is this really the case? Obviously not!
The real reason is that China’s defense technology has greatly improved in the past six years. High-end weapons that can not only break through THAAD but also destroy THAAD are constantly in service. Representatives include the hypersonic land-based missile DF-17 and the sea-based YJ-21 launched from the 055 large drive. Hypersonic speed makes it very difficult for THAAD to intercept, not to mention that both DF-17 and YJ-21 have the ability to change orbits, which means that not only do they fly extremely fast, but their flight trajectories cannot be known through calculation. I don’t even know the trajectory, so I’m just “confusing” to intercept the missile.
Both DF-17 and YJ-21 can make the US military's Aegis anti-missile system and THAAD anti-missile system useless.
The DF-17 missile displayed at the 70th anniversary military parade in 2019
Of course, the YJ-21 is an anti-ship missile, targeting maritime targets, but as we all know, for the same weapon, the sea-based version is more technically advanced than the land-based version It's much more complicated. We are very mature for sea-based, let alone land-based?
Screenshot of the video of the 055 destroyer launching the YJ-21 released by the Navy
However, the United States has repeatedly failed in the development of the hypersonic missile . Just past June 29, the United States failed to launch a hypersonic missile in Hawaii. This is the second consecutive test failure of this type of missile. The United States has experienced many failures in the test firing of the hypersonic weapon , which makes the US military unable to hold its head high in front of the DF-17 and YJ-21.
During the Shangri-La Summit in June this year, China's Defense Minister publicly announced that "all equipment participating in the 2019 National Day military parade has been commissioned into the army." This naturally includes the publicly displayed DF-17 hypersonic missile.
We will never forget a Chinese hypersonic weapon test that has been constantly hyped in the West since August last year:
"China tested a hypersonic weapon in August, but what is different from the past is that this missile entered first After the orbit, it will 'circle the earth' and then return to the atmosphere for 'hypersonic gliding' "
The British "Financial Times" hyped China's "test launch of a mysterious hypersonic missile"
The more powerful it is, the calmer and peaceful it is. . As is the case with people, so is the country.
