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in the 35th anniversary military parade of the founding of the people's republic of china in 1984, the domestically produced hongqi-2 air defense missile made its first public appearance and was reviewed by the party and the people with a mighty attitude. this was also the first public appearance of the chinese air defense missile force - in fact, the hongqi-2 has been in service for nearly 20 years. this shows china’s “treasure” and “love” for hongqi 2. hongqi-1 and 2 anti-aircraft missiles are our meritorious missiles and have made great achievements in homeland air defense operations. the most famous result is the multiple shooting down of us-vietnamese fighter jets. as the most advanced high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft in the united states at that time, only 7 aircraft were lost in total, and we shot down 5 of them, which frightened the other side.

hongqi 1 and hongqi 2 air defense missiles have a strong inheritance relationship. hongqi 1 is an imitation of the soviet s-75 air defense missile, while hongqi 2 is based on a thorough understanding of the s-75. china has improved it on its own, and its performance exceeds the original product of the soviet union became the beginning of china's independent development of air defense missiles.

(in 1984, during the 35th national day military parade, the domestically produced hongqi-2 air defense missile made its first public appearance)

from s-75 to red flag 1

in the late 1950s, taiwan, with the support of the united states, frequently dispatched high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft to conduct reconnaissance and harassment on the mainland. in order to deal with these high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, we decided to introduce soviet s-75 anti-aircraft missiles (natocalled sa-2) using the introduced s-75 air defense missiles, we formed the first batch of air defense missile units, including the heroic unit - the second air defense missile battalion, which later shot down u-2 reconnaissance aircraft many times.

(the prototype of the hongqi-2 anti-aircraft missile-soviet s-75 anti-aircraft missile)

according to relevant information, the s-75 anti-aircraft missile has a length of 10.6 meters, a body diameter of 0.5 meters, a liquid rocket engine, a solid rocket booster, a maximum speed of m3.5, a launch weight of 2,200 kilograms, and a range of 30 kilometers. it adopts a tilted launcher and is guided by radio commands throughout the entire process. the warhead weighs 195 kilograms and has a killing radius of 65 meters.

on october 7, 1959, the second battalion used s-75 anti-aircraft missiles in the beijing area to successfully shoot down a taiwanese rb-57d high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. this was the first actual combat and the first result of an anti-aircraft missile in the history of war. in 1962, the second battalion successfully shot down the u.s.'s most advanced u-2 reconnaissance aircraft at the time. after that, it moved to the north and the south and shot down two u-2s in succession. for a time, taiwan's u-2 reconnaissance aircraft did not dare to conduct reconnaissance on the mainland.

since we have only introduced a total of more than 50 s-75 anti-aircraft missiles, it is a drop in the bucket in the face of a vast country. therefore, we decided to develop a domestic air defense missile based on the s-75 air defense missile. this is the hongqi 1 air defense missile. the hongqi 1 anti-aircraft missile is a replica of the s-75 anti-aircraft missile. the first batch of prototype missiles were trial-produced in 1961. the design was finalized and equipped with troops in 1965. that year, the 1st air defense missile battalion used a hongqi 1 air defense missile to successfully shoot down an incoming taiwan u-2 reconnaissance aircraft, setting a record for the first domestically produced air defense missile to shoot down.

(the united states lost only 7 u-2 reconnaissance aircraft, and we shot down 5 of them)

the performance of hongqi 2 has been greatly improved

although the u-2 reconnaissance aircraft was hit repeatedly, taiwan was unwilling to fail and installed a radar warning and jamming system for the u-2. the hongqi 1 air defense missile exposed the shortcomings of poor anti-jamming capabilities in the face of these electronic warfare systems, so we decided to improve and upgrade the hongqi 1 air defense missile. this is the hongqi 2 air defense missile. the hongqi 2 air defense missile focuses on improving its anti-electronic interference capabilities. it was designed and finalized in 1966 and equipped with troops. in 1967, a u-2 reconnaissance aircraft from taiwan invaded east china. our 14th air defense missile battalion used the anti-electronic interference capability of the hongqi-2 air defense missile to successfully counter the opponent's interference and shoot it down. after this battle, taiwan and the united states gave in and had to admit that it was difficult for u-2 reconnaissance aircraft to enter the sky over the mainland, and gradually stopped reconnaissance and harassment of deep areas of the mainland. after that, the u.s. air force used the bqm-34 firebee unmanned reconnaissance aircraft to conduct reconnaissance against china. the chinese air force's air defense missiles gave it a head-on attack and shot down three bqm-34 unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, forcing the u.s. air force to give up its aerial reconnaissance against china again.

(domestic hongqi 2 air defense missile)

hongqi 2 gets major upgrade after serving for 20 years

after the baptism of combat, the excellent performance of the hongqi 2 air defense missile was also recognized and became the backbone equipment of the chinese air force air defense missile force. since then, the chinese air force and related units have continuously improved and upgraded the hongqi 2 air defense missiles based on the development of foreign air threats. first, in response to the trend of improving low-altitude penetration capabilities of foreign combat aircraft, the hongqi 2a was developed. the hongqi-2a has increased its range, compressed the near and low boundaries of the launch envelope, has the ability to attack vertical mobile targets, and further enhanced its anti-interference ability. in 1984, the design of the hongqi-2a air defense missile was finalized and equipped with troops.

during the vietnam war, the u.s. air force specially developed the wild weasel air defense suppression aircraft for air defense missile systems, using a combination of soft and hard means to suppress ground air defense missile systems. therefore, we decided to continue to upgrade the hongqi-2 air defense missile. this is the hongqi-2b air defense missile. the hongqi-2b air defense missile has undergone comprehensive improvements and upgrades to the missile, radar and guidance station. the missile uses new components, equipment, improved engines, fuzes and warheads, and its launch envelope is further expanded. the radio commands use coded commands to improve anti-jamming capabilities. the ground guidance radar adds anti-jamming means and a tv tracking system to attack high-speed, mobile targets with jamming transmitters. the development of the hongqi-2b air defense missile began in 1977, and the design was finalized and installed in the army in 1986.

(in 1987, a domestically produced hongqi-2 air defense missile shot down an incoming mig-21r reconnaissance aircraft)

red flag 2 beats up vietnamese plane

during the battle between the two mountains in the 1980s, the chinese air force's air defense missile force entered the frontline battle and was responsible for the air security of the frontline troops. on march 28, 1984, a mig-21r reconnaissance aircraft of the vietnamese air force was conducting cross-border reconnaissance. the 50th air defense missile battalion of the chinese air force fired a hongqi-2 anti-aircraft missile and seriously injured it. later, it was learned that the aircraft reluctantly returned to the airport and was scrapped. in october 1987, another mig-21r reconnaissance aircraft of the vietnamese air force conducted cross-border reconnaissance. the 97th air defense missile battalion of the chinese air force launched a hongqi-2 air defense missile and successfully shot it down. the pilot, captain chen zun, parachuted and was captured. this was also the air defense missile of the chinese air force. the last actual battle so far.

(changephased array radarhongqi 2 air defense missile guidance station)

red flag 2 veterans are immortal

since the 1980s, the third generation of foreign missiles have been put into service in large quantities, and it has been difficult for domestically produced hongqi-2 air defense missiles to attack these targets. our focus is on the development of the domestically produced hongqi-9 medium- and long-range air defense missiles. as a transition before the new missile matures, relevant units have used the latest domestic technological achievements to improve the hongqi-2 missile. for example, the guidance radar has been replaced with a new domestic phased array radar. the detection range, anti-interference ability, and multi-target interception capabilities have been greatly improved. the new radar can simultaneously guide four missiles to intercept two incoming air targets. it is the first domestically produced air defense missile with multi-target interception capabilities.

however, the hongqi-2 air defense missile was born out of the s-75 air defense missile. the latter was designed by the soviet union in the 1950s. its potential has been tapped to the limit and it is difficult to continue to improve. therefore, after the new century,hongqi-9 anti-aircraft missileafter being installed, the hongqi-2 air defense missile gradually withdrew from the combat sequence and retired with success.

(domestic m7 tactical ballistic missile, it is another continuation of red flag 2)

of course, the story of the hongqi-2 air defense missile is not over. based on the hongqi-2 air defense missile, we developed the m7 tactical ballistic missile to attack ground targets. since the missile is modified from an old missile, it has low cost and high cost-effectiveness, so it has been recognized by foreign customers. countries such as iran and türkiye have introduced this kind of missile and production technology and achieved localization. there is news that some have even participated in actual combat operations, becoming another continuation of the hongqi-2 air defense missile.