August 4, 2025: Last month Iran received Chinese HQ9B air defense systems. These restored the Iranian losses to recent Israeli airstrikes that wiped out most of their air defenses. That led to an unofficial truce between Israel and Iran.

It is essential that China restore Iranian air defenses because China is dependent on Iranian oil to keep their economy going. China is being paid for the HQ9B purchase with Iranian oil.

China has sold HQ-9 and HQ-16 systems to Pakistan and, possibly, Egypt.

Four years ago in northwest India’s Ladakh State, Chinese forces refused to slow their agreed withdrawal from disputed Ladakh territory. Instead, they quietly sent in HQ9 air defense systems. HQ9 is roughly comparable to the American Patriot system but based on tech China stole from Russia and the United States. Introduced in the late 199s, HQ9 has undergone several updates and is now used on warships as well.

China was building an integrated air defense system to protect China against ballistic and cruise missiles. The current backbone of the Chinese system is the Russian SA-10B, supported by the longer-ranged SA-10C and the mobile SA-15. The Chinese also deployed HQ9 missiles on ships. China is also building an anti-radiation version of the HQ9 with a range of 100 kilometers to engage AWACS planes. A second anti-AWACS missile, the 1970s CSA-1 with a range of 80 kilometers was never adopted by China or anyone else.

Nineteen years ago, Chinese military publications described the best way to deal with U.S. air power is with modern Surface -to- Air/SAM missiles. It was noted that Yugoslavia in 1999, and Iraq in 1991 and 2003, would have done better if they had invested more in such systems. Practicing what they preach, China not only purchased dozens of Russian S-300/SA-10 launchers, and hundreds of missiles, but licensed Russian missile technology for their own HQ9 and HQ16 SAM. The HQ9 is deployed on land, and in ships. HQ9 is supposed to have a max range of 100 kilometers, weigh 1.3 tons and have a passive/no broadcasting seeker in the missile. The HQ16 is also apparently developed with Russian help, and is more advanced than the Russian S-300 system. The Chinese believed they had enough state-of-the-art SAMs to deter or destroy the USAF. The Americans kept quiet about all this, if only because for the Chinese strategy to work, U.S. Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses/ SEAD weapons will have to be rendered less effective

If China could obtain enough information about U.S. SEAD systems, Chinese air defense would be formidable and able to severely damage any American attacking force. However, you usually won't know how well prepared the Chinese are until there's an actual war. It is, after all, a question of, who knows what? Plus, in China’s case, whether the weapons were produced according to specifications or are defective due to corruption.