HQ-19 Missile System: On 6 June 2025, the Government of Pakistan shared the information on its official X (East Twitter) account and said that a major defense agreement has been signed with China under the leadership of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Under this agreement, China has offered to provide HQ-19 long range air defense missile system to Pakistan. This deal can not only increase Pakistan’s military strength manifold but can also affect the strategic balance in South Asia.
What is HQ-19?
HQ-19 is an anti-ballistic missile interceptor system developed by China’s Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. This system is considered the same as the US’s THAAD system and is designed to kill ballistic missiles of intermediate range intermediate range in mid-curves and terminal phase. The HQ-19 has a hit-to-3 technology in which radar and infrared guidance together destroy the enemy’s missile in the air.
Its access is considered to be more than 1,000 kilometers and the interception capacity is considered above 200 kilometers. This system can help Pakistan deal with dangers like India’s Agni missile series and BrahMos cruise missile.
Why is this deal important?
If HQ-19 is posted in Pakistan, this will be the first time that China will export this missile defense system. This shows that China is now ready to give state -of -the -art strategic technology to its close partners. This will strengthen Pakistan’s strategic second-stroke capacity. In the last few years, Pakistan has bought several high-tech weapons systems from China, including J-10C fighter jets, wing loong drones, VT-4 tanks, FN-6 missiles and TYPE-054A/P frigates.
India’s response
India already has the S-400 triumph system taken from Russia which is a multi-layer air defense system. It can target aircraft, drones and missiles simultaneously. But the S-400 ballistic missile interception capacity cannot work at height and distance like HQ-19. In such a situation, the deployment of HQ-19 can challenge the missile defense power balance in South Asia. It can force India to reconsider its missile defense policy.
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Stays in the air for 72 hours, a dangerous attack on the enemy, knowing about this weapon technology, enemies will fly away