Chinese-made HQ-16, HQ-17AE, QW-2 and FN-6 Air defence batteries have been activated in parts of Tehran, according to Iran’s Nour News and Mehr news agency.
Iran’s Nour News and Mehr news agency have reported that air defence batteries had been activated in parts of Tehran, without giving details on the cause or reporting any incidents.
Since the beginning of the ceasefire, China has accelerated the delivery of air defence systems to Iran using its Y-20 transport aircraft. For the past few weeks, Chinese Y-20 transport aircraft have been delivering weapon systems to the IRGC four times per day.
The QW-2 MANPAD system is an improved version of the short-range FN-6 MANPAD, designed to engage targets flying at higher speeds and at lower altitudes using a proximity detonator. The FN-6 is a third-generation, passive infrared seeker man-portable air defence system (MANPADS) based on the Soviet-era man-portable Verba missile.
The HQ-16 is a 40 km-range surface-to-air missile with a semi-active radar-homing seeker, designed to target aircraft, drones, and cruise missiles using a proximity-fuse interceptor. The HQ-16 has inherited the same accuracy problem as Russia’s original Buk missile, which China reverse-engineered.
HQ-17AE has been exported to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Iran, but it has been proven inaccurate, according to the Royal Saudi Army.
Although there are accuracy issues with Chinese-made HQ-16, HQ-17AE, QW-2 and FN-6 Air defence batteries, they remain a cheap alternative capability that can deter attacking aircraft with multiple shots at the same target, compared to a single-shot qualitative engagement using high-tech EU and American technology.
Israel awaiting US green light to ‘return Iran to Stone Age’: Minister
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says Israel is “prepared to resume the war against Iran”, adding that his country is awaiting a green light from the United States to return the country to “the Stone Age”.
“The [Israeli military] is ready both defensively and offensively, and the targets have been marked,” Katz said in a video statement.
“We are awaiting a green light from the United States – first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty … and additionally to return Iran to the Dark Age and the Stone Age by destroying key energy and electricity facilities and dismantling its national economic infrastructure,” he added.
When the attack resumes, “it will be different and lethal”, Katz also threatened.
Plans for renewed negotiations for the US-Israel war on Iran continue to hang in the balance, despite mediator Pakistan’s efforts. The war has engulfed the region, killing several thousand people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and destabilising the global economy.
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