Image source: topwar.ru
Recently it became known that China is negotiating the sale of its SY-400 short-range ballistic missile system to Algeria. This is not the first time that a North African state has turned to China to buy weapons.
Although Algeria has been a buyer of Russian weapons for many years, Beijing sometimes manages to successfully sell its systems. For example, just this year Algeria purchased five CH-5 reconnaissance and strike drones from China, as well as a 120-mm Chinese self-propelled mortar. Earlier, in 2020, Algeria acquired Chinese Red Arrow-12 anti-tank systems, also known as HJ-12. In 2018, China sold five CH-3s and five CH-4s to the North African country.
Given all this, the probability of a contract for the purchase of Chinese missile systems by Algeria is quite high. The SY-400 is the last developed modification of the Weishi missiles, the development and mass production of which began in the 1980s.
The SY-400 can carry either two BP-12A missiles with a range of 400 km, or 12 three-hundred-millimeter PHL-03 missiles. The system was first introduced in 2018, and China has defined it as a high-precision system with a short range. We can say that the SY-400 is to some extent a competitor to the Russian Iskander-M system, as a cheaper alternative.
The SY-400 is very easy to maintain when it is in the arsenal and not in use. Unlike other similar ballistic missile systems, missile containers are installed directly on the chassis, and missiles can stay in them for years. BP-12A and PHL-03 missiles can use different types of combat units. SY-400 produces vertical launches.
Missile guidance technology in the ballistic missile system — GPS/INS. The rocket uses a low rate of descent to increase the flight range. Multiple missiles can be aimed at different targets. SY-400 ammunition has four control surfaces and a stabilization tail.
The system of the described ballistic missiles is mounted on the Wanshan 8x8 chassis. According to the characteristics of such a chassis, it makes it easy to transport a ballistic system in hard-to-reach areas with different coatings.
As always, Western countries reacted very jealously to this news. After all, as for the sale of weapons. In this, as in many other things, Washington is trying to dominate. And in this case, the seller of weapons is China – a country that the White House, openly, has recently been called the main threat.
