China flexes military muscles with rare, large-scale missile test in Gobi Desert

Unprecedented scale of test signals Beijing’s growing confidence in its capacity to counter advanced threats and project dominance

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Chinese military scientists have detailed the results of testing a cutting-edge radar system, with 16 ballistic missiles fired in a single, very expensive exercise. Photo: CCTV

Published: 10:00pm, 5 Apr 2025Updated: 4:05pm, 9 Apr 2025

In a quiet demonstration of its technological prowess, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has conducted a missile defence test in the Gobi Desert where as many as 16 ballistic missiles were fired on a single target to test a cutting-edge radar system’s ability to thwart saturation attacks.

The unprecedented scale of the test – rare even among global military powers – signals Beijing’s growing confidence in its capacity to counter advanced threats and project dominance in an increasingly tense geopolitical landscape.

According to a paper published on February 18, all missiles were successfully detected and tracked by a new dual-band (S/X) phased array radar system, before hitting the target with 100 per cent success.

The system achieved what the Chinese military scientists described as “early detection, precision measurement and accurate reporting” – critical metrics for neutralising advanced threats like hypersonic glide vehicles or missiles armed with decoys and multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs).

The test, detailed in Flight Control & Detection, a Chinese-language journal, marks the first public disclosure of China’s land-based early warning radar capabilities.

Its dual-band technology – similar to the US Navy’s USNS Howard O. Lorenzen missile-tracking ship – combines wide-area surveillance (S-band) with high-resolution targeting (X-band).

While the Lorenzen is hailed for its unmatched capability, with the potential to track more than 1,000 targets simultaneously, the United States has never publicly demonstrated its performance under live-fire conditions.

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China flexes military muscles with rare, large-scale missile test in Gobi Desert

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Unprecedented scale of test signals Beijing’s growing confidence in its capacity to counter advanced threats and project dominance

Unprecedented scale of test signals Beijing’s growing confidence in its capacity to counter advanced threats and project dominance