Neither HQ-9, HQ-22 or even HQ-19 are big enough and do not have enough propellant to be able to hit targets 1000+ KM away. HQ-29 is probably the only one that has that kind of size to go that far.
I know. Currently no country fields 1000km+ SAMs designed to counter aircraft, particularly manoeuverable aircraft like fighters. Even HQ-9, Patriots and S-400 struggle against fighters anywhere beyond 100km. In fact probably within 100km once you factor in highly capable electronic warfare from US and China.
HQ-29 is designed as boost phase or mid course ABM. The THAAD isn't designed to hit stealth bombers either. Nor is the GBI or the Russia S-500 and S-550 modern ABMs.
US has a strategy of using B-2 and its other Bombers like B-1B for launching long range missiles against China from thousands of KM away. They are developing JASSM-ER and LRASM for these roles.
Yes and the role of PLAAF and PLAN is to keep them even further away. It's a massive contest for air dominance. Guess where B-2 and B-1 and the like will take off from? Guess how many MRBM, IRBM, HGV, HCM, and regular 1000km LACMs will be raining down on those targets every single hour to keep them not just shut but unrepairable.
First thing is to wipe regional US bases clean. 2x F-35 range
They want to fly strategic ranges, they need to get past every layer and then only get to deliver some measly payloads. If they want to go nuclear, theyll get glassed equally bad. So they fly risky B-2 and B-21 missions and even if they somehow get passed everything, they can only attack a few targets at a time. There are tens of thousands of targets. More targets than the US has bombs. China won't sit still while this goes on. If it can even happen a few times. Ukraine has taken thousands of Russian bombing sorties.
You'll need to contend with USN. That's the main objective and keep them far away from launching effective air sorties. This is why they wanted the FA-xx to have much greater range than F-35. They've said F-35 doesn't give them enough operational range given China's A2AD extents.
The antidote to B-21 launching weapons from thousands of km away from Chinese mainland targets is to have air superiority beyond 1st island chain. That's a given because China's naval A2AD is roughly beyond the 2nd island chain now. At the very least. It's conventional navy is starting to match the USN. The US will be suffering monumental catastrophic losses and rate of losses in a western pacific slug fest.
A B-21 is designed to penetrate all that. Suppose it manages to and the USN is kept at bay or in a slug fest further east. That B-21 has to take off from Hawaii or about as far away. In such a war, those bases would be attacked by IRBMs, HCMs, HGVs, air and ship launched cruise missiles. The B-21 flying from continental USA is the threat. Well to counter these, China needs H-20 and to keep improving its own navy and airforce to the point it has the ability to contest and win distance so it can perform the same on the US in a conventional war.
I think that's why China is looking at ultra long range SAM that can target these high value Bombers, AWACS, Tankers and other extremely high value assets from 1000+ KM away.
I am not saying HQ-29 has been designed for this. But so far, its the only public system big enough for that kind of range interception. And my hunch is that, HQ-29 will likely have that kind of secondary capability.
Yes China is playing with ultra long range SAMs that are designed to counter aircraft. Tankers and AEWC are easy because they're nowhere near stealthy enough. A B-21 or B-2 is considerably harder. Even if you work out the mechanics of a 3000km SAM that can hit moving aircraft. How do you find, track and guide such a missile against a ULO target like B-21? It's stealth is going to be similar to J-36, J-50 ie completely blended into background. You'd need new sensing technologies and then produce and train yourself to operate entire networks of it and defend them.
The only way to prevent this is by going on the offence. You can't perfect entire chain for the SAM method so you need H-20, JH-xy and the rest of the PLAAF and PLAN to be every bit as capable and more numerous than USAF and USN. Make the cost for them at least a 1:1. This is deterrence. I think we're already on the verge of this. PLAAF and PLAN just need to keep running at this pace and give it 5 years it'll be qualitatively equal in almost every field if not superior in a few select ones and quantitatively 1.5x in every field if not more. This is already a pessimistic comparison. No need for miracle SAMs. They bomb your sites, you bomb their mainland too. HGVs can already do this without making it seem like a nuclear exchange.
The US will not touch China. It cannot afford to anymore. In fact that ship sailed roughly 10 years ago.
