China unveils FB-10A short-range air defense missile system

Egypt Defense Exhibition, the Chinese company ALIT (Aerospace Long-Mach International Trade) has unveiled the FB-10A, a new model of short-range air defense system mounted on a 6×6 chassis Dongfeng Mengshi light tactical vehicle.

The previous version, the FB-10 was unveiled in 2016 during the Zhuhai Airshow in China. The system was mounted on 6×6 truck chassis with a phased array radar, optical sensor and eight missile tubes. The FB missile is able to engage air targets at a maximum range of 10 km and an altitude from 15 to 5,000 m.

The launcher vehicle of the FB-10A is based on a light tactical vehicle Dongfeng Mengshi 6×6 chassis with a crew cabin at the front with two doors on each side, while the missile launcher is mounted on a flat bed cargo area at the rear of the vehicle.

The weapon station consists of two pods of four ready-to-fire missile containers with one surface-to-air missile using infrared imaging technology. According to Chinese military sources, the technical specifications of the FB-10A missile is equivalent to the Hongqi-10 surface-to-air missile system which uses an advanced rolling projectile and an infrared/radar “dual-mode” composite guidance system, which can intercept anti-ship missiles at four times the speed of sound.

The missile of the FB-10A is cheaper than the Hongqi-10 missile and it has a maximum firing range of 10 km.