Chinese scientists have revealed that the country has begun a radar system mounted on warships that will be the largest in history, which could change the balance of naval power in the world's oceans with its ability to detect missiles coming from thousands of kilometers away, a Chinese newspaper reported.

The South China Morning Post news site said scientists involved in the radar project stated that any Chinese military vessel, equipped with this radar, would be able to detect a ballistic missile from a distance of 4,500 kilometers, which is equivalent to the distance between southern China and northern Australia.

It is worth noting that the radars of most warships have a surveillance range of a few hundred kilometers.

In a paper published on May 31, 2023 in the Chinese-language journal Electric Machines and Control, the Chinese researchers said that the radar can also track multiple targets on a 3500,<>-kilometer range, which is the distance between Chinese territory and the US island of Guam in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

According to the team of Chinese scientists and engineers, led by assistant professor Sun Donyang at Harbin University of Science and Technology of China, the radar is suitable for installation on new Chinese warships.


Technical capabilities

According to the Chinese paper, this radar consists of tens of thousands of signal transmitters, which is much more compared to what is found in the world's existing naval radars.

Together, Chinese naval radar transceivers can generate 30 megawatts of pulsed electromagnetic signals, enough to destroy the electronic devices of any warship in the world.

A Beijing-based radar scientist who is not involved in the giant radar project said that until recently the idea of manufacturing and placing a 30-megawatt radar on a warship was "somewhat science fiction".

The Chinese scientist, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject, adds that China is under great pressure to develop better radar devices for its warships, due to the increase in US military activities in Asia.

The issue of radar size can be a challenge when developing long-range radar systems, for example, the most powerful radar in the world owned by the US military is in Florida, and it occupies an area of more than 23,3 square meters, which is equivalent to the size of <> football fields.

However, technological advances have significantly reduced the size of high-power radars, due to the availability of some essential components in larger quantities and at lower prices than ever before, thanks to fifth-generation communications technology.