China’s 5,000 km Radar Can Watch India’s Missile Launches in Real-Time — And That Changes Everything!

By :SpaceEyeNews
April 2025

A new military development from China has sent shockwaves through defense circles across Asia. Buried in the rugged terrain of Yunnan province, China has unveiled a massive phased array radar system that can monitor ballistic and hypersonic missile launches from over 5,000 kilometers away—and it’s pointed directly at India.

This isn’t just a new radar. It’s a strategic leap forward. The system allows real-time surveillance of India’s missile test launches, including nuclear-capable systems, giving China a significant upper hand in the race for regional dominance and early-warning superiority.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyA4csSNIgU&t=304s

Revolution: China’s 5,000km Radar Watches Everything in Real Time!

📡 A New Era in Surveillance

The radar, known as a Large Phased Array Radar (LPAR), is believed to be operated by Base 37 of the People’s Liberation Army Aerospace Force—China’s elite unit tasked with tracking space threats and managing early missile warnings. Located near the China-Myanmar border, this site gives China direct line-of-sight access to key Indian military facilities, including Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island, the heart of India’s long-range missile testing program.

With the ability to scan vast areas electronically—rather than using slow mechanical rotations—this phased array radar can track multiple airborne objects simultaneously, detecting everything from conventional ballistic missiles to advanced hypersonic glide vehicles. Its 5,000 km range also provides visibility over the Bay of Bengal, Malacca Strait, and large parts of Southeast Asia.

China has previously established similar radar stations in Korla and Xinjiang to monitor northern India. But with the Yunnan installation, Beijing now has 360-degree early-warning coverage of India’s missile infrastructure, both land and sea-based.

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🎯 Live-Fire Proof of Power

The true shock came during a recent weapons test in the Gobi Desert. According to a February 2025 paper published by engineers from the PLA’s 63623 Unit, China launched 16 ballistic missiles and deployed 31 decoys in a massive saturation test.

The radar’s performance? Flawless.

Using a dual-band phased array system (S/X-band), the radar tracked all 16 missiles and correctly identified and prioritized seven high-value threats—delivering a 100% hit rate in the simulated engagement. This places China’s early warning and anti-saturation capabilities among the most advanced in the world, rivalling even the USNS Howard O. Lorenzen, a top-tier American missile tracking ship.

But unlike the U.S., China publicly demonstrated the radar’s capability in a live-fire test—an unambiguous message to adversaries that China is watching, and ready.

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⚔️ India’s Missile Program Under Watch

India’s strategic deterrence relies on its ability to develop and test nuclear-capable ballistic missiles with minimal external interference. With the new LPAR in play, that secrecy is at risk.

Every Agni-V or K-4 missile test can now be recorded, measured, and analyzed by Chinese defense experts—giving them a real-time understanding of India’s evolving nuclear and missile capabilities. This undermines India’s second-strike posture, which depends on ambiguity and unpredictability.

Furthermore, the radar’s electronic warfare capabilities pose a different kind of threat: the potential to interfere with radio signals, GPS, and navigation systems in key conflict zones. This dual use—both as a surveillance and disruption tool—adds another layer of strategic leverage.

Indian analysts have called for accelerated development of indigenous long-range radars like Swordfish and deeper satellite integration, but experts warn that technological parity is still a work in progress.

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🛰️ Eyes Across the Indo-Pacific

Beyond the India-China dynamic, this new system is part of a much larger story—China’s race to dominate the Indo-Pacific’s surveillance sphere.

The phased array radar forms a critical piece of Beijing’s anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) strategy, aimed at controlling not just land-based threats but also air and naval movements across vital maritime chokepoints. Combined with satellite coverage and drone swarms, this radar creates a real-time surveillance bubble that could limit U.S. and allied operational freedom in the region.

During President Xi Jinping’s Lunar New Year address to the military, footage of radar systems and troops from the PLA’s four main divisions—army, navy, air force, and aerospace—stood prominently in formation. The symbolism was clear: technology like this radar is now a pillar of China’s strategic posture.

And China isn’t stopping there. A recent report from the China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) highlights other deep-space radar systems—like the upgraded Jiamusi station in Heilongjiang province—also being absorbed under Base 37. The goal? Total situational awareness, from low Earth orbit to deep-space trajectories.

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🧠 What It All Means

With this development, China hasn’t just built a radar. It’s established a platform for dominance in a future shaped by missile speed, launch ambiguity, and satellite warfare.

For India, this represents a major challenge to its strategic autonomy. For Southeast Asia, it signals growing Chinese oversight of maritime territory. And for the world, it highlights a shift in pre-emptive defense and real-time surveillance, where conflict may be avoided—or triggered—by whoever detects a threat first.

In a world filled with hypersonic missiles, stealth submarines, and space-based assets, the one who watches first holds the key to control.

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References:

 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/china-builds-giant-anti-hypersonic-radar-that-can-track-every-small-and-big-indian-missile-from-5000-km-away/articleshow/118839557.cms?from=mdr

https://interestingengineering.com/military/china-next-gen-radar-100-hit-rate-missiles?group=test_a

https://www.eurasiantimes.com/indias-missile-program-espond/?amp