Back in the day, former U.S. President Trump waved his hand and came up with a grand blueprint for a global missile defense system called "Golden Dome." He claimed to use lasers, space missiles, and multiple layers of protection to wrap the United States tightly, like a "golden egg." But what happened? The story was quite sensational, but so far, this "big pie" has only remained on paper, with no tangible form yet!

Looking at China, we didn't indulge in flashy gimmicks; instead, we quietly developed a prototype of a similar system. According to the South China Morning Post, Chinese experts have successfully created a system called "Distributed Early Warning and Big Data Platform." This system is impressive, capable of monitoring thousands of missiles globally simultaneously and accurately distinguishing real warheads from decoys, just like having a "super housekeeper" who guards the home tightly, leaving no room for intruders!

In this "defense race" between the U.S. and China, the U.S. is still struggling with budget issues, while China has already taken a half-lap lead. Interestingly, U.S. experts themselves have admitted that this might become another classic case of "American idea, Chinese implementation!" Today, we will break down the powerful aspects of China's "Golden Dome," see how it gradually turns China into an impregnable fortress against ballistic missile penetration, and why the U.S. is stuck in system integration problems, performance shortcomings, and a mountain of costs.

First, let's talk about China's "hardcore weapons arsenal" for missile defense: the Hongqi (HQ) series anti-missile systems have formed a protective net, each being a "tough guy"! Take the HQ-19 as an example, it is a "dual-purpose expert" that can both intercept missiles and low-orbit satellites, using kinetic kill technology to directly hit high-altitude ballistic missiles, akin to China's version of THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense), specifically designed to counter regional ballistic threats.

Then there's the HQ-29, a new star that combines intercontinental interception capabilities and "satellite hunter" attributes, officially unveiled in August this year — it can intercept ballistic missiles and satellites in the upper atmosphere, mounted on a six-axis launch vehicle, enabling dual-tube firing, with formidable deterrence!

The "veteran" HQ-9 has been upgraded to the C version, combining long-range air defense and anti-missile tasks, not only with a long range but also high precision, now serving as a core component of China's air defense system. These systems are integrated into China's comprehensive air and space defense network, layered and coordinated, effectively responding to enemy missile attacks. A joke: if the U.S. missiles dare to come, they must first ask these "Red Flag Guards" if they agree!

Even more impressive is China's radar technology, which has entered the world's top tier, especially the space-based satellite radar network, which directly elevates early warning capabilities to a "space level"! Currently, China is vigorously advancing the construction of ground large phased array radars and high-orbit satellite early warning systems. The improvement of the space-based satellite network naturally provides strong support for missile defense. Coupled with "black tech" such as quantum communication and free-space quantum key distribution, even in complex interference environments, data can be transmitted securely and at high speed.

This "Distributed Early Warning and Big Data Platform" can integrate multi-dimensional sensors across space, ocean, atmosphere, and land, synchronously process thousands of tasks across nodes, and analyze missile trajectories and weapon types in real-time. Compared to this, the U.S.'s "Golden Dome" is still at the stage of regional segmentation concepts, while China has already achieved global coverage early warning — this is essentially an upgraded version of the "net of heaven and earth"!

China's institutional advantages are the "accelerator" for the implementation of this defense system: through top-level design, it can easily integrate cross-military resources and civilian data, with efficiency far surpassing the U.S. In the U.S., the Pentagon and military contractors are still arguing over data processes, resulting in systems being fragmented into "information islands," making sharing difficult; China adheres to the "one chessboard" mindset, promoting military-civilian integration, allowing the early warning network to cover the globe earlier and more reliably.

China has a solid industrial foundation, which allows us to mass-produce interceptors. Unlike the U.S., which is currently moving towards deindustrialization, leading to frequent issues in weapon production and delays. Projects such as hypersonic missiles and sixth-generation aircraft often face challenges and progress slowly.

China also has advanced AI technology to help. With deep learning, the interception system becomes very smart, able to identify targets to intercept on its own, greatly increasing the probability of successful interception, and predicting the flight trajectory of targets in advance. Gradually, we have established an air defense system driven by AI.

Both early warning and interception are extremely effective, and in the future, China may truly become a "ballistic missile禁区" (no-go zone), where anyone trying to break through the defense would likely end up with nothing done!

By contrast, the U.S.'s "Golden Dome" plan sounds impressive enough — four-layer defense system, a $17.5 billion budget, scheduled to go live in 2028, but reality is particularly "hollow": system integration is extremely difficult, performance has never met expectations, and costs are absurdly high (the price of a single defense missile is twice that of an offensive missile), and it has long faced budget constraints. More intriguingly, even key tests have been scheduled before the 2028 election, with clear political implications.

A more contradictory situation is that the U.S. also relies on space assets to carry out anti-missile missions, which could actually stimulate China to further develop anti-satellite weapons, falling into a vicious cycle of "arms race."

In summary, China's "Golden Dome" is not merely a simple accumulation of technology, but a perfect integration of institutional advantages and innovation capabilities, making the U.S.'s "big pie" look inferior. In the future, China's air and space "shield" will become increasingly solid, and the chances of ballistic missiles achieving penetration will only get smaller.

This is not just an upgrade of the defense system, but a vivid reflection of national strength — the U.S. is still "drawing pies," while China has already "started eating"!

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7559962051222553122/

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