Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Bin Salman
China often shows its advanced military technology and the list includes sixth-generation fighter jets and Dongfeng missiles. Beijing is now facing doubts from many as recently one of its defence systems failed during testing. Saudi Arabia, the first country in the world to purchase China’s laser-guided air defence system, has termed it “extremely substandard.”
Saudi Arabia’s Army bought the Skyshield Integrated Anti-Drone System in February last year, hoping it would protect the country from drone swarm attacks. Such attacks involve hundreds or even thousands of drones launched at the same time. Although Saudi Arabia already uses the US-made Patriot air defence system, it turned to China’s laser weapon to strengthen its security. However, during recent tests, the system failed to perform, according to reports.
The Skyshield Integrated Anti-Drone System includes radar for spotting drones, jamming vehicles, and the Silent Hunter Laser Directed Energy Weapon developed by the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC). China had claimed that this weapon could carry out both “hard kill” by destroying drones and “soft kill” by disrupting their signals.
But during the test run in Saudi Arabia, the Silent Hunter Laser did not function as expected. Reports suggest that the system needed 15-30 minutes of continuous targeting to shoot down a single drone. In this time, enemy drones could easily destroy the defence unit. The local environment also played a role in the failure. Sand and dust weakened the optical tracking and reduced the beam’s strength, while the desert heat made it difficult to cool the system properly, further reducing its firing power.
A former Saudi military officer involved in the project said that the weapon’s actual performance was far weaker than what was shown during demonstrations. The failure has raised serious doubts about the reliability of Chinese-made defence equipment, especially since similar issues were reported earlier when Chinese air defence systems struggled in Pakistan during India’s Operation Sindoor.
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Shivam Verma is a journalist with over three years of experience in digital newsrooms. He currently works at NewsX, having previously worked for Firstpost and DNA India. A postgraduate diploma holder in Integrated Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, Shivam focuses on international affairs, diplomacy, defence, and politics. Beyond the newsroom, he is passionate about football—both playing and watching—and enjoys travelling to explore new places and cuisines.
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