China's new FK-3000 air defense system carries 96 missiles to protect key sites from drone swarms.

On August 24, 2025, Captain小潇 shared pictures showing that the FK-3000 short-range air defense system has recently been observed during rehearsals for a military parade, indicating its entry into service with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Developed by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) in response to the increasing use of low-cost drones and loitering munitions in modern conflicts, this air defense system was first introduced publicly at the Zhuhai Air Show in 2022.
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The interception range of the FK-3000 is between roughly 0.3 and 12 kilometers, bridging the gap between cannon-only very short-range systems and medium-range surface-to-air missile batteries that are poorly suited to handling dozens of small, cheap threats. (Picture source: Weibo/Captain小潇)

Chinese media emphasize that its design was influenced by lessons from the war in Ukraine and other conflicts, where swarms of inexpensive unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and precision loitering munitions inflicted significant damage on infrastructure and frontline forces. The FK-3000 is intended to provide a specialized capability for defending both critical infrastructure and forward-deployed military units from aerial saturation attacks at low altitude, including threats comparable to Iranian Shahed drones.

The FK-3000 system is based on the high-mobility Shaanxi SX2220 6×6 platform, which features an armored cab and an unmanned rotating turret carrying its armament and sensor systems. It integrates a 30 mm automatic cannon, two 12-cell short-range missile pods, and six larger surface-to-air missiles, allowing simultaneous engagement of different target types. The vehicle can carry up to 48 micro-missiles in its standard configuration, or up to 96 if the six larger missiles are replaced. The system also incorporates fire control radars, phased array search radars, and electro-optical sensors, enabling engagements under all-weather, day-night conditions. Its core operational envelope covers aerial threats at ranges from 300 meters to 12 kilometers, with larger interceptors extending the reach to over 20 kilometers depending on configuration.

The radar suite has been significantly redesigned compared to earlier Chinese short-range air defense systems. It consists of one large and three smaller phased array panels that together provide 360-degree coverage, with detection ranges from 150 meters up to 30 kilometers. Targets moving between approximately 2.57 and 411 meters per second can be tracked, which includes slow, small quadcopters and faster cruise missiles or helicopters. The turret also mounts a large electro-optical sensor cluster, supporting engagement of targets where radar detection may be degraded by clutter or low signatures. Chinese descriptions state that this multi-sensor system is optimized for “low, slow, and small” targets that traditional radar-guided air defense systems have difficulty detecting or tracking reliably. In addition to hard-kill weapons, the FK-3000 is fitted with jamming equipment capable of interfering with the control links of hostile drones before firing.

Armament on the FK-3000 includes a single 30 mm cannon with an effective range of approximately 4 kilometers, equipped to fire airburst munitions comparable in concept to Western AHEAD ammunition, which increases effectiveness against small UAVs. The six larger FK-3000/L medium-range surface-to-air missiles, based on earlier FK-1000 missiles, can reach targets at about 22 kilometers. Apparently also designated as FK-3000/L, the 40 mm micro-missiles, quad-packed in launch tubes, have a maximum range of 5 kilometers, a speed of around 600 meters per second, and are fire-and-forget with infrared imaging seekers, designed to counter swarms of drones at low cost. The combined use of cannon fire, medium-range missiles, and high-capacity micro-missiles provides a layered structure against threats ranging from small quadcopters to armed helicopters and low-flying cruise missiles. To increase fire density and defensive coverage, CASIC also developed an option to pair the main FK-3000 vehicle with one or two unmanned wing vehicles, each mounting 24 additional micro-missiles and their own sensors, operating in coordination with the primary system.

The FK-3000 continues the lineage of Chinese short-range air defense systems that began with the FK-1000 and FK-2000. The FK-1000, shown at Zhuhai in 2016, combined a truck chassis, 23 mm cannon, and command-guided missiles but was criticized for limited engagement channels, poor accuracy on the move, and stability issues, leading to a lack of orders. The FK-2000, introduced in 2021, addressed some of these issues with a low-profile 8×8 chassis, phased array radar, improved electro-optics, and the ability to fire while moving at 40 km/h, extending intercept ranges to 25 kilometers. The FK-3000 was built on these developments with a return to a 6×6 high-mobility truck for improved off-road capability, a redesigned radar suite with multiple arrays, and the addition of micro-missiles for mass drone defense. Its development reflects a targeted response to the problem of UAV swarms, which earlier designs were not optimized to address.

Chinese sources report that the FK-3000 can achieve interception times between four and six seconds, with a claimed probability of 85 percent against fixed-wing aircraft and 65 percent against small guided missiles. The system’s concept of operations envisions deployment to protect cities, command posts, mechanized brigades, and logistical sites. It has also been compared in Chinese media to foreign systems such as Israel’s Iron Dome, Europe’s SAMP/T, the American Patriot, and Russia’s S-400, with analysts emphasizing its emphasis on high ammunition density and modularity. Reports note a unit cost of around $5 million, which is presented as affordable relative to foreign equivalents. Furthermore, Chinese analysts argue that the FK-3000 is intended to deny adversaries the ability to overwhelm defenses with large numbers of cheap drones, a tactic increasingly visible in Ukraine and other conflict zones, while maintaining adaptability for future upgrades in sensors and missile types.

The entry of the FK-3000 into PLA service illustrates China’s recognition of drone swarms as a central challenge in modern warfare. Observers highlight that while conventional medium- or long-range systems are not cost-effective against very small drones, the FK-3000 provides a tailored tool for mass engagements using lower-cost interceptors. Its modular design ensures it can incorporate new missile types and sensor packages as threats evolve, and its potential integration with unmanned auxiliary vehicles reflects broader global trends in manned-unmanned teaming. The PLA’s adoption of this system underlines a wider shift seen across militaries, including Russia, Ukraine, and NATO, which are all developing short-range, high-capacity systems to prevent drone saturation. In this context, the FK-3000 represents China’s approach to building flexible, multi-layered ground-based air defense for both present and future conflicts.