Yuan Wang 5

Yuan Wang 5 Latest News

China’s spy ship Yuan Wang 5 has returned to the maritime neighbourhood of India, three years after it had docked at Hambantota Port of Sri Lanka.

About Yuan Wang 5

• Launched in 2007, Yuan Wang 5 is part of a series of specialized tracking ships built by China for strategic space and missile monitoring. 
• It is operated by China’s People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force.
• It can provide near-real-time situational awareness to the PLA Rocket Force and Navy.
• It also plays a role in validating the performance of China’s new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons, providing telemetry data critical for weapons development and operational readiness.

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Yuan Wang 5 Features

• It displaces about 25,000 tons, has a length of over 222 metres, a beam of over 25 metres, and can accommodate 400 people.
• The ship is driven by diesel engines and can generate sufficient electricity to light up a small town of over 300,000 inhabitants. 
• With endurance measured in weeks, the ship can remain on station during key test windows or naval exercises.
• Its suite of high-power phased-array radar systems is capable of detecting ballistic missile launches at distances exceeding 3,000 kilometers.
• These radars track the trajectory of missiles through various flight stages, from boost to reentry, while simultaneously collecting telemetry signals that reveal propulsion performance, warhead separation, and guidance accuracy.
• In addition to ballistic missile monitoring, Yuan Wang 5 is equipped with satellite-tracking antennas that can lock onto spacecraft in low-earth orbit, geostationary orbit, and deep-space trajectories.
• These antennas are estimated to operate in multiple frequency bands, giving the ship flexibility to track both civilian and military launches. 
• The vessel’s electronic support measures (ESM) suite further enables it to intercept radar emissions and communications from foreign warships and aircraft operating in the vicinity.

Source: DH