China has unveiled new advanced radars that could detect stealth aircraft, including drones, as well as low-flying cruise missiles, as the country continues to aggressively boost its fighting capabilities and flexes its military muscle amid emerging tensions in the region.

Among the “star products” at the Nanjing exhibition, which ends on Saturday, is the country’s first portable and multipurpose radar, which could be carried by a single soldier, according to the state-owned publication, Global Times.

The equipment is being dubbed the “terminator of drones” for its capability to detect small and slow targets that blend themselves under strong noise waves by flying close to the ground.

The so-called “YLC-48 radar” can “effectively detect and track incoming targets from any angle”, according to its developer, the No 14 Research Institute of the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC).

The radar uses digital integrated circuits, and it can be mounted on all kinds of lightweight weapons platforms, can conduct missions under all-weather conditions, and can be rapidly deployed and withdrawn, the report said.

Shahzad Masood Roomi

Shahzad Masood Roomi is founding member and, editor security and geopolitics at GCW. He is IT graduate and has more than 10 years experience of being a  geopolitics and defense affairs analyst. He focuses on IR, geopolitics, strategic studies, maritime security, cybersecurity issues, military aviation, history and geography. His work has published in national and international media outlets.