Pakistan military video appears to show Chinese missile system

On Monday (September 7), the Pakistani military posted a promotional video of its military equipment on its official X account. At the 27- to 28-second mark, the footage shows a six-wheeled military vehicle equipped with a large rectangular radar array, whose appearance resembles the HQ-17A short-range surface-to-air missile system. However, Pakistani officials did not specify the model of this equipment. According to Bloomberg, if Pakistan has indeed procured the HQ-17A, this would mark the first time China has sold this system to Pakistan; news of Chinese weapons exports abroad sometimes emerges through such imagery before official announcements. As of now, the Pakistani military, the Pakistani Air Force, and China's Ministry of National Defense have not immediately responded to requests for comment. The HQ-17A was developed by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) and was first publicly unveiled during China's National Day military parade in 2019. According to estimates by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has approximately 200 HQ-17 systems and 50 HQ-17A systems in service. Data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows that Serbia and Tajikistan have also purchased the export variant of the HQ-17A, designated as the HQ-17AE, in recent years. Sino-Pakistani military cooperation has drawn international attention following the 2025 India-Pakistan conflict. During that conflict, Pakistan deployed Chinese-made J-10C fighter jets and claimed to have shot down multiple Indian military aircraft, including French-made Rafale fighter jets. The Indian Air Force, on the other hand, claimed that it destroyed approximately 12 Pakistani military aircraft during the conflict, including at least five advanced fighters such as F-16s or JF-17s. The aircraft loss figures on both sides remain disputed to this day, and analysts have expressed reservations about the c