Tashkurgan county in Xinjiang, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, has awarded ¥10.99 million, about $1.6 million, for three counter-drone stations. Each station gets a “low-altitude high-energy laser strike” system. The award was posted on China’s national procurement website on 2 November.
The lasers are the largest item. Each costs ¥1.85 million, so the three take ¥5.55 million, about half the contract. They come from Zhongjiu Optoelectronics, model ZJ2020-01.
Each station also gets a radar, a “full-band” radio detector and a directional jammer. The equipment sits on 10-metre steel towers, powered by solar panels and batteries, and one control platform runs all three sites.
The buyer is the county’s Communist Party political and legal affairs commission, the party body that oversees police, prosecutors and courts. A systems integrator registered in Urumqi, the regional capital, won the contract. The budget was ¥12.2 million when the tender opened on 8 October.
Lasers are still rare on the site. In the week to 20 October, two of the 14 purchases there to detect or bring down drones called for one, by FlightBrief’s count.
Tashkurgan is also buying drones of its own. Its ¥3.36 million tender for drones and support buildings failed in October for want of enough bidders, and new bids are due on 11 November.
