Chinese armaments company NORINCO's PHL-16 MLRS

According to Chinese official media echoed by Pravin Sawhney of frontierindia.com, China has reportedly recently tested a brand-new high-altitude rocket launching system. The 16th round of military negotiations on the Sino-Indian border has just concluded, and the PHL-16 (or Type PCL191) multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) may now be stationed in the Himalayas.

The launcher, mounted on a truck, hit its target several kilometres away in a desert of western China, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Sunday, July 17. A battery includes six launcher vehicles, several reloading vehicles, a command post vehicle, a vehicle for conducting meteorological surveys, and various service support vehicles.

It is based on the NORINCO AR-3 MRL that was first marketed in 2010. The PHL-16 was unveiled during the Chinese National Day Parade in 2019; unlike other rocket systems in the parade, the vehicles were unlabelled. The novelty is that, in addition to rockets with a range of 350 kilometres, the system can now fire so-called "Fire Dragon" ballistic missiles, capable of striking at 500 kilometres. It means that it can hit any Indian military base from the territory under Chinese control, Frontier India writes.