PLA Air Force General News Thread:

max steel wrote: The New Chinese Missile PL-15 That Has the U.S. Air Force Spooked

The daily beast...........

It has no one spooked. Just another missile similar to so many others.

sepheronx wrote:

The daily beast...........

It has no one spooked.  Just another missile similar to so many others.

Just like AIM-120 but Chinese can add more pl-15 in their pylon compared to usa f-22 with only four . So China believes in BVR battles or Dogfight like Ruaf ?

max steel wrote:

sepheronx wrote:

The daily beast...........

It has no one spooked.  Just another missile similar to so many others.

Just like AIM-120 but Chinese can add more pl-15 in their pylon compared to usa f-22 with only four . So China believes in BVR battles or Dogfight like Ruaf ?

Dunno. But judging by their stealth looking aircrafts, I think they are more geared towards BVR like US is compared to Russia.

"China unveils details on H-6K bomber long-range precision strike capabilities

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force has revealed its long-range precision strike capabilities. Beijing’s H-6K bomber can strike distant targets with precise ammunition, according to Chinese media. “The fact that our H-6K bombers have performed several long-distance drills far into the Pacific Ocean indicates that the H-6K fleet has become capable of conducting various operations such as long-range precision strikes,” Fu Qianshao, a PLAAF aviation equipment expert, told the newspaper China Daily. The maximum range of the H-6K bomber is 1,900 miles without refueling; however, it can be extended to 3,100 miles with two mid-air refuels.

The bomber can carry a payload of up to 12 tons. There are currently around 36 H-6K strategic bombers in service with the PLAAF. “In the past, our bombers could only deliver airdropped bombs and so were unable to conduct precision attacks, but the H-6K, with the adoption of some of our most advanced aeronautic technologies, is able to carry and launch air-to-surface cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles, which means it can take out multiple targets on the ground or at sea within one mission,” The Diplomat cited Fu as saying.



Emerging in prototype form in 2007, the H-6K is the most radically modified variant of the H-6 bomber, replacing its glass nose with a large solid nose housing a large radar and new electro-optical targeting pod. Its use of two Russian-made 12-ton thrust D-30-KP2 turbofans and lighter-weight composites have reportedly extended its range by 30% to a combat radius of 3,500 km. The H-6K, although lacking stealth capacity, can carry up to seven YJ-12 supersonic anti-ship missiles or CJ-20 subsonic land-attack cruise missiles, with an estimated range of 250 and 1,500 miles respectively. Furthermore, during recent military exercises the H-6K overcame “enemy defenses” and “the enemy’s electromagnetic blockage.” According to some military analysts, the only weakness of the bomber is its targeting system as well as the PLAAF’s overall targeting procurement network."


Source: http://www.airrecognition.com/index.php/archive-world-worldwide-news-air-force-aviation-aerospace-air-military-defence-industry/global-news-2015/october/2037-china-unveils-details-on-h-6k-bomber-long-range-precision-strike-capabilities.html

"China began testing on a new type of helium stratospheric airship. The Yuanmeng aircraft can reach a height of 100 kilometers and conduct reconnaissance without being seen by other aircraft or rockets. China has reportedly tested a high-altitude airship (HAA) to an altitude of 20 km, local medias said. The airship is filled with 18 thousand cubic meters of helium and can spend 48 hours in the air. There are solar panels in the top level — and at certain altitudes they can generate electricity for the motors. Solar energy is ideal for high-altitude drones and balloons, as they significantly reduce the need for fuel. Reports noted it carried "broadband communications, data relay, high-definition observation, space situational awareness, and airborne imaging systems".

The Chinese authorities have not stated how the airship will be used but People's Daily Online experts are suggesting that it will be used to hunt for enemy aircraft carriers. “Yuanmeng may become the pinnacle of the military food chain, soaring high above the South China Sea in search of aircraft. Together with the information collected by satellites, aircraft, submarines and drones, Yuanmeng will allow the People's Liberation Army of China to get a full picture of maritime hostilities,” the publication noted.



The ship will operate at altitudes inaccessible to the majority of air defense systems. “The main problem in creating a space near the airship was the sharp temperature drop from day and night,” the head of the developers of Yuanmeng, Yu Quan, told People’s Daily Online. The Yuanmeng airship is reportedly a product of the Beijing Aerospace Technology Company and the Beijing University of Astronautics and Aeronautics (BUAA). At a civil-military technology exhibition in Beijing in early July, both companies displayed their ambition to produce large HAAs for persistent near-space operations similar to US concepts from the early 2000s."



Source: http://www.airrecognition.com/index.php/archive-world-worldwide-news-air-force-aviation-aerospace-air-military-defence-industry/global-news-2015/october/2064-china-starts-testing-the-yuanmeng-a-new-type-of-helium-stratospheric-reconnaissance-airship.html

Rare photo of SU30MKK being air refueled by IL78.

"China claimed a breakthrough in its airborne early warning technology by having indigenous hardware and software components of the KJ-500’s radar. This implies that the KJ-200 and KJ-2000 had to reply on foreign computer chips for them to function."



https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=sr&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fmil.news.sina.com.cn%2F2015-11-21%2F1733844470.html

China has reformed it`s military districts into four commands

"An unusually large People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) formation of eight bombers supported by three surveillance and electronic intelligence (ELINT) aircraft exercised over the East China Sea on 27 November before flying a long distance inside the Second Island Chain. A PLAAF spokesman was quoted in state media as having described the exercise as affirming China's East China Sea Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), declared in December 2013. Details released by the Japanese Ministry of Defense show that eight Xian Aircraft Corporation H-6K bombers exercised in two groups of four aircraft each (two company-level squadrons subordinate to a regiment).

Photos of the bombers taken by intercepting Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) fighters indicate that one group of H-6Ks was from the 28th Regiment of the PLAAF's 10th Division, based in Anqing, about 450 km east of Shanghai. One group of H-6K bombers appeared to stay within China's new East China Sea Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), declared in December 2013. Until the two bomber groups separated west of Okinawa, the formation was supported by a single PLAAF KJ-200 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. A second group of four H-6K bombers then continued through the Ryukyu Island Chain and over the Miyako Strait near Miyakojima Island. A PLAAF spokesman was quoted in Chinese state media saying the bombers then flew 1,000 km into the Second Island Chain.



This group of H-6Ks was supported by two PLAAF ELINT aircraft: a modified Tupolev Tu-154MD and a Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation Y-8CB. The latter may also have had jamming capabilities on board. Entering service in 2011, the H-6K is powered by two Russian Soloviev D-30-KP2 turbofans and has an estimated combat radius greater than 3,500 km. It can carry six wing-mounted cruise missiles such as the 2,000 km-range DF-10 land attack cruise missile and possibly the 250-400 km-range, Mach 4 speed, ramjet-powered YJ-12 anti-ship missile."

Source: http://www.janes.com/article/56327/chinese-bomber-exercise-affirms-air-defence-identification-zone-penetrates-second-island-chain

J-16 EW variant makes its first flight


A possible new electronic warfare (EW) variant of the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) J-16 twin-seat strike fighter made its first flight on 18 December, according to Chinese sources, potentially adding a significant offensive capability to the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).

Images of the new variant have emerged on several Chinese military web pages, including a 21 December 2015 video report on the popular Ifeng web page. The most salient modifications are two new wingtip pods similar to the Northrop Grumman AN/ALQ-218 Tactical Jamming Receiver, leading to comparisons with the E/A-18G Growler electronic attack variant of Boeing's Super Hornet.

This possible J-16 EW prototype appears to lack the usual fuselage-mounted gun and the infrared search and tracking system (IRST) also appears to be missing, but the J-16, which resembles the Russian Sukhoi Su-30, would have up to 10 wing and fuselage hardpoints for ordnance and active jamming pods.

The PLA is known to have developed three tactical electronic warfare pods. The first, similar in size to the EDO Corporation AN/ALQ-99, may come in receiver and transmitter versions and was first seen on Xian Aircraft Corporation JH-7 strike fighters in 2007. A smaller KG600 pod also equips JH-7s, while the KG300 appears to be an export variant.

An EW version of the J-16 equipped similarly to the E/A-18G would give PLAAF strike packages a far greater chance of reaching their targets and avoiding increasingly capable air defences.

Development of a J-16 EW variant could also lead to a similar carrier warfare version of the twin-seat J-15S.

Chinese commentators note that, just as the Growler enables US air forces, an active jamming version of the J-16 would allow the PLAAF to decrease its dependence on large and vulnerable electronic support aircraft based on the Shaanxi Y-8 airframe.

While in early 2014 an Asian government source estimated that 100 J-16s would be in PLA service by 2020, the emergence of an EW version could increase that number

China's Y-20 transport aircraft may enter service in 2016

The appearance on Chinese military webpages of the fifth prototype of the Xian Aircraft Corporation (XAC) Y-20 heavy strategic transport aircraft has prompted suggests that it could enter People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) service as early as this year.

Reportedly flown for the first time on 6 February 2016, the fifth prototype carries the bort number 789. It follows soon after the fourth prototype, with bort number 788, which was seen on Chinese web pages on 23 January 2016. Other known prototypes carry identification numbers 781, 783, and 785.

The appearance of the latest Y-20 prototype prompted commentary by Chinese experts. In a 27 January Xinhua article former Chinese test pilot Xu Yongling reported that Chinese aviation industry officials had stated that the Y-20 "completed development" at the end of 2015. Xu, who participated in the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation J-10 fighter test programme, suggested that the Y-20 could enter service in 2016.

In a 26 January article for People's Daily , professor at the PLAAF Command College Chen Hong noted that the payload for the Y-20 was "60 tons": greater than that of the Russian Ilyushin Il-76MD, the current production version of which is credited with a 52-tonne payload by IHS Jane's All the World's Aircraft .

Chen also noted that the Y-20 could be developed into airborne early warning, electronic warfare/jamming, and tanker variants.

An earlier People's Daily article from 22 January noted that the Y-20 could also eventually equip the PLA Navy Air Force (PLANAF). With the possible addition of the Y-20, the PLANAF could become the leading air service to support and defend China's growing island outposts in the South China Sea.

China may develop new anti-submarine warfare aircraft based on C919 against Japan’s Soryu-class submarines

China’s first large commercial aircraft Comac C919 was just rolled out on November 2nd, and a lot of discussions of its military use followed. AEWs (Airborne Early Warning Aircraft), radar-jamming planes, refueling planes and ASW aircrafts (anti-submarine warfare aircrafts) are among the discussed solutions.

The above types of Chinese military aircrafts are now basically based on Shaanxi Y-8 transport plane or Y-9 plane, which is outdated.

Just on the same day, the eighth one of Japan’s Sōryū-class Diesel Electric Submarines (16SS) – Sekiryū (せきりゅう?) / Red Dragon was launched, which will be delivered to Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in March 2017 for defense of southwest islands and seas.


Chinese military expert Lau Cang thinks that Japan’s submarine has just pointed out a direction for military use of China’s C919 airliner- anti-submarine warfare aircraft. As Japan is involved into the South China Sea disputes, apart from Diaoyu Islands dispute, or Senkaku Islands dispute, Sōryū-class submarines will surely enter the South China Sea, to cooperate with the Philippines and Vietnam.

This year Japanese military officials have been meeting with their Vietnamese and Philippine counterparts frequently, to discuss cooperation in the area of maritime safety. Japan’s actions are also some kind of collaboration with U.S., whose strategy is “return to Asia”.

Japanese military officer once threatened that Japanese Navy is able to wipe out the whole East China Sea Fleet in four hours. And with its leading Soryu-class submarines, it is possible.

The South China Sea is known for its complex hydrological environment, which will be a paradise for Japan’s Soryu-class submarines. With its advanced AIP system, Soryu-class submarines submarines will start from Naha Base, bypass Taiwan Island, go through Bashi channel and cruise the whole South China Sea with the support from the Philippines and Vietnam. The ZQQ-7 sonar system and ZYQ-51 combat system of Soryu-class submarines will let them become information collecting, processing and transmission centers in the South China Sea.




China currently has Gaoxin-6 (GX-6 or Y-8GX6) Anti-submarine Patrol Aircraft, which is based on Y-8 plane, but it lags behind new generations of US and Japanese anti-submarine warfare aircrafts such as P8A and P1, and might not be able to cope with American or Japanese submarines. For example, Gaoxin-6 takes about three hours to fly to maritime space 1000 kilometers away, while P8A needs only two hours.

But new anti-submarine warfare aircraft based on C919 passenger plane should be considered as the best choice for China.

Public materials indicate that C-919ER (with extended range) is close to Boeing 737-800, the basic type plane for P-8A, so China can develop the new generation anti-submarine aircraft based on C-919ER, to replace Gaoxin-6.

The problem is that it is reported C919 is using imported engine, and China is unable to develop equivalent engines. C919 jetliner’s engine LEAP-X1C was jointly developed by U.S. GE and French SNECMA, which is said to be better than Boeing 737’s CFM56 engine.

China is also developing its homemade engine for big aircrafts, and it was reported on September 1st that China made a big step with this, that high-pressure compressor’s tenth level experiment product was successfully delivered.

Anyhow, Japan’s Soryu-class submarines are fatal threats to Navy of China. Japanese media reported recently that Soryu-class AIP submarines once followed Chinese fleet in January for as long as 14 days, without being noticed by China’s Navy.

Soryu-class submarines are said to the quietest conventional submarine in the world, with only 105 db underwater. They are equipped with not only torpedos but also 130km-range antiship missiles.

China desperately needs to improve its antisubmarine warfare capability, to compensate for its navy’s weaknesses, to cope with possible conflicts against Japan and U.S in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

"The People’s Liberation Army Naval Air Force (PLANAF) has shown its JC-8F reconnaissance fighter to the public. A CCTV footage shows two of the fighters carrying out a mid-air refueling exercise. The JC-8F is the latest reconnaissance variant of the J-8, having entered service in 2006. The external camera pod of the J-8R was replaced by a conformal fairing underneath the fuselage. Photos taken of the jet so far suggest the fairing is modular in design to accommodate various kinds of sensors."

Source: http://alert5.com/2016/04/04/isil-unmanned-aerial-vehicle-destroyed-by-ground-strike/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Look at this thing xD

China's air force will equal the US Air force by 2020 and not by 2030. Russia and China's air force will be more stronger than US in 2020. US are in despair situation, as their system is based on predation, terror, and threats. Nowadays with the modernisation of Russia, and China's armies this path lead nowhere.

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/warning-chinas-airpower-will-equal-the-us-air-foce-by-2030-15384

Warning: China's Airpower Will Equal the U.S. Air Force by 2030

Dave Majumdar
March 2, 2016
China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) will be able to match or exceed the United States Air Force in the number of fielded combat aircraft by 2030. Moreover, while American forces will still maintain an edge, the technological gap between the two great powers will have closed significantly between now and then.

Right now, the PLAAF is slightly larger in terms of personnel, however the U.S. Air Force has a “couple thousand more aircraft,” Gen. Mark Welsh, Air Force chief-of-staff, told the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on defense on March 2. “At the rate they’re building, the models they’re fielding, by 2030 they will have fielded—they will have made up that 2,000 aircraft gap and they will be at least as big—if not bigger—than our air forces.”

But it’s not just sheer numbers, the PLAAF is rapidly fielding newer and much more capable aircraft. Some of those are completely new warplanes like the stealthy Chengdu J-20 and Shenyang J-31, while at least three more are upgraded versions of existing fighters like the J-11D and J-16 among others. Moreover, China continues to import advanced Russian-made fighters including the fearsome Sukhoi Su-35S Flanker-E.

“We are not keeping up with that kind of technology development,” Welsh said. “We are still in a position of—we will have the best technology in the battlespace especially if we can continue with our current big three modernization programs.”

Those modernization programs are the Boeing KC-46 tanker, Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Northrop Grumman B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber. However, even then America’s technological edge will not be the vast gulf the nation has grown accustomed to since the end of the Cold War.

“[China] will have a lot of technology that’s better than the stuff we’ve had before,” Welsh said. “And the Russians are doing the same thing.”

Unlike the Chinese, the Russians are much more focused on modernizing their nuclear forces. “They’re demonstrating capabilities that they haven’t demonstrated to us before—cruise missiles, some of their new aircraft are dropping weapons for the first time in conflict,” Welsh said. “We’re able to watch and see how this is working.”

Welsh warned that the Russian and Chinese air forces are dangerous and highly capable potential adversaries that have to be taken seriously. “They’re serious air forces and they’re serious about getting better,” Welsh said. “The Chinese in particular, clearly have a blueprint that is matching against our shortfalls. And I think that’s something we have to consider as we look to the future.”

Dave Majumdar is the new Defense Editor for the National Interest. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveMajumdar.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Navy.

Antonov and China ink cooperation agreement

http://echelon-defense.com/2016/09/01/antonov-and-china-ink-cooperation-agreement/

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ground force aviation units have received WZ-10 attack helicopters, according to Chinese media.

http://echelon-defense.com/2016/09/10/wz-10-attack-helicopters-delivered-to-the-chinese-peoples-liberation-army/

China’s very-long-range missile development

The recent sighting of what appears to be a very-long-range air-to-air missile on a Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker derivative should have been of little surprise; after all, Moscow had first considered such a weapon in the mid-1980s. The weapon in question, however, is not Russian but Chinese.

Images were released on the internet in November 2016 of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force two-seat Flanker, likely a J-16, fitted with large missiles on inboard pylons. The weapon is well over five metres in length; by comparison, the medium-range US-manufactured AIM-120 AMRAAM is 3.7m long. Given the aerodynamic configuration and size of the weapon, a likely application is that of a missile intended to be used at extended ranges to engage large, high-value and non-manoeuvring targets, such as tankers or intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and airborne early-warning aircraft. Using a very high, lofted trajectory it would appear that an engagement range well beyond 300 kilometres is feasible.

A very-long-range missile could provide the launch aircraft with the ability to engage high-value targets without having first to penetrate any defensive fighter screen. The range of the weapon could also mean that even if non-stealthy aircraft using it were detected by an opponent's fighter screen, they would remain beyond the engagement envelope for any defensive medium-range air-to-air missile.

Russia's Novator missile company had first shown a weapon in this class in 1995. Known variously as the KS-172, K-100 and AAM-L, the missile used a two-stage design with a larger diameter booster motor fitted to a narrower diameter second stage. Originally intended to meet – or at least compete for – a Soviet/Russian long-range-missile requirement, Moscow has offered the design for export, including as part of the weapons fit for the Sukhoi Su-35. One Su-35 brochure identified the missile as the K-100-1. Meanwhile, Russia appears to have retained the Vympel R-37M (AA-13 Axhead) as the only long-range air-to air missile in its inventory. The R-37M is carried by the MiG-31BM Foxhound, and it has also been offered for export as an option as part of the weapons package for the Su-35.

The Chinese design, meanwhile, has a constant diameter but may well use a two-stage configuration with boost and sustainer solid-propellant motors to achieve the desired range. Using a lofted trajectory, where the missile climbs to perhaps 24,000–27,000m to minimise atmospheric resistance, would help extend the range. The missile would initially be lofted at an acute climb angle to rapidly gain altitude; a sustainer motor would then ignite and, following burn-out, the missile could then use a glide trajectory to extend its range. The shape of the weapon, however, does not suggest a great deal of body lift. For instance, the imagery does not show even a narrow mid-body wing on the missile.

Target acquisition and mid-flight data updates present challenges at extended ranges, even against non-manoeuvring subsonic aircraft, and in this case third-party targeting is a possibility. Another platform, most likely another aircraft but potentially a ground-based radar, could pass track data to the launch aircraft, for instance when the launch aircraft's own radar is not able to identify the intended target.