Aeroplane procurement rates
- Thread starter Totoro
- Start date
No. They have at least four regiments already combined both JH-7A and upgraded JH-7, all confirmed. And each regiment has at least 20+ aircraft. Plus at least one regiment in the airforce.
Given the publicity they have raked on the JH-7A and the fact it is among the aircraft (probably the most numerous) in the latest Sino-Russian exercise, indicates the PLA thinks highly of it.
FugitiveVisions
Junior Member
Actually there's a simpler reason: no market for offensive aircrafts such as this.
It should be noted that China has limited experience with marketing relatively advanced aircrafts, and selling the JH-7A would be a huge milestone.
Chances are, customers will be scarce. Most of the African countires are landlocked or too poor, Pakistan is busy with JF-17 and F-16 deals, and Malaysia already has Su-30's. Other indochinese countries such as Thailand have the bucks to buy something fancier anyways. China, or more specifically Xian, would have to find a new crop of countries that the government and defense industry does not usually deal with. My point is that this could be more trouble that it's worth. A dedicated attacker like the JH-7A is not exactly a commodity in most circles, most nations on a limited budget prefer something multirole.
A striker would be considered an "aggressive" buy and more of a "threat", and is likely to start an arms race in the region, especially when you have range and antiship missiles. Selling JH-7A to customers like Argentina and Iran are sure to raise some protests with major trade partners.
Another is that aircraft like the JH-7A is not an easy one to maintain. The same goes with another export prospect the F-8IIM. Easier maintenance is what you need for a third world force, though it does not stop Africans from having Su-27s and MiG-29s.
Another is that aircraft like the JH-7A is not an easy one to maintain. The same goes with another export prospect the F-8IIM. Easier maintenance is what you need for a third world force, though it does not stop Africans from having Su-27s and MiG-29s.
I have seen reports of JH7A that test fired YJ83 and the reported range of the missle is 155miles(250km), but seen at siodefence only stat YJ81 as been carried by JH7 and the YJ83 with only 120-180km range, also someone say its supersonic, someone say it subsonic, or supersonic only at the end stage, am abit confused, since the YJ8 serie is the main power of JH7, this makes the JH7's capabilities abit fuzzy.
Roger604
Senior Member
Thanks Crobato.
I understand the point, but doesn't this beg the question, "If the Russians and to some extent the Chinese are going around selling (aggressive) anti-ship cruise missiles left and right, why can't China sell platforms to deliver them too?"
Think of how much money Russia has made selling their Yakhonts, Moskits and Klubs. It would be a huge cash cow for China sell an effective, relatively low-cost, mature strike platform to deliver them. Or even bundle it with the YJ-80X for a total maritime strike solution!
BTW, any guesses on how much a JH-7A costs to produce? $10 million?
well, air-launched YJ-83 is over 250 km (probably) and terminally supersonic, but the surface launched version is probably just over 200 km. It's hard to say, because a lot of the figures we get are from the export C-80X series.
You can also say the same thing about the Americans and the French selling the Harpoons and Exocets.
The reason why you cannot just sell anything to anyone is that you have an upper level geopolitical strategy to adhere, which is in a priority higher than anything else.
Lets say you sell FBC-1s and C-803s to Nation A, which then uses the stuff on Nation B. Nation B gets pissed off, the act damages your relationship with Nation B, which aligns itself to one of your geopolitical rivals or competitors instead.
So you may have made money on the short run selling the plane and the missiles, but in the long run, is it worth the long term damage to your relationship with another country?