Air Division, Regiments, ... Bases, Brigades, etc

Deino said:

me again after I found this patch!

The title was "空6旅的旅徽" which at least included something like the 6th Brigade and an image of a Naval Aviation J-11B/BS was added.

... however it does not look naval-related??!! Can anyone help?

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Don't think it's PLANAF. The patch says 中国空军航空兵, which means Chinese Air Force Aviation Troops.

PLANAF should normally be 中国海军航空兵, or Chinese Navy Aviation Troops.

jobjed said:

Don't think it's PLANAF. The patch says 中国空军航空兵, which means Chinese Air Force Aviation Troops.

PLANAF should normally be 中国海军航空兵, or Chinese Navy Aviation Troops.

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Thanks ... but could it be the 6th PLAAF Brigade, aka the Su-35 unit?

Again a new Air Brigade confirmed. This time the former 52nd AR, 18th Fighter Division based at Wuhan/Shanpo flying J-7II was reestablished as the 52nd Air Brigade now flying J-7G.

Is there any way of knowing which unit these J7G were a part of previously? And when did this conversion take place?

Totoro said:

Is there any way of knowing which unit these J7G were a part of previously? And when did this conversion take place?

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Exactly my thoughts but unfortunately I don't know.

Well, at best we can ASSUME the conversion must've taken place during the previous year. Because it's unlikely for such images to stay hidden for years? And then use that info to conclude at least one regiment worth of new planes was produced, displacing these planes. So, if enough of such images/news comes during a year, covering several different units, then one MIGHT make a conclusion as to what's the current combined procurement rate for PLAAF, annually. Sadly, we're simply not going to get as many images per year, if 2017/2018 activity is repeated in 2019.

I would assume at least three and likely not more than 4 units get new combat jets each year in PLAAF. Meaning probably as many other units get their hand-me downs as they become 2nd rate planes. And then 3-4 more units get THEIR hand-me downs, which are by then 3rd rate planes. Or these J-7Gs, as we're seeing now. And J-7IIs simply get either scrapped or stored. Actually I don't think there's more than 200 J7II/H left in active units today...

It is also quite telling that we see this happen with the PLAAF similar to the situation we see in the PLAN; unlike what we see in the USA or other Western countries where the number of active aircraft has been reduced in the past two decades as more expensive latest generation aircraft get into service; that does not seem to be the case in China.

I was looking just yesterday at how the number of Type 051 put out of service roughly matches the number of Type 052D put into service in the PLAN. Now when we listen to these PLAAF numbers, as quoted by @Totoro, they basically seem to match the amount of Flankers put into service. Not even accounting for the number of J-10s put into service which should at least match the number of all Flanker variants total put into service each year. This is a quantum leap in capabilities for the forces using these airplanes. If the amount of active service J7II/H left are 200 units that amount could be eliminated from service in around two years time by my estimates. If we take into account total Flanker and J-10 production.
This is about the same time when the Type 051 is expected to be eliminated from service i.e. around 2020.

Naval Aviation University now equipped with J-11Bs to familiarise pilots early with their aircraft so as to minimise the time required for a new pilot to achieve combat effectiveness.





From the tiny bit of tactical number visible in this picture, it seems the University got ex-9th Division J-11Bs.




Old picture of 9th Division aircraft no. 64 for reference.

Another surprise ... seems as if the 34th Brigade operates also JJ-7 and J-7G alongside the J-10A????

PS: this is an older image of a J-10A from the same unit.