Chinese air to ground weapons (missiles, PGMs, etc)
- Thread starter AssassinsMace
- Start date
The closest I can think of is GB-6A, which is pretty much a GB-6 gliding munition dispenser with a turbofan engine.
by78
General
According to a Chinese TV report, TL-30 is an anti-radiation loitering attack munition by Hongdu.
- Range: 280km
- Loitering time: 50 minutes
- Capable of battlefield patrol and monitoring, providing targeting information to other platforms, and conducting damage assessments.
- When it's loitering time is near an end, it will conduct strike against enemy radars.
P.S. Images are from the last Zhuhai show. I had forgotten to cross-post this here.
- Range: 280km
- Loitering time: 50 minutes
- Capable of battlefield patrol and monitoring, providing targeting information to other platforms, and conducting damage assessments.
- When it's loitering time is near an end, it will conduct strike against enemy radars.
P.S. Images are from the last Zhuhai show. I had forgotten to cross-post this here.
Not sure if this video has already been shared:
I found 1:05 to 1:08 to be interesting, and here are the screen captures:
@Bltizo: Could the dual pylon in the second picture mount GB100? I can see that it seems to be mounting a 50kg munition and and even (possibly) smaller munition on the far side.
I found 1:05 to 1:08 to be interesting, and here are the screen captures:
@Bltizo: Could the dual pylon in the second picture mount GB100? I can see that it seems to be mounting a 50kg munition and and even (possibly) smaller munition on the far side.
It probably can dual mount GB100, the two stations doesn't appear to be asymmetrical.
That said, given it's an industry advertisement, and it looks like they're just flying it on a test aircraft (not even a fighter it seems), naturally that is not confirmation that it is in service with the PLA.
That dual rack and the 100kg and 50kg weapons actually demonstrates why I personally am not very fond of the GB family of PGMs -- because even the 100kg and 50kg weapons here take up quite a large footprint in terms of wingspan, despite being small in weight and despite not even having an extended range wing kit.
For 100kg weapons, the prevailing norm is for them to be SDB type weapons with 100kg range and mounted tightly packed on a quad pack, like so:
For dual racks for fighter aircraft, it is very reasonable to have dual racks of 250kg PGMs:
===
.... Meanwhile, that dual rack, being able to carry likely only two 100kg PGMs (shown with one 100kg and one 50kg PGM), and the 100kg PGMs in question lacking wingkit extensions to be able to achieve 100km-esque range, is immensely underwhelming.
It strikes me that the PLAAF was like the proverbial dog chasing the car and not knowing what to do once it's caught it. It chased after air superiority for so long (which is the reason why its AAMs are world-leading) that it hasn't given any thought to what it'll do with it once it has it. There has to be an entirely new generation of air-to-ground munitions developed because, as your post illustrates, the current crop just won't cut it. Fortunately, that seems to be a much easier problem than the one the PLAAF already solved, namely seizing air superiority over a peer opponent.It probably can dual mount GB100, the two stations doesn't appear to be asymmetrical.
That said, given it's an industry advertisement, and it looks like they're just flying it on a test aircraft (not even a fighter it seems), naturally that is not confirmation that it is in service with the PLA.
That dual rack and the 100kg and 50kg weapons actually demonstrates why I personally am not very fond of the GB family of PGMs -- because even the 100kg and 50kg weapons here take up quite a large footprint in terms of wingspan, despite being small in weight and despite not even having an extended range wing kit.
For 100kg weapons, the prevailing norm is for them to be SDB type weapons with 100kg range and mounted tightly packed on a quad pack, like so:
For dual racks for fighter aircraft, it is very reasonable to have dual racks of 250kg PGMs:
===
.... Meanwhile, that dual rack, being able to carry likely only two 100kg PGMs (shown with one 100kg and one 50kg PGM), and the 100kg PGMs in question lacking wingkit extensions to be able to achieve 100km-esque range, is immensely underwhelming.
Is that why PLAAF maintain a respectable fleet of JH-7A? and still managed to one up RUaF in aviadarts? We see PGMs for export at Zhuhai expo, and footage of ground attack. PLA have many drone, drone swarm at their disposal too.
You're making my point for me. The Russian air force isn't the yardstick - given Russia's performance in Ukraine, I would be deeply concerned if the PLA wasn't regularly one-upping it. PGMs for export aren't PGMs in service, and no Chinese company has an SDB equivalent or a proper 250kg dual rack. Drone swarms aren't PGMs.
This is a problem that needs fixing. Stop the cope.