Y-8Q Huitong 4 in service mid 2016, Scramble operaional from 2015, only 2 in more.
To Hainan, SSBN bastion...
Capable for ASW
To Hainan, SSBN bastion...
Capable for ASW
Last edited:
PLA AEW&C, SIGINT, EW and MPA thread
- Thread starter Sczepan
- Start date
Well, the first two operational aircraft were handed over to the military on March 26, 2013. I think they have about 35 of them now. I thought that they planned on a total purchase of 80 P-1s.
They are an EXTREMLY good aircraft. Purpose built from the ground up to be an ASW MPA. LArger Bomb Bay and greater range than the P-8...but also a lot more expensive.
Anyhow, my own feeling is that the P-8 will be just as capable in terms of finding and persecuting targets as the P-1, and since it can have aerial refueled, the longer range part is not that significant.
But the P-1 can carry more ordinance.
Some nice pics of the P-1:
A P-8 Poseidon next to a P-1:
A P-8 Poseidon being refueled in the air:
Sorry all for the OYT...somehow I thought this was the Military NEws Thread in the World Military forum.
Last edited:
For some time there have been rumors and chatter that the Chinese were developing something like JSTAR.
Some believe they have developed a special variant of the Y-8, and that the following picture may be their test aircraft:
But I do not know...and am not aware of its designation:
@Deino @Bltizo @FORBIN @tphuang ...you guys know any more about a PLAAF JSTAR project?
Some believe they have developed a special variant of the Y-8, and that the following picture may be their test aircraft:
But I do not know...and am not aware of its designation:
@Deino @Bltizo @FORBIN @tphuang ...you guys know any more about a PLAAF JSTAR project?
I've always believed that the Air Force Tu-154Ms Type II variants were their version of JSTARS... Huitong has a good entry on it (third entry down, on this page: ).
Four Tu-154Ms were converted, initially only as the type I ELINT variant in 1995, but all four were later converted to the Type II variant by the mid to late 2000s, with the large ventral "canoe" which is strongly suspected if not accepted to be a large SAR; thus offering both ELINT and GMTI/SAR capabilities similar to the E-8 JSTARs.
In the last few years another three Tu-154Ms have also been converted to the Type II standard, so I believe the Air Force has at least seven Type II Tu-154Ms in service as of present, which likely conduct a role similar to JSTARS.
The picture you posted is a Y-8G, also known as Y-8GX3, and the prototype is said to have first flown in 2004, and entered service sometime after... and it is said that 8 Y-8Gs were produced.
Y-8G is said to be a large stand off ECM platform, which looks about right to me. I suspect its cheek arrays are large active ECM arrays.
There is also a new variant tentatively called Y-9G which appeared a few years ago, which has a number of side facing arrays instead of only one cheek array like the Y-8G -- and of course it is also based on the Y-9 airframe rather than Y-8 airframe. I expect the Y-9G to supplement the Y-8G in the airborne stand off ECM role once it enters service.
I remember hearing about these...but you would think that if they were actually in service that we would see some of them painted in some PLAAF colors. All I can find are ones thaty look like commercial passenger planes with some added sensors.
Oh, I am certain they are in service -- the "civil" paint scheme is a remnant of the days when the Air Force probably still felt the need to camoflauge their military aircraft like this. Their B-XYXY numbers are part of "China United Airlines," which is basically a cover for the Air Force.
In fact it wasn't so long ago that the Air Force's Il-76s operated with civilian looking colours as well without official Air Force roundels, and carrying the same B-XYXY serial numbers as part of "China United Airlines", before switching to a more obvious military grey/white scheme and direct military serial numbers and clear Air Force roundels.
antiterror13
Brigadier
How many KJ-500 produced so far and does anybody know how many PLAAF plan to have?
Some analysts believe KJ-500 is more advanced and powerful than KJ-2000. It is hard to believe ... anybody?
Some analysts believe KJ-500 is more advanced and powerful than KJ-2000. It is hard to believe ... anybody?
There are at least four KJ-500s in service, two for air force, two for naval aviation... it is expected that more are currently in production for the air force and navy.
KJ-500 is a smaller aircraft than KJ-2000 and has a slightly lower cruising altitude, both of which are important for the performance of AEW&C aircraft, but considering KJ-500 would have been developed a number of years after KJ-2000, it is definitely not impossible for KJ-500 to be "more advanced" than KJ-2000, and possibly even "more powerful" as well, depending on how one measures it... but ultimately we don't know.