asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
Chinese special mission aircraft are coming along very nicely
PLA AEW&C, SIGINT, EW and MPA thread
- Thread starter Sczepan
- Start date
asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
85211? That’s a new serial
Other known ones are 85291 and 85292
Anyone else read that second last one any differently ?
Other known ones are 85291 and 85292
Anyone else read that second last one any differently ?
Where did you see this number? All I see is 9241, 9211 and 8529x ?
All these special mission planes have one thing in common. They are all propeller driven. Yes they are useful but extremely slow and not so maneuverable. Therefor they are vulnerable. I said it before that China needs to develop a Gulfstream like business jet platform for both civilian and millitary use.
Hendrik_2000
Lieutenant General
Speed is not necessary for surveillance,MPA and sigint aircraft loitering time and endurance is .The only advantage of jet powered is larger coverage area
But China primary interest is east China sea and south china sea Therefore good enough for prop plane
The difference in survivability conferred by speed between a turboprop driven Y-9 or C-130J class platform vs a jet powered Gulfstream or 737 vs even an obsolete fighter jet armed is probably minimal to nil, and such platforms would not survive in an environment of contested airspace anyhow.
So jet powered platforms like Gulfstream jets don't really offer much advantage in that regard WRT survivability or being significantly less vulnerable vs turboprop aircraft.
What they do offer, is the that they have a slightly higher cruising altitude vs turboprop driven aircraft. For some aircraft, a higher cruising altitude means their sensors (both passive and active) have a higher horizon range.
But the cruising altitude of a Y-9 is far from shabby and is certainly the most appropriate medium weight platform for the PLA's current AEW&C, ELINT/SIGINT, ISR and MPA needs. One day when a fully domestic C919 is ready they can adopt that aircraft for these roles, but until then the Y-9 is imperfect but still very capable.
Hendrik_2000
Lieutenant General
Training in joint surveillance of several specific devices based in the North East.
Hendrik_2000
Lieutenant General
The proliferation of AEW From Raj 47
upgraded with new special large shelters. 11 & 14 others have been noticed here earlier.
upgraded with new special large shelters. 11 & 14 others have been noticed here earlier.
