The Q-5, J-7, J-8 and older PLAAF aircraft

T

Totoro

Major
VIP Professional
That's pretty much assured, that plaaf is growing in number of units and planes. We have been seeing that for the last several years. Still, a more direct indication of j7 fate would be nice.

At this point I wouldn't be surprised if j7 activity is more for show than for anything useful, almost like a jobs program to keep the unit staff busy. Even if planes themselves hardly fly anymore. But even that can't last for much longer, me thinks.
 
F

Franklin

Captain
tamsen_ikard said:
There was that globaltimes article in 2023 that said China will retire all J-7 by end of 2023. But I think they are still in active service in several brigades. Maybe they need to keep those j-7 just to maintain the same number of brigades. I believe China will expand its air force in terms of number of units and planes. Which means older planes will stay a bit longer in some brigades while newer planes get built and new units form.
Click to expand...
They are doing this in the navy as well. The older ships are not being retired while newer ships are being introduced at a rapid pace. This is bad policy since these older platforms serves no useful purpose while they are hogging up resources in terms of manpower and money.
 
T

tamsen_ikard

Senior Member
Registered Member
Franklin said:
They are doing this in the navy as well. The older ships are not being retired while newer ships are being introduced at a rapid pace. This is bad policy since these older platforms serves no useful purpose while they are hogging up resources in terms of manpower and money.
Click to expand...
Keeping units trained and all support elements active is very important. Even if they are less useful in wartime, they can still train people, petrol places and even monitor/follow/ram ships if needed. J-7 units are China's reserve in wartime, so keeping the knowledge of these planes is useful in that sense. There are several thousand J-7 ready to act as reserve air force if the first line air force is destroyed in a ww3 scenario.
 
S

SinoAmericanCW

Junior Member
Registered Member
Totoro said:
That's pretty much assured, that plaaf is growing in number of units and planes. We have been seeing that for the last several years. Still, a more direct indication of j7 fate would be nice.
Click to expand...
There's no mystery regarding the J-7's fate: there's just one (1x) operational PLAAF unit that flies the type, namely the 52nd Air Brigade, equipped with J-7Gs.

All other J-7s in active service are deployed by 2nd-line training units.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top