totoroI can’t say i’m very knowledgeable about the matter as my sources are the same ones you’ve probably read – various blogs and forums about PLAAF that sometimes do have some good info – news about official reports etc.
With that disclaimer out of the way, I am guessing it Q5L isn’t going really anywhere as PLAAF doesn’t seem to have obtained it in significant numbers. It would appear they operate a single squadron. Furthermore, during the last 5 or so years we witnessed a sharp drop in overall Q5 numbers, from several hundred to perhaps 150ish (200 at most, depending on how large Q5 squadrons are) planes. Most of them are D models, with those few dozen L models. As for whole E/F/L mystery – i can’t say i know any more than you. It would appear that at least F and L models are pretty much the same thing. With difference between E and F/L being in the laser tracker built in the nose. All that being said – i’d conclude that even if E, F and L are different versions it would appear that E and F designations were just developmental variants with slight increments in capability until L variant was reached, and that E and F never really went into service, at least with PLAAF.
With all that – it seems very clear Q5 is on an expressway to being removed from PLAAF service. Even though the newly produced planes probably have 10 to perhaps 15 more years in them, i wouldn’t be surprised if by 2015 Q5 completely disappears from PLAAF. It would just be too costly to maintain the type in such small numbers. L variant and especially E/F variants aren’t really brand new. Yet PLAAF didn’t pick them up in great numbers. All that tells me chances for some significant upgrades for D models are quite low.
As for bangladesh – yes, i’ve read the same thing but i don’t really know anything more about the weapon’s service in their AF. As for the weapon itself, LS6 definitely is a winged kit with GPS/INS guidance so in a way it is a jdam type weapon, perhaps more akin to diamondback. Of course, using american controlled GPS has its drawbacks though as more and more beidou satellites get launched that may turn out to be a non issue in half a decade or so.
totoroIt would appear ls500 and lt 2 are indeed more or less the same weapon. lt2 seems to be the designation used for export. With that in mind, there may be slight differences between variants used by plaaf and those sold abroad, perhaps in laser frequency, but in principle they should be the same weapon.
totorowouldn’t also those tactical jammers be of more use against smaller radars of weaker power with less processing capability against jamming – just like ones that could be found in active radar air to air missiles? Home on jam is nice but usually there are multiple planes in the air, and the one staying behind can be jamming while the one in front is protected by its jamming. Or, alternatively, if the jammer isn’t strong enough for any serious stand off jamming like described above, the planes in the group could all be jamming, on and off, thus confusing the missile and making it change course every time it tries to track a new jamming source. Plane A jams, plane B and C flies for ten seconds. Plane A switches position, Plane B jams, plane C flies. Plane A and B fly, plane C jams, and so on.
totorokj2000 phalcon is operational with plaaf – so far 4 units have been identified in service.
kj200 is actualy the erieye looking awacs, not the y8 with the conventional rotodome. kj200 is operational with plaaf (where 4 units have been identified so far) and there have been a few seen serving within planaf. (perhaps another 4?)
y8 with the conventional rotodome is not in service with chinese forces but was tested and developed to be sold to Pakistani air force.
y8 with the nose mounted radar may not even be a proper aew plane. As far as i know that radar is based on british searchwater radar with added airborne search abilities. It should still be a primarily maritime patrol plane, though with limited aew and command abilities.
z8 aew helo seems to be in testing phase. though, realistically, it may also turn up to be a maritime search platform or perhaps even a battlefield surveillance platform, like the VERY similar french army platform. It may not be an aew platform.
totoroSince SM-2s were known to be used as antishipping missiles on certain occasions, how hard would it be to use SM-6 for the same mission? I would imagine amraam seeker isn’t as great for targeting purposes as the targeting 15 miles off a ship is – but still. I do hear there’s a new seeker planned long term, to come in place of amraam’s.
Ideally, one would be able to hit enemy ships perhaps even 400+ km away, without even launching a single strike airplane.
totoroplus, no one really knows just how long those ‘final moments’ of illumination are. and they probably differ in various situations against various incoming missiles. It is a huge difference between, say, 4 seconds of illumination or half a second of illumination.
totoroAir Force-Navy team may counter China threat
A new major strategy under construction at the Pentagon calls for the Air Force and Navy to cooperate in ways they never have before, such as Navy surface ships defending Air Force bases against missile attacks and Air Force bombers laying mines.
Called Air-Sea Battle, the military doctrine is being researched and developed by about a dozen colonels from the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, with input from joint combatant commands.
The colonels are scheduled to give Air Force and Navy commanders an early look at their work May 27 at the Navy/Air Force war fighters conference in Washington.
Lawmakers and defense experts got their chance to learn more about the concept May 18 at a briefing by four analysts from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, an independent, nonpartisan think tank for national security policy.
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Seriously? This is only NOW being planned for? I thought such moves would be a given a decade ago. It is only logical for USN to make a defense umbrella over Okinawa, for example.
totorohttp://www.deagel.com/Weapon-Stations/Davide_a001748001.aspx
or it could be, like with the davide, guided via datalink. I assume that makes it more rugged and less susceptible to high acceleration damage when exiting the barell.
totoroAgreed, such guns could play a much greater role against various artillery and/or bomb attacks than against ballistic missiles. Reentry speed/mass of SRBMs is just too great for a gun to be able to move them away from their trajectory. Speed also means a much narrower window of opportunity to intercept. Even if we use a very conservative figure of yesteryear’s BMs and say they will fall at 3 km/sec, in practice that means even a large caliber gun (say 76mm) will have no more than two second window of engagement. Again speed will mean its harder to hit it. Furthermore, it is often more worthwile to go for a cluster warhead or even just detonate the warhead a km or two before impact – to cover a larger area. BMs arent pinpoint precision assassins but area denial weapons.
On the other hand – a highly automatized and precise weapon system – perhaps with 76mm rounds being passively guided by a laser illuminator, could potentially be quite good against various incoming cruise missiles, winged bombs (a la SDB) and perhaps even regular fast falling JDAMS etc.
totoroThat is the million dollar question, yet one that is nearly impossible to answer. Far too many variables. With various bases in japan/korea, US forces would have a much easier task. Without them, they’d have to rely on just guam/carriers, making it a far more difficult proposition.
Naturally, there’s all sort of in between possibilities. Like if Japan forbids the use of its mainland bases but sorta kinda look away at US usage of Kadena on okinawa. Kadena would help A LOT, though, naturally, it’d also be most vulnerable base and possibly most attacked one.
totoroIt is very hard to keep people from talking, even if you take away their cameras and cellphones. With hundreds if not thousands of people on the project, even if they signed a confidentiality agreement, at least a few of them will still talk. And describe what they saw. And maybe even draw it down. Tha’s how we got all those fairly precise aritstic redenings of pak fa years in advance. And it does seem that one particular layout is much more popular depicting JXX than the others. So i certainly wouldn’t be surprised if the ending result does look like the images we’re seeing here.
totoroWhile I agree its silly to have new planes in service just as the carrier is out of service, combined number of all those planes may not really be that much higher than what the new kuznetsov will be able to carry. It was said several times that after the modernization kuznetsov will be able to carry more planes. 26 migs plus 18-24 su33 (not sure how many are in service right now) gives some 45-50 planes. Not all planes will be able to be used in service, there’s always regular maintenance. So we may be looking at 40 planes or even a tad less at any given time. That certainly seems doable for a carrier of Kuznestov’s size, if remodelled properly.
totorodoes this mast feature 4 radar arrays for targeting/guidance purposes and six larger aperture arrays for surveillance/tracking? I must say ive never seen such layout. Most of the time i see 4 panels being used, sometimes even just three are enough to get some sort of 360 degree coverage. But 6? Is that really necesarry?
totoroThe issue i have with the whole concept of simple PD stealth interceptor is that it is WAY too specialized. That alone kills its prospects for any smaller, less rich nation. Those countries need multirole planes, not “a plane that is to be used in case USA wages an air war against them, and even then only something that will make their life as hard as possible, without paying attention to one’s own losses”
Not to mention we’re talking of a very narrow field assymetric warfare platform. While there is no true counter today, their very own assymetric nature says a counter could be developed. Especially considering poorer, smaller nations cant afford to adapt as fast as richer nations. I’d actually wager that even during the development of such a PD interceptor the richer nations would already start developing counters to it. Only chance of success would be development and deployment in total secrecy, which is unrealistic.
If we assume richer nations would use such platforms to battle each other – well, that makes a bit more sense, but again – to have the whole thing economically viable one would have to have lots of those produced, and if one deploys lots of such platforms it means they’re stuck with lots of planes which can do just one kind of mission properly. In my opinion it simply isn’t worth it.
All that being said, the drawings are cool and I always say – bring ’em on, when fantasy projects are concerned. 🙂
totoroSplendid work, Planeman! Do you happen to know more about russia’s air defence regiments? More precisely, the s300/s400 series; how many batallions of those are in service, how many batteries per batallion, how many radars and launchers in a battery (how many of total launchers in a battery ready for combat at any given moment)?
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