Tuesday, August 16, 2016
CCTV capture of the day: JL-9g in a simlated carrier take off
Yup, this is how most of the Chinese navy pilots earn their carrier wings
Monday, August 15, 2016
Photos of the day:24th Chinese naval escort taskforce leaves for mission
QINGDAO, Aug. 11 (ChinaMil) -- The 24th Chinese naval escort taskforce set sail from Qingdao, a port city in east China's Shandong Province, for the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somali coast on Aug. 10, 2016.
The taskforce consists of the guided-missile destroyer Harbin (Hull No. 112), the guided-missile frigate Handan (Hull No. 579) and the comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu (Hull No. 960).
The North China Sea Fleet of the Chinese PLA Navy held a seeing-off ceremony for the taskforce at a naval port in Qingdao.
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Type-96B seen as pillar of nation's tank force
Source: China Daily Editor: Zhang Tao
China's military is likely to deploy the
Type-96B tank as the pillar of its tank fleet, replacing most of its
old models, observers said.
Gao Zhuo, a military observer in
Shanghai who has close contact with the People's Liberation Army, told
China Daily that the excellent capabilities of the Type-96B qualify it
to be the backbone of China's tank force.
"The Type-96B is the strongest variant
of the Type-96 family and is truly an advanced, third-generation main
battle tank," he said. "The PLA will use it to replace the old tanks
such as the Type-59 and Type-69 models."
His remarks came as the Type-96B
delivered impressive performances in the ongoing Masters of Automobile
and Tank Hardware competition, also known as the Tank Biathlon, at the
Alabino training range in Moscow.
The PLA sent several Type-96B tanks to
take part in the tank competition, the most watched part of the
Russia-hosted International Army Games.
The eight-day individual part of the
competition, which involved 54 teams from 17 countries, ended on Sunday,
with the Chinese delegation scoring the highest.
All of the PLA's three teams were to compete in the semifinal that started on Tuesday.
By the end of last year, the Chinese
military had more than 7,000 tanks in active service, including about
2,000 Type-96s and Type-96As, as well as about 600 Type-99s and
Type-99As, so the majority of the PLA armored force is still equipped
with tanks made several decades ago, according to foreign military
analysts.
Huang Guozhi, senior editor at Modern
Weaponry magazine, said that despite the fact that Type-99 series tanks
are more advanced, their high price and limited production capacity mean
that it's unrealistic for the PLA to purchase and deploy them on a
large scale.
"Therefore, the Type-96B, with a better
price and satisfactory capabilities, is very attractive to the Chinese
and foreign militaries. It is the best option for the PLA to modernize
its armored forces," he said.
According to an article posted by China
North Industries Group Corp on its WeChat social media account, the
Type-96B－compared with its predecessors in the Type-96 family－has a
high-performance 125 mm smoothbore gun, an improved, more powerful
engine, newly developed transmission gear and a state-of-the-art
fire-control system.
Yu Shuo, a tank researcher in Beijing,
said the Type-96B is among the latest achievements by the nation's land
arms industry. He suggested that too much emphasis should not be placed
on the results of the Tank Biathlon, as the experience gained is more
important to the PLA.
Tuesday, August 09, 2016
Monday, August 08, 2016
Type 051 destroyer is still going strong
While there are only 7 Type 051 left in PLAN's orbat, but I would not count them out just yet -- those old work-horses carry the same C-803 anti-ship missile as the other second-tier surface front-line combatants and with 16 of them to spare, it still has quite an anti-ship punch left.
As this drill is trying to demonstrate, their lack of meaningful air defense and anti submarine warfare capacities can be somewhat compensated by operating under the umbrella of their modern peers. In another word, they are now PLAN's missile-truck.
As this drill is trying to demonstrate, their lack of meaningful air defense and anti submarine warfare capacities can be somewhat compensated by operating under the umbrella of their modern peers. In another word, they are now PLAN's missile-truck.
Warships attached to a destroyer flotilla with the North China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy steam in formation during a live-fire training exercise in China’s Yellow Sea. The destroyer flotilla organized its guided-missile destroyers Dalian (Hull Number 110) and Kaifeng (Hull Number 109) and guided-missile frigates Daqing (Hull Number 576) and Luoyang (Hull Number 527) to conduct a four-day live-fire training exercise in China’s Yellow Sea from Aug. 2 to 5, 2016. (81.cn/ Zhang Hailong)
Friday, August 05, 2016
Photos of the day: 15th Airborne corps airdrops in Tibet with Y-9
Monday, August 01, 2016
Now checking in with the Y-9 transport aircraft program
A Y-9 large transport aircraft airdrops three ZBD-03 airborne armored infantry fighting vehicles during airborne combat training. An airborne regiment with the PLA Air Force conducted airborne combat training at the Gobi Desert in the northwest China in late July, 2016, including such subjects as heavy equipment airdrop, logistical support, parachute skills, fire strike and so forth. (81.cn/ Chen Lichun)
Sunday, October 07, 2012
Photos of the day: Clear images of Y-9 Transporter in "China Airforce" color
Judging from the recently photos, there is no doubt that the Y-9 project has entered serial production.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Y-9 project, rebooted.
http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2010/09/y-9-project-rebooted.html
According to China Aviation News (here) the long delayed first Y-9 prototype is under construction. It is scheduled to perform its maiden flight by 2011.
http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2009/07/y-9-tactical-transport-aircraft-program.htmlTuesday, July 14, 2009
Y-9 Tactical Transport Aircraft program back on track?
According to Shanfei’s press release posted on its website (http://www.shanfei.com/xwzx/new/20090713,1.html) the Y-9 dual-purpose Tactical Transport Aircraft project has been restarted. Shanfei upper management acknowledged elements that caused the delay of this important project. They included: unbalanced department workload, lack of research capability, project planning, funding, in addition to a shortage of parts, limited parts assembly lines and final assembly, and limited test flight capabilities. There were also technology limitations, frequent accidents due to low safety standards, poor quality control, undefined procedures and poor production work flows that led to a serious delay of the project.
Here are the words in Shanfei’s press release and judging from the language used AVIC, Shanfei’s parent company, must be getting hard on them.
大 运研制按计划要求正常推进。但 由于任务繁重、研发能力和资源不足，对现场生产组织提出挑战，多项工作进度不同程度滞后；零件生产、部装、总装、试飞等能力未填平补齐，受现场技术质量问 题处理影响，生产不畅，任务不均衡，严重影响产品交付效率；因违反程序、操作规程等原因，多次发生质量、安全事故，安全生产形势严峻
The Y-9 Tactical Transport Aircraft, or YunShuji-9 project, was reported back in 2001 as an enlarged version of the PLA’s workhorse Y-8 transport: a Chinese version of the C-130 Hercules with an airdrop payload capability of 20,000kg or 100 paratroopers. The older Y-8 had a max airdrop payload of 13,200kg. The Y-9 has a built-in RoRo ramp for quick offloads/airdrops. It will also have a max range of 3000km, allowing it to reach most of China from Wuhan—the central city in China and also home to the 15th airborne army. Strategically, this allows the Chinese military a quick reaction to any trouble spot and is one of the reasons why the Y-9 project is so important. Also, it lessens the reliance on Russia for transport aircraft, even though it is not in the same class as the Russian Il-76’s payload of 50,000 to 88,000kg. But the Y-9 is a homegrown and inexpensive solution that is capable of dropping armor such as ZBD03/ZLC2000 Airborne Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The PLA’s order for 36 Il-76s placed in 2005 is still under negotiation.
Now that the project is seriously behind schedule, it will not be surprising to see management changes take place at Shanfei.
Official photo from Shanfei
Y-9 display model and artist impression:
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