Photos of the day: Singin' in the Rain

PLAAF's current two-seat trainer aircraft line up.

This is the way the Peace-mission 2016 starts, not with a bang but a whimper.

This year's Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) Peace Mission anti-terror exercises will be held in Kyrgyzstan on September 5th to the 13th.   With only 270 troops, 4 ZSL92 (WZ551) APCs and 2 Dongfeng jeeps participating, a far cry from the 2005 mission where 8000 troops from the 127th Light Mech Infantry Division conducted an amphibious assault against a "troubled island"

Sunday, September 12, 2010

PLAAF gathers for Peace Mission 2010

Looks like they are sending a bunch of J-10s and B-6s to bomb those "terrorist". Carpet bombing against terrorism, what a concept!

High res photos of PLA's latest HQ-16B medium-range SAM system

Currently in service with the Air Defense Brigade, 41st Group Army, Southern Theater Command

 HQ-16A vs HQ-16B

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

HQ-16 SAM in Tibet.

Back in May 2014, it was reported that the new HQ-16 has been deployed to Tibet for the first time during an anti-air drill., unfortunately the participating military unit was not spelled out..   Fast forward three months and now it is confirmed that the hosting unit was the 651st Independent Air Defense Brigade, organic to the Tibet MD.   Yup, that means the HQ-16 is here to stay.

Friday, May 02, 2014

Photos of the day: HQ-16A in Tibet

Not sure this is a one-time proof of concept or a permanent deployment.

Friday, June 15, 2012

HQ-16A in Shanghai

This CCTV report shows a militia managed ammunition depot offloading HQ-16A launchers to the near by Shanghai Garrison.   This is to suggest that after the 38th and 39th Group Army, the Shanghai Garrison is also protected by the HQ-16A

Sunday, March 11, 2012

HQ-16A spotted in service with the 1st Battalion, 4th Air Defense Brigade, 38th Group Army.

Replacing the old HQ-61, which never enjoyed large-scale deployment

Old HQ61 SAM

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Land Based HQ16 VLS SAM has entered service, confirmed by Chinese media

New surface to air missile ready for action: PLA

http://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/ID/677362/New-surface-to-air-missile-ready-for-action-PLA.aspx


Global Times | September 28, 2011 03:40
By Xu Tianran Share


Official military media for the first time acknowledged Monday that China's new land-based mid-range Surface to Air Missile (SAM) system has reached operational capability. Military observers say that deployment of this missile system will boost China's air defense capability.

The new SAM system, dubbed by foreign media as the Hongqi-16, or Red Flag-16, has been delivered to an air defense unit in the Shenyang Military Region.

In a recent drill, two HQ-16 missiles fired by the unit successfully hit their aerial targets, the official website of the People's Liberation Army Daily reported Monday.

As well as being able to engage aerial targets at high altitude, the mid-range HQ-16 is also able to intercept very low-flying targets at a distance of up to about 40 kilometers, filling the gap between the HQ-7 short-range SAM and the HQ-9 long-range SAM systems, Lan Yun, editor of Modern Ships, a Beijing-based military magazine, told the Global Times.

According to Modern Navy, the official magazine of the PLA Navy, the naval variant of the missile system, which has been fitted on Type 054A frigates, can intercept sea-skimming missiles that fly less than 10 meters above the sea surface.

In modern air attacks, large numbers of land-attack cruise missiles, such as the US Tomahawk missile, are being used, Lan said. "They fly about 50 meters above the ground to avoid early radar warning and interception attempts," he added.

But the current mid-range SAM missile system HQ-12 can only engage targets that fly 300 meters above ground, according to the promotion brochure of its export version, called the KS-1A system.

"Besides the low-altitude engagement capability, the HQ-16 is also more accurate than the HQ-12. The deployment of the land-based HQ-16 can greatly enhance the mainland's capability to counter modern air attacks," Lan said.

PLAN decommission of the day: Luda class DDG163

Farewell: China's first-generation guided missile destroyer decommissioned

Source
    People's Daily Online
Editor
    Huang Panyue



Type 051 guided missile destroyer Nanchang has been officially decommissioned as of Sept. 8, after serving in the Chinese Navy for almost 34 years. According to some, Nanchang was China's last active Type 051 destroyer.

Type 051 destroyers are China’s first generation of domestically-manufactured missile destroyers. The first Type 051 destroyer was commissioned on Dec. 31, 1971, and was later named Jinan. The commissioning of Jinan marked a historic moment for China, as that was when the country became capable of controlling its surrounding seas, according to Navy Today magazine.

Nanchang began to serve in the navy in 1982. Two years later, it sailed and anchored, for the first time, at the southernmost shoal of Zengmu Reef in the South China Sea during a 35-day patrol mission to the Nansha Islands, Navy Today reported.

The Type 051 destroyers have since been serving as coastal defense in the Nansha Islands. The decommissioned destroyer will be sent back to Nanchang, Jiangxi province, where it will become a major tourist attraction at a local military-themed park.

More mobile firepower to China's mountain infantry units

The PLL-09 122-mm self-propelled howitzer system fires at a simulated target during the live-fire training conducted by a mechanized infantry regiment under the PLA Western Theater Command in the Pamir mountains in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Sept. 9, 2016. The training aims to test the performance of the PLL-09 in plateau environment. (81.cn/ Wang Ning)