PLAAF Breaking News (including articles with Pictures or videos)

A.Man said:

Video: The Backbones of Chinese Aviation

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Beijing: The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) has announced that they have successfully developed a hypersonic ramjet engine after a series of tests that was carried out by the Chinese agency.

Hypersonic engines, that could potentially be attached to Chinese Air Force fighters such as the Chengdu J-10 or the Shenyang J-11, could reach speeds as far as 6200 km/h and can be attached to air to air missiles which would give the Chinese Air Force a major tactical advance over other fighter jets in the field as well as ensuring that any missile travelling at this speed would be impervious to any existing missile defence systems.
Pictured is the X-51A Waverider, an American example of the technology.
Reports are suggesting that China has chosen to focus on utilising solid fuels that are considered more stable and eliminate the time consuming process of fuelling them meaning that they could be utilised in a rapid deployment situation. The new engines could also improve the range of the existing 100km weapons that are in the Chinese arsenal and increase that to 320km which could also potentially eliminate any no-kill zones and make opposing forces in fighter jets to be severely disadvantaged. Six of these missiles could be coming to China’s new J-20 and J-31 stealth fighters that have deployed this year.
Combined with the long-range sensor networks that are incorporated within the stealth fighters, Chinese fighters would have a major tactical advantage and would have the ability to reach far behind the front lines to destroy vital support aircraft such radar systems or potentially air bases.

Whilst the Chinese military has developed such engine systems, they will be working to also develop super range detection network of sensors to support such aircraft equipped with hypersonic engines as well as enhancing the capability of air to surface and surface to surface missiles with such engines.

With rising concerns in the South China Sea, an increase in the arms build-up on the Chinese front, a new generation of stealth fighter jets and anti-ship missiles, the development and implementation of such a weapon could potentially pose a bigger security risk to neighbouring countries – that is once the engine is fitted to fighter jets and has undergone testing in a manned aircraft capacity.

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China has deployed its newest anti-submarine aircraft and stepped up unmanned aircraft deployments to Hainan island on the fringes of the South China Sea, according to satellite imagery obtained by Defense News.

Satellite photos taken on May 10 and May 20 by commercial satellite imagery company DigitalGlobe showed four Shaanxi Y-8Q turboprop aircraft with its distinctive magnetic anomaly detector boom parked on the ground at Lingshui Air Base in the southeastern part of China’s Hainan island.

The satellite pass from May 10 also showed three Harbin BZK-005 high-altitude, long-range UAVs at the base. This is the largest number of BZK-005s to have been seen at Lingshui since they were first noted in 2016. The drones have also previously been observed at the Chinese air base at nearby Woody Island, in the disputed Paracel Islands.

In addition, two KJ-500 airborne early warning aircraft were also seen at Lingshui on both occasions. Defense News had previously reported on the deployment of the KJ-500 to Hainan at nearby Jialaishi Air Base that had been seen on satellite photos taken in March, which was the first time the KJ-500 had been seen deployed by the People’s Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN.

This is the first time the Y-8Q has been seen at Hainan, with China having previously rotationally deployed maritime patrol aircraft detachments to Lingshui, made up of a mixture of older Y-8Js and Y-8Xs drawn from the PLAN's two special-mission aircraft regiments based in northern China.

Lingshui is one of three PLAN air bases in Hainan, which is the southernmost province of China and borders the northern edge of the South China Sea. The three bases are normally home to three regiments of Shenyang J-11B Flanker fighters and a single regiment of Xian JH-7 fighter-bombers, from which they have been used on occasion to intercept routine U.S. military flights operating in nearby international airspace.

The base’s previous claim to fame was being the air base on which a badly damaged U.S. Navy EP-3 Aries surveillance aircraft force-landed following a midair collision with a Chinese Shenyang J-8 interceptor during an aerial encounter in 2001.

The Y-8Q is the newest maritime patrol aircraft to be fielded by China and the first combat-capable PLAN aircraft of this type, boasting of improved anti-submarine warfare capabilities that the older Y-8J and Y-8X lacked. It is based on an improved Shaanxi Y-8 airlifter airframe with improved turboprop engines and high-efficiency, six-bladed propellers.

In addition to the magnetic anomaly detector boom, which is used to hunt submarines by detecting minute variations in the Earth's magnetic field, the Y-8Q also has a surface-search radar and an electro-optical turret for the maritime patrol mission, while a fuselage weapons bay located forward of the main landing gear will likely be used for carrying torpedoes.

Lingshui is one of three PLAN air bases in Hainan, which is the southernmost province of China and borders the northern edge of the South China Sea. The three bases are normally home to three regiments of Shenyang J-11B Flanker fighters and a single regiment of Xian JH-7 fighter-bombers, from which they have been used on occasion to intercept routine U.S. military flights operating in nearby international airspace.

The base’s previous claim to fame was being the air base on which a badly damaged U.S. Navy EP-3 Aries surveillance aircraft force-landed following a midair collision with a Chinese Shenyang J-8 interceptor during an aerial encounter in 2001.

The Y-8Q is the newest maritime patrol aircraft to be fielded by China and the first combat-capable PLAN aircraft of this type, boasting of improved anti-submarine warfare capabilities that the older Y-8J and Y-8X lacked. It is based on an improved Shaanxi Y-8 airlifter airframe with improved turboprop engines and high-efficiency, six-bladed propellers.

In addition to the magnetic anomaly detector boom, which is used to hunt submarines by detecting minute variations in the Earth's magnetic field, the Y-8Q also has a surface-search radar and an electro-optical turret for the maritime patrol mission, while a fuselage weapons bay located forward of the main landing gear will likely be used for carrying torpedoes.

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This satellite image shows a Shaanxi Y-8Q turboprop aircraft at Lingshui Air Base in the southeastern part of China’s Hainan island.

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jobjed said:

@Deino

Captions from an

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suggest 11th Division 31st Rgt has been brigadised.


Therefore, 31st Rgt has probably brigadised.

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Julio Ramos said:

What "it has brigadised" means?

They asigned more planes to a specific district due to its importance?
The organization changed but the number of planes stayed the same?
Has now, the new brigade, more "operational independence"?

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