and we haven't heard anything about it being tested on C919. Still have to go through the same certification process.
PLA AEW&C, SIGINT, EW and MPA thread
- Thread starter Sczepan
- Start date
Er, yeah. I'm saying use it for military variants until CJ-1000A becomes available.
Gotcha. But until we know for a fact that LEAP is banned for good it is not wise to develop military version. From technical standpoint it is perfectly workable.
To put things into perspective, the G-forces that military transporters can handle are actually pretty small when compared to the G-forces that typical AAMs can handle.
As per my mention above - Typical military transporters are able to handle about 3-4Gs without permanent structural deformation to the airframe. In contrast, the AIM-120C/D LRAAM fielded by the US military is estimated to be able to pull between 20+Gs and 30+Gs.
Needless to say, military transporters are not the same as typical fighter jets, which can pull 9-10Gs for short moments. And even so, fighter jets are getting increasingly threatened by increasingly agile AAMs - PL-15 is just the starting dish.
We haven't even include all the other factors at play, including the ability to receive RWR warnings and be able to execute necessary maneuvers in time before the enemy AAMs arrives, as we've seen with the May 7 air combat over Kashmir. All aircraft types that are larger than fighters aren't going to fair any better.
Imagine this scenario: The AWAC is flying at the edge of the enemy air-to-air missile maximum range. When the enemy fighter fires the missile, the cargo plane-based AWAC can turn away just a bit faster than a passenger plane-based AWAC, and get out of the missile's range just in time.
Question is - How fast?
You can turn your aircraft away at 3-4Gs (or perhaps even 5Gs but your aircraft likely won't ever fly again after this) to try and dodge the AAM which I've launched against you - But my AAM can maneuver and adjust its course much more aggressively and sharply (20-30+Gs for a typical MR/LRAAM) than your aircraft could ever perform (i.e. ~7-8 times better) without breaking apart mid-air.
This is let alone the fact where your aircraft can only fly at Mach 0.8-0.9 at most, whereas my AAM can fly at Mach 4-5 at terminal stage, if not on average. Even if you managed to turn your Mach 0.8-0.9 aircraft around and flee - Is your aircraft really fast enough to outrun my Mach 4-5 AAM?
TL; DR - It'd be like a semi truck trying to dodge and outrun a kamikaze Formula One car.
Furthermore, if I'm the enemy fighter pilot who is targeting you, I would've done all the necessary calculations so that I would maximize the kinematic range and no-escape zone for my AAM in order to minimize the chances of my AAM missing your aircraft before I go "FOX-1/2/3" (which is, frankly, what every competently fighter pilot are trained to do). Plus, compared to an agile fighter, your aircraft is much, much easier to target and hit, which makes my work easier.
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Is it possible to install AEW subsystem on an unmanned blimp to replace an actual AEW plane? or maybe needed multiple AEW blimp operating at the same time? Blimp are expandable.
After what happened to PAK AEW plane got shot down, I think the blimp approach is not bad.
After what happened to PAK AEW plane got shot down, I think the blimp approach is not bad.
I guess you missed the “edge of the missile’s maximum range” part.
I think this is PLAAF's current approach:
On one hand, they continue large-scale production of aewc aircraft with airframes that may not be the most advanced but feature sufficiently cutting-edge electronic systems. This is to prepare for the inevitable—and potentially significant—losses in future high-tech air warfare.
On the other hand, they are expanding and extending the aew system by utilizing drone platforms (such as the WZ-9) and airships (I believe I’ve seen related images and studies before, though I can’t locate them at the moment).
An AAM's maximum range can change based on a lot of factors - It's not a fixed parameter.
Besides - Who says I must launch my AAM at you from the maximum attainable range of my AAM? I can either have some other ways where I could maximize my AAM's engagement range and no-kill zone, or I can let other allied units that are better positioned and/or have even longer-range AAMs to do the job for me. I'd rather keep my AAMs for situations where the chances of my AAMs hitting my target is highly favorable, rather than to increase the chances of wasting my AAMs.
I see you're focusing on the "launching AAM against the enemy aircraft flying at the edge of the AAM's maximum range" notion, which is not how air combats are typically performed.