PLA inventory Tally

Migleader, where are your ludas? Do you consider them to be the 'retired or if not they should be' category? 17 units built, they're still operational and still counted on by PLAN, at least on 52G version, anyway. I think it'd be a mistake not to count them in. Same thing for old mings and such. Also, i noticed you have just 9 kilos all in all. Didn't china have 4 kilos before the 8 new ones contract was signed?

I'm sorely lacking on trainer aircraft info...

Adeptitus, where on that site is the inventory list? i just couldn't find it... Or do you mean one has to go through each regiment page and just assume that each regiment has 24 planes?

Let me go on with helicopters and trainer aircraft. Helicopters are, if not differently noted, a part of the army support force.

Mi8 - 30 (grounded?)
mi17 - 160 (24 more to be delivered)
Z6 - 70
Z8/SA321 - 24-36 (some 12 are in PLAN)
Z9 - 40
WZ9 - 30-40
Z11 - 40
S70c - 10-21
SA342l puma - 8
SA316 - 8
AS656/Z9c - 20 (PLAN)
Ka-28 - 7-8 (PLAN)


Trainer aircraft:

CJ6 - 100-1000 ???
JL8 - 20-40
JJ7 - 50-400 ???

Totoro said:

Migleader, where are your ludas? Do you consider them to be the 'retired or if not they should be' category? 17 units built, they're still operational and still counted on by PLAN, at least on 52G version, anyway. I think it'd be a mistake not to count them in. Same thing for old mings and such. Also, i noticed you have just 9 kilos all in all. Didn't china have 4 kilos before the 8 new ones contract was signed?

I'm sorely lacking on trainer aircraft info...

Adeptitus, where on that

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site is the inventory list? i just couldn't find it... Or do you mean one has to go through each regiment page and just assume that each regiment has 24 planes?

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Luda's? you do realize they are the 51Gs. I count 15 of them, most or all of which have been modernized. These ships still form the bulk of the Plan.

Ahh sry. The 877;s are the first two Kilos, but your right. China has 9 636's. I correct that.

Sorry, i seem to be very absentminded today. I see you had already listed the ludas. I have looked at the link you've provided, there it says those 18 plus 19 of JH7 planes are both the basic JH7 variant, everything is listed under the JH7 info box, not JH7A one.

To Troika, please don't think that since i've made my version of PLAA inventory that you shouldn't post yours. The more, the better. Perhaps that way we can make it more accurate, interpolating each other's numbers.

Totoro said:

Migleader, where are your ludas? Do you consider them to be the 'retired or if not they should be' category? 17 units built, they're still operational and still counted on by PLAN, at least on 52G version, anyway. I think it'd be a mistake not to count them in. Same thing for old mings and such. Also, i noticed you have just 9 kilos all in all. Didn't china have 4 kilos before the 8 new ones contract was signed?
I'm sorely lacking on trainer aircraft info...
Adeptitus, where on that

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site is the inventory list? i just couldn't find it... Or do you mean one has to go through each regiment page and just assume that each regiment has 24 planes?

Click to expand...

A total of 17 Type 051 Luda ships were built from 1970 to 1991. According to Sinodefense web site, ship #160 "Guangzhou" has been decommissioned. The remaning Luda fleet is considered obsolete and will be gradually retired over the next decade.

One thing you have to consider is Navy ships aren't always active and out to sea. The ocean is rough on equipment and ships require a lot of maintenance. Just because there are 16 Luda's on PLAN's roster doesn't necessarily mean all of them are in active service status. Some might be in a drydock undergoing repairs and upgrades.

As for your question on the Kilo sub orders:

The PLA Navy ordered two Project 877EKM (NATO codename: Kilo class) diesel-electric submarines from Russia in 1994 and two improved Project 636 submarines in 1996. These submarines are deployed in the PLA East Sea Fleet based at Zhoushan, Zhejiang. In 2002 the PLA Navy ordered an additional eight Project 636M submarines worth US$2 billion. By December 2005 the PLA Navy had already received seven of the eight submarines ordered. The last unit is scheduled to be delivered by mid-2006.

On trainer aircraft, you can look here and see what kind of trainers are in use:

Looks like they're still using Yak-18 (CJ-6) & MiG-19 (JJ-6) trainers for basic flight instruction, and K8's for advanced jet training. Here's some info on CJ-6:


As for the china-military.org site, yes, they do not provide totals. PLA is not transparent in its inventory and deployement, we can only speculate based on avail info and photos.

-Are anybody actually sure about the number of skymasters that had been fitted onto Y-8s? I know 6-8 systems were purchased, and that at least two had been fitted. But are all fitted?

-As somebody had noted, some Su-30mkk had crashed. I have heard that replacements were ordered, but not entirely sure number.

-I note the 30 Il-76, 8 Il-78. I have heard 34-4 also. Odd.

depending all the source, some go with 30/8 split, some with 32/6 and some with 34/4. I think the first one makes the most sense. I would say China had 20 IL-76 before (huitong's site had serial numbers for 20) and probably 17 now.

KJ-2000 - 4 (we've only spotted 3, but the logical number is 4 here due to various reasons) of course, you can decrease the count for IL-76 then.
Y-8J AEW - 2+ (more probably 4 over all, China seems to be building these in groups of 4s)
Y-8 balance beam - 2+
Y-8 rotodome AWACS - 1

J-10 - 100+
24 JH-7
19 JH-7G
40 JH-7A?
ka-28 - 10 (4 ASW and 6 SAR I think?, again serial numbers for 10 of them)

type 22 - 30+ (we might as well stop counting, they are building this too fast)

tphuang said:

depending all the source, some go with 30/8 split, some with 32/6 and some with 34/4. I think the first one makes the most sense. I would say China had 20 IL-76 before (huitong's site had serial numbers for 20) and probably 17 now.

KJ-2000 - 4 (we've only spotted 3, but the logical number is 4 here due to various reasons) of course, you can decrease the count for IL-76 then.
Y-8J AEW - 2+ (more probably 4 over all, China seems to be building these in groups of 4s)
Y-8 balance beam - 2+
Y-8 rotodome AWACS - 1

J-10 - 100+
24 JH-7
19 JH-7G
40 JH-7A?
ka-28 - 10 (4 ASW and 6 SAR I think?, again serial numbers for 10 of them)

type 22 - 30+ (we might as well stop counting, they are building this too fast)

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I don't recall hearing the 23/6 split, personally I think it can go either way.. China needs large transport probably as much as it needs tankers.

The Y-8J AEW are the skymasters, so what are they doing with the other systems do you think? Reverse engineering and/or spares.

I have seen the prototype-painted picture of Y-8 rotodome... seems a little small for the KJC-2000 radar.

The JH-7G you refer to are the new naval versions, yes?

...Type 22? You refer to the FACs? There are 30+!?

I assumed all jh-7's were for naval aviation. I have not seen any in serivce with air force or army aviation. But what is the jh-7G exactly? A new model? any pictures of it?

MIGleader said:

I assumed all jh-7's were for naval aviation. I have not seen any in serivce with air force or army aviation. But what is the jh-7G exactly? A new model? any pictures of it?

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From Chinese Military Aviation

The latest news indicated that PLAN are receiving at least 19 new JH-7s (02 Batch? serial # 82x6x) powered by additional second-hand Sprey MK202 turbofan engines supplied by Rolls-Royce, the first of which flew in September 2001 at XAC. These JH-7s feature upgraded avionics including the new JL-10A (with enhanced AA & AG modes and compatible with C-802K AShM) multi-mode PD radar replacing the old Type 232H.

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I am thinking the JH-7Gs are these.