This is not just fuel we are talking about here. Keeping a fighter aircraft in operational conditions and sending them on emergency intercepts are very taxing on the airframe. If anything the real cost is understated.
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- Thread starter Jeff Head
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This is not just fuel we are talking about here. Keeping a fighter aircraft in operational conditions and sending them on emergency intercepts are very taxing on the airframe. If anything the real cost is understated.
Depends how detailed their calculations are from the fuel in the planes, the cost of the aircraft parts, the salaries of the pilots flying the jet + maintainers fixing the plane + crew chiefs launching the aircraft + radar operators leading the intercept, the maintenance cost per flight hour, the pension contributions of the pilot... etc. As a level of reference, the cost per flight hour of an F-16 is ~USD 8.5k.... so translate that to the amount of scrambling they've had to do and 900 million in 2020 alone doesn't sound too far fetched. PLA aren't just "intruding" their "ADIZ" for no reason - its a war of attrition, it sends a loud and clear message to the DPP, and more importantly it is sound strategy. If the ROCAF doesn't scramble they appear weak, and the PLA benefit from SIGINT collection of where ROCAF radar as well as SAM sites are... vice versa if the ROCAF scrambles, it hurts their pocket books.
8.5KUSD per flight hour, that means ROCAF had more than 90,000 flight hours in 2020 just for intercepting?
Bare minimum ROCAF scrambles a 4-ship formation to intercept. Multiply that with the (and lets say each sortie is about 2 hours) and we get 24,000 flight hours and ~USD204m... and that's purely the cost of scrambling fast jets. I'd also imagine their E-2T AEW has to somehow be involved in a tactical intercept to paint a clearer picture in the sky, and the cost per flight hour on that is ~USD10k... chances are that vulnerable asset won't be flying without fighter escorts too, especially when the ROCAF only has 6 of them in inventory.
I'd imagine there are other costs such as soldier pension and benefits contributions, cost of operating and maintaining their integrated air defense systems, the cost of operating an around-the-clock standby quick reaction crew of pilots+crew chiefs+maintainers (I mean #protectourcountry am I right lol, never know when the PLA are gonna rock up), the cost of keeping an ailing inventory of planes in operational condition ready to scramble every single one of them just in case the PLA shows up with the whole shebang of a strike package.... it all adds up, and suddenly 900 million doesn't seem that far fetched.
Two Mi-171 collided near MaAnShan. Casualties unknown .
"winning the JH-10A fighter bombers some opportunities to quickly penetrate the defense line"
Come on, really? Defense reporters man...
Come on, really? Defense reporters man...
Well the article said that the J10 faced the carrier J15 jets which gave an opportunity to the
I admit that it sounds strange but who knows.. can someone explain if deploying JH-10A in such a manner is viable? (That they are used on the mock battle, shows that the PLAAF must have a use for them)
The journalist meant JH-7A.