MiG 17

[Sargodhian_Eagle]

When did PAF oprate MiG 17 or its variant?
I thnk F-86 may be but i m nt sure
Plz clear it

 

[shehbazi2001]

Although you could have asked this question in the air force question thread, however, FT-5 used by PAF is chinese version of Mig-17. Chinese designation is J-5. Chinese versions of Mig-19 and Mig-21 have also been used by PAF and called as F-6 and F-7 respectively. Chinese designations are J-6 and J-7.

 

[fatman17]

Although you could have asked this question in the air force question thread, however, FT-5 used by PAF is chinese version of Mig-17. Chinese designation is J-5. Chinese versions of Mig-19 and Mig-21 have also been used by PAF and called as F-6 and F-7 respectively. Chinese designations are J-6 and J-7.

about 20 FT-5s are still operational at mianwali until enough K-8Ps are inducted by the PAF.

according to sources, about 40 F-6s are kept in storage for "last-ditch-emergencies".

F-7P and F-7PG and FT-7s are still operational as everyone knows.

 

[TexasJohn]

about 20 FT-5s are still operational at mianwali until enough K-8Ps are inducted by the PAF.

according to sources, about 40 F-6s are kept in storage for "last-ditch-emergencies".

F-7P and F-7PG and FT-7s are still operational as everyone knows.

40 F-6s?? what on earth for ? target practice for the enemy? wow!

 

[Muradk]

Drones lets see how that works out.

 

[mhussain]

I think that some of those could be used in a pilotless manner to "fool" enemies. For instance, the enemy may see 10 radar blips on its radar and fire BVRs against it, only to hit 5 drones..

 

[TexasJohn]

Drones lets see how that works out.

Now that's an idea! We are refurbing F-4 ( Phantoms) as drones for target practice, and they are supersonic too. Interestingly, a pilot has to fly the restored plane to verify controls etc. Turns out a lot of retired Pilots are signing up to test them cause it does bring up some nostalgia.

I don't know about fooling the enemy radars - a MIG-17's signature sticks out like a sore thumb!!

 

[wangrong]

PLAAF FT5



PAF FT5

 

[PAFAce]

Drones lets see how that works out.

Now that's an idea! We are refurbing F-4 ( Phantoms) as drones for target practice, and they are supersonic too.

Very interesting. I was recently thinking of doing some research into this subject.

Is it really possible to convert an old aircraft into an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or "drone"? and if so, how capable can this UAV be? For target practicing, I'm assuming, you don't need the aircraft to do everything it could with a pilot on board. I'd like to know more about this. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

From an engineering point-of-view, it would be a heck of a lot easier to remotely control an aircraft with a complete Fly-By-Wire control system, as all you would have to do is have a computer on-board to receive remote signals and decode them to send the right signals to the Flight Control System. For one with no FBW, it would be much more difficult, but not undoable.

 

[fatman17]

Very interesting. I was recently thinking of doing some research into this subject.

Is it really possible to convert an old aircraft into an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or "drone"? and if so, how capable can this UAV be? For target practicing, I'm assuming, you don't need the aircraft to do everything it could with a pilot on board. I'd like to know more about this. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

From an engineering point-of-view, it would be a heck of a lot easier to remotely control an aircraft with a complete Fly-By-Wire control system, as all you would have to do is have a computer on-board to receive remote signals and decode them to send the right signals to the Flight Control System. For one with no FBW, it would be much more difficult, but not undoable.

buy the latest edition of AirForces Monthly and there is an excellent article on target drones - old retired fighters used as.

 

[Zob]

well sticking to the topic that PAF ace raised...well if u can actually use an aircraft as a drone....then u can actually get it airborne in a fight and pull some unbelievable G's to confuse the enemy....as well as u can load a weapon on it and well u can use it as a predator drone...well i dunno i mean i can imagine a million things u can do with a fighteer converted into a drone!!!

 

[anoopsaxena76]

....then u can actually get it airborne in a fight and pull some unbelievable G's to confuse the enemy....

I am curious here. And I do not know the answer hence I ask.

What is the G value you have in mind here? The reason I ask, and please correct me if I am wrong, is that we are talking about an old technology in terms of when it was designed, the air frame model etc. The modern pilot suits and with their help, the pilots of today can sustain up to 9G's consistently. The record in short bursts could be much higher.

But then the airframe itself should be capable of sustaining those many G's. I am not sure how many Gs Mig17 or any other immediate derivative from it can sustain.

Regards,
Anoop.

 

[shehbazi2001]

Use of military aircraft as drones is not new. In second world war, heavy bombers were modified for use as armed drones. Heavy bombers were stuffed with bombs and sent towards target through radio control. Tests like these were conducted in WW2, but I dont know if they were actually used.

Nowadays, a better option is auto-pilot, which eliminates the need to fly the aircraft through remote-control (radio control). A R/C drone can be identified through its continuous radio link with the controller. On the other hand, autopilot is completely autonomous, without any radio emissions.

Drones were widely used by US in Vietnam war from 1965-1975, perhaps mostly for recce/ELINT purposes . Israel used drones for suppression of Enemy air defences (SEAD) in Bekaa Valley conflict in 1982.

In future as BVR technology is maturing, we may see the use of jet drones, may be fighter-converted drones for use in air combats in various roles.

They can act as easy targets for BVR missiles in the opening round of air combat, depleting the BVR AAM load of the opponent.

Fighter-converted drones may be used for tactical deception too like prior to attack on a vital target such as an airfield or ammo dump, the fighter-converted drones can be sent in the vicinity of the target so that air superiority fighters turn away towards them and the real formation gets a window of opportunity to destroy the ground target easily.

 

[shehbazi2001]

Very interesting. I was recently thinking of doing some research into this subject.

Is it really possible to convert an old aircraft into an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or "drone"? and if so, how capable can this UAV be? For target practicing, I'm assuming, you don't need the aircraft to do everything it could with a pilot on board. I'd like to know more about this. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

From an engineering point-of-view, it would be a heck of a lot easier to remotely control an aircraft with a complete Fly-By-Wire control system, as all you would have to do is have a computer on-board to receive remote signals and decode them to send the right signals to the Flight Control System. For one with no FBW, it would be much more difficult, but not undoable.

Yes converting a FBW to a drone seems easy but its not impossible other way round. QF-86 drone, which is an ex F-86 Sabre fighter, had no FBW. Likewise, QF-102, QF-106 and QF-4 drones were derived from fighters that did not have FBW.