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Zhuhai Air Show 2012

JH-7A‘s cockpit:

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Its just me or JH-7's data entry/Integrated control panel is same as JF-17?
 
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looks kind of same but the JH7 A has improved a lot from before
 
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CCTV-4 shows some "anti-aircraft carrier weapon" systems, exposed in Zhuhai Air Show...

The only thing I found quit interesting is the big touchscreen table in which the war game system is completely shown.


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A new amateur's video showing that one of the J-10AY from August 1st aecrobatic team faced an engine failure situation. The ground MRO technician has connected it's laptop to the aircraft and judged that the aircraft is not flyable, and the pilot has finally changed the aircraft...


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WENDELL MINNICK | Comments A
A Officers of China's People Liberation Army (PLA) watch planes
performing Nov. 13 during the ninth China International Aviation and
Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai. (Philippe Lopez / AFP) FILED UNDER World News
Asia & Pacific Rim ADS BY PULSE 360 AdChoices ZHUHAI, China — Those who bought a Chinese tank or ship or plane in
the 1960s or 1970s were most likely putting their troops in double
jeopardy — facing an enemy with equipment that was, at best, cheap
imitation Soviet junk not even trusted by Russian troops. This is not the case today, as the ninth biennial Airshow China proved
to attendees here last week. Russian imitations of aircraft, radar,
missiles and other equipment are being supplanted by high-quality
made-in-China replacements. Granted, much of the equipment has
Russian or Ukrainian roots, but Chinese engineers and manufacturers
have learned just about as much as can be learned from them. China’s military industrial revolution has come of age. No more evidence is needed after last week’s Zhuhai airshow — the
biggest, best organized and friendliest to date. Much of this can be
attributed to a growing sense of pride among the Chinese in their
emerging role in the world’s geostrategic balance. One U.S. defense analyst, a longtime Zhuhai attendee, said there was a
“boatload of new stuff, including a lot of new weapons we have never
seen before. It is going to be like drinking from a fire hose.” Overall, the 2012 Zhuhai show has expanded on a People’s Liberation
Army (PLA) weapons trend discernible since 2004: the increased
funding of multiple redundant air and missile weapon systems to
foster internal competition, faster development cycles and inundation
of foreign weapon markets. The PLA may purchase this burgeoning
selection of weapons, but it will likely offer most of them for sale. China is also attempting to take a leading role as mentor for other
countries. France, Germany, Pakistan, Russia and Tanzania participated
in the second Military Flight Training Conference (MFTC 2012), held here
Nov. 11-12. The conference was sponsored by PLA Air Force (PLAAF) and the
Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). The PLAAF deputy
commander, Lt. Gen. He Weirong, and AVIC Vice President Li Yuhai
spoke at the event. The Dark Side There was a dark side to the international element at Zhuhai, as there
has been in the past. U.S. government officials confirmed that a
Sudanese delegation was at the show shopping for weapons. Over the
past 10 years, China has been funneling weapons to some African
countries in an effort to secure oil rights, ignoring international uproar
over human rights violations by Sudan and other countries in Africa. Sudan — which has 20 Nanchang Q-5/A-5C (MiG-19) Fantan ground
attack aircraft and six Hongdu JL-8/K-8 advanced trainer/ground attack
aircraft — reportedly is interested in procuring 12 Chengdu FC-1
Xiaolong/JF-17 Thunder fighters. “The problem that the Chinese face with aircraft platforms is that most
of their stuff isn’t that spectacular,” said Richard Bitinger, a former CIA
analyst. “It’s functional and, I suppose, relatively cheap, but the market
is awash in reasonably priced competitors — used F-16s and the
Gripen, for example. Also, most countries will refuse to buy Chinese
fighters because they can probably afford something better, and those who cannot afford to buy better are unlikely to buy anything rather
than buy Chinese fighters.” But many African states will settle for something even cheaper and
simpler to operate. Here is where China has been its most successful:
selling the K-8 trainer/light attack jet. “Most of the countries can’t afford or [aren’t] able to operate anything
more complicated, probably don’t really need it (considering their
strategic environment), and the light K-8 fulfills their needs for a jet-
powered air force,” Bitzinger said. “Chinese fighters, in my opinion, still
fall between two stools: too much plane for the really poor countries,
and too inferior for the developing nations that prefer a Western system.” First-time Surprises The show’s flight line was typical of past shows, including the H-6
medium-range bomber, Z-8 and Z-9 helicopters, Shaanxi KJ-200, Y-8
Balance Beam airborne early warning and control aircraft, and the
JF-17/FC-1 and Chengdu J-10 Vigorous Dragon fighters. But there were some surprises. For the first time, AVIC displayed a
model of the new Shenyang J-31 Falcon Eagle stealth fighter. The AVIC Wing Loong unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) was on
view for the first time. With four hard points, the UCAV looks similar to
the U.S.-made MQ-9 Reaper. The static display included four types of
munitions not seen before: YZ-102A precision-guided bomb, semi-
active laser-guided BA-7 air-to-ground missile, LS-6/50-kilogram
miniature guided bomb and the YZ-121 laser-guided bomb. Local Chinese news reports stated the Wing Loong was available for the
international defense market for $1 million — a pittance of the
Reaper’s $37 million price tag. China has been experimenting with UCAVs for some time, including the
CH-4 model on display by China Aerospace Science and Technology
Corp. (CASC). The medium-altitude, long-endurance CH-4 has four hard
points and can carry the AR-1 short-range air-to-ground laser-guided
bomb. One CASC official said the CH-4 has a range of 3,500 kilometers,
altitude ceiling of eight kilometers and can remain airborne for 30 hours. Among the strange items at the show were models and artist
renderings of new UAVs, such as AVIC’s futuristic Platypus, Avant
Courieri and the Bateleur. No additional information was made
available. Dennis Blasko, author of the book “The Chinese Army Today,” said it’s
easy to put a model on display — but that says nothing about the
actual production status of an item. “Is it ready for sale now, and if so, how many have been sold and to
whom?” he said. “They probably won’t answer such questions, but
otherwise, all they are showing is a concept, not a reality.” New Engines, Drones During the Nov. 14 AVIC Cup-International UAV Innovation Grand Prix
ceremony — a contest among industry professionals — a video was
shown of the futuristic Blue Shark UCAV diving for an attack on the
Indian Navy aircraft carrier Vikramaditya. Many of the contestant
submissions were of near-space UCAVs and hovering ground-attack
heavy UAVs. Despite improvements in airframes and quantum leaps in aviation
manufacturing techniques, China’s military aviation industry is still
dependent on Russian and Ukrainian engines, said Vasiliy Kashin, a
Russian defense researcher attending the show. His study, “Shooting
Star: China’s Military Modernization in the 21st Century,” released this
year, gives a detailed account of the Russian-Chinese defense arms relationship and its gradual decline. The last remaining piece that
Chinese aviation industry manufacturers must master is high-
performance jet engines. There are signs of change in that quarter, however. During Zhuhai, AVIC
officials announced plans to build the Minshan, a twin-spool turbofan
engine, to replace the Ukrainian AI-22K-25 engine, built by Motor Sich,
that powers the Hongdu L-15 Hunting Eagle advanced jet trainer. “It has the distinction of being the first AVIC combat aircraft turbofan to
be promoted with a brochure,” said Richard Fisher, senior Asian
military affairs specialist at the International Assessment and Strategy
Center. “Models or full-scale mock-ups have appeared of the Taihang
and new 9.5-ton thrust turbofans, but they have yet to be promoted
with a detailed brochure. This is a possible indication of AVIC’s confidence in the Minshan program, which will likely allow Hongdu to
market a fully indigenous version of the L-15 not reliant on its
Ukrainian turbofan.” AVIC officials also revealed plans to modify the L-15 into a highly
maneuverable target drone called the Blue Fox. Powered with two
miniature turbo jet engines, it will be “based on the L-15 aircraft
aerodynamic configuration and contour, designed through adaptive
modifications to the fuselage, air intake and vertical tail after
contraction ratio so that it has superior aerodynamic characteristics,” according to a brochure. The L-15 was based on the Russian Yak-130, which had a UAV variant
that did not progress to the production stage. Fisher believes the Blue
Fox might be more of a UAV than a simple target drone. “It may be developed for electronic or kinetic combat missions,” he
said. The PLAAF already has hundreds of retired J-6 and J-7 fighters to
turn into target drones, he said. New Missiles and More Among the show’s biggest surprises were displays of new missiles and
rockets. Most were modifications that transformed air-to-air missiles
into surface-to-air or anti-radiation missiles. The 60-kilometer-range AVIC LD-10 air-to-surface, anti-radiation
missile was one example. Based on the SD-10A advanced medium-
range, air-to-air missile, the LD-10 can be outfitted on the JF-17, the
brochure indicates. It is unclear why it specified the JF-17 only, but the
plane is one of China’s top exportable fighters. The SD-10A surface-to-air missile does not look anything like the
SD-10A or the LD-10. In fact, it looks more like the Raytheon-built
Standard Missile. “The Luoyang SD-10A is a much larger version of the SD-10/PL-12 AAM
[air-to-air missile], offered as part of the Sky Dragon [surface-to-air
missile] system first seen at the 2012 Eurosatory arms show,” Fisher
said. “Though the SD-10A is offered as a surface-to-air missile, it begs
the question of whether it also represents a new longer-range version
of the PL-12 AAM.” Fisher believes that the PL-12 has a 100-kilometer range, and it is
possible that a potential AAM version of the SD-10A may exceed 140
kilometers in range. “As [with] such a range, it has to be considered that AVIC/Luoyang may
be developing an air-launched anti-satellite version of this missile,”
Fisher said. One of the highlights of this Zhuhai show was the expansion from two
to four Chinese companies that offer precision attack munitions for
Chinese aircraft. The North Industries (NORINCO) and South Industries weapon
conglomerates have joined AVIC’s Luoyang and the China Aerospace
Industries Co. in offering families of precision bombs. Both NORINCO
and South Industries offer gliding modular munition dispensers similar
to the Raytheon AGM-154 Joint Stand-Off Weapon. NORINCO has revealed its Tiange-1000, a 1,050-kilogram laser-guided,
deep-penetration bomb similar in shape but half the weight of the
2,132-kilogram U.S. GBU-28 deep-penetration bomb. But this also
represents a rapid development of a new capability that will challenge
the U.S. and its Asian allies to consider new measures to harden bases. View Comments | Share your thoughts » MORE IN WORLD NEWS Sweden’s Possible Gripen Cut Prompts Force Capability Fears
 
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All other flight demonstrations from other aircrafts and teams in Zhuhai Air Show...


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