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SammyCheung
Guest
This is a glimpse of China's advancing technological and military prowess during the past five years. I wonder what the next five years will bring!
Information Dissemination: Top 20 list
Since I’ve followed PLA really closely for the past 4 or 5 years, I’ve decided to compile a list of the top 20 systems that joined service in the past 5 years. I’ve ranked these systems based on their importance to China’s national security, their quantitative and qualitative value and their significance to China’s overall military aviation and naval industry. To start off, I have omitted Flankers completely from the list, because I feel like J-11B/S have yet to achieve full operational capability in PLAAF. I persistently read that J-11B is having problems in PLAAF, so I don’t feel like I have enough information at this point. When Su-27 and Su-30 first joined in with PLA, they were definitely revolutionary in terms of the new capability they delivered for PLA, but that was over 5 years ago. I don’t feel that Su-30MK2 represents enough new capabilities to warrant a top 20 position. I’ve also omitted high profile projects like J-10B, Z-15, H-6K, the large transport, CAC UAV (the one that looks like global hawk), because they are only in early stage of development, although they have a couple of prototypes in certain cases. I have also omitted high profile space missions from my list like Project 921 (the manned space mission), Tian-Lian (data link satellite), YaoGan series (the EO satellites) and the moon mission, because it’s hard to determine how much military value they really have. I have also not considered any of the ground units, because I simply don’t follow the army enough to accurately assess their value.
Having said that, this is a list of system that are news worthy, but have not made the top 20:
Su-30MK2 – When it first joined PLANAF, it was definitely the most capable fighter-jet in service at that time. However, with the recent induction of JH-7A, J-10 and J-11B regiments, MK2 is no longer the best air superiority fighter nor the best strike aircraft. It really provided no new value to PLA that it did not have before (Su-30MKK already achieved that) nor value for China’s aerospace industry.
956EM – The improved Sov units were definitely the most powerful ships in the East Sea Fleet when they first joined, but they have since been overtaken by 054 series in terms of importance in ESF. Unlike the first batch of 956, which introduced associated systems like Ka-28, Top Plate, Bandstand, Shtil, Orekh FCR, AK-130 to PLAN, the second pair really provided nothing new.
051C – These two ships remain the most powerful ships in North Sea Fleet with their true area defense capability. Outside of 052C, they are probably PLAN’s second best air defense ships. However, there are only 2 of these ships and they provided no new capability to PLAN. It still uses hull that’s relatively similar to 051B with similar propulsion. It has no hangar space. It only has 8 AshM compared to 16 of a typical new PLAN destroyer. The air defense suite also does not have the advanced CeC capability of 052C.
052B – These two ships remain two of the most capable ships in PLAN, but they have been overtaken by the induction of 052C. In many ways, they are just a Chinese and more stealthy version of Sov. They didn’t really provide any new capability when they joined service.
804/805 MCM units – These ships really provided huge improvements to MCM operations for PLAN. They also changed PLAN MCM from its shore limitations to blue water. It also incorporated ROV, advanced sonar systems and combat systems that had never existed on any PLAN MCM ships. However, MCM ships still can’t compare to the importance of major surface combatants units.
WZ-9 – This is China’s first crack at HALE UAV. It is much smaller and less enduring than other projects in development. It’s hard to gage how important it really is to PLA at the moment.
Z-9G – This helicopter finally gave PLA its first real armed combat helicopter that is capable of night time operation. It is also widely deployed in PLA. However, it really is not all that advanced and really didn’t represent a huge advancement for Chinese helicopter industry, so it can’t make the Top 20 list.
Z-8K/JH – The improved Z-8 variants really provided PLANAF large helicopters that it can equip on the larger ships. They are also extremely useful as SAR helicopter due to their large space. However, they don’t really represent any kind of huge improvements to the helicopter industry nor do they exist in great quanity at the moment to really make a huge difference.
JL-9 – Even though there are numerous parts of this trainer that is pretty archaic (like using turbojet engine), its other performance parameters make it a true modern 4th generation trainer. It is also very critical to PLAAF, because it represents a generational or greater improvement vs JJ-7. However, I really don’t like to overrate the importance of a trainer
L-15 - This trainer was supposed to be more advanced than JL’9, but its development has really turned into a fiasco. Even now, it is hard to determine when L’15 will join service. It should have elevated China to amongst the world leaders in LIFT, but we don´t even know if it will ever join service with PLAAF.
Now for the top 20 list:
20. JF-17 – This fighter has yet to join service with PLAAF and I don’t know if it ever will be more than just an export aircraft. However, this plane represents such a huge accomplishment for Chinese aviation industry that I have to list it here. As mentioned in a previous blog entry, China has went from a country that imported license production lines to a country that exports licensed production lines of 4th generation fighter jet in the space of 11 years. Its importance to PLA is still yet to be determined, but this fighter represents in the first of China’s forays into the more competitive world fighter jet market. Hopefully, China will no longer just be exporting J-7s to African countries in the future.
19. 886/887 – These two ships are amongst the first component of China’s future blue water fleet. They are an entirely new generation of replenishment ship that are critical to any long distance mission. Even though there are only two of them, they have already proved their importence in different long range missions like the Somalia mission and 052B’s world wide port call. I’m also sure that there will be more of these ships (or improved evolution of them) in the future as PLAN becomes more and more blue water.
18. Type 022 FAC – Galrahn recently had an entry on this ship. When people first talk about PLAN modernization, 022’s importance is rarely mentioned, but they really are a huge part of China’s anti-access strategy. They represent a multi-generational improvement on the existing fleet of Type 021, 024 and 037, but they are really so much more. They are quick, very stealthy (they need to carry radar deflectors during peacetime to avoid collision) and carry a lot of fire power. When coordinated with KJ-200 and other assets, they can engage targets with multiple missions from BVR and then scamper away. Individually, they are not that significant. However, they are very lethal operating as a group with aerial assets. They can be mass produced around many different shipyards in China when war is around the horizon. They can be built in in-land shipyards, so they can be produced even if the major naval shipyards are taken out during wartime. They are revolutionary in PLAN because they not only improved upon the existing fleet, but provided so much more options and capabilities that never existed before.
17. JH-7A – When JH-7A entered service with PLANAF, it was by far the most advanced strike aircraft in PLANAF. With PLAAF, the role of a long range strike aircraft was already filled by Su-30, but JH-7A’s cost + versatility has proven to be really important. It gives PLAAF a plane that can launch every type of land attack missile, anti-radiation missile, PGMs and AAMs. So it is the first Chinese aircraft that can really do land attack, SEAD and EW missions. It has sort of become PLA’s version of super hornet. It is not the most agile platform, but it can be converted to do so many missions. As seen recently, JH-7 units with PLANAF have become the first aircrafts to be equiped with the pods to really do EW missions. With around 7 regiments in service, they also fill the criteria of achieving critical mass in PLAAF. When people talk about the SRBMs across from Taiwan as PLA’s land attack options, they tend to miss out on the strike capabilities of just one regiment of JH-7A. There are still some limitations to this aircraft due to an underpowered engine and older/non-stealthy airframe. That’s why it’s not higher on this list.
16. Type 920 Medical Ship – Similar to 886/887, this medical ship is part of PLAN’s shift from a coastal force to a blue water fleet. As mentioned in blog entries before, this ship can be used for humanitarian missions around the world as part of China’s soft power. It really is one ship that can be used to improve PLAN’s profile globally. This ship also allows remote islands in South China Sea to be treated, although I think it’s other main purpose is to just treat the wounded during a sea battle far off the shores.
15. Y-8 High New Series – We saw a bunch of new Y-8 High New Series aircraft coming at the same time. They are important, because they are a major part of China’s effort to improve its C4ISR. We have seen wide deployment of these aircraft in PLAAF and PLANAF. They allow China to finally conduct the kind of operation that USAF have always been able to. I think that very few air forces around the world have ELINT, SIGINT, airborne command, ECM, battlefield surveillance and psychological warfare aircrafts. The induction of these specialty aircrafts is part of PLAAF’s effort to achieve comprehensive status.
14. Yuan – Yuan is the most recently example of China’s foray into diesel submarines. They represent China’s broader effort in producing quiet submarines to counter the much stronger USN. Even though they are just an evolution of the Song class submarines, they actually also represent part of China’s shift to blue water fleet. They are larger than any other diesel submarines in PLAN, so they can carry additional components including more advanced combat systems, flank array sonar and AIP engine. They are not as advanced or large as the Collins/Oyashio class, which often operate like SSN far away from the shore, but they are definitely part of PLAN’s effort to expand operations. As seen with the expanded number of patrols by PLAN submarines and from Song’s encounter with Kitty Hawk, PLAN diesel submarines are going further and further away from the shore.
Information Dissemination: Top 20 list
Since I’ve followed PLA really closely for the past 4 or 5 years, I’ve decided to compile a list of the top 20 systems that joined service in the past 5 years. I’ve ranked these systems based on their importance to China’s national security, their quantitative and qualitative value and their significance to China’s overall military aviation and naval industry. To start off, I have omitted Flankers completely from the list, because I feel like J-11B/S have yet to achieve full operational capability in PLAAF. I persistently read that J-11B is having problems in PLAAF, so I don’t feel like I have enough information at this point. When Su-27 and Su-30 first joined in with PLA, they were definitely revolutionary in terms of the new capability they delivered for PLA, but that was over 5 years ago. I don’t feel that Su-30MK2 represents enough new capabilities to warrant a top 20 position. I’ve also omitted high profile projects like J-10B, Z-15, H-6K, the large transport, CAC UAV (the one that looks like global hawk), because they are only in early stage of development, although they have a couple of prototypes in certain cases. I have also omitted high profile space missions from my list like Project 921 (the manned space mission), Tian-Lian (data link satellite), YaoGan series (the EO satellites) and the moon mission, because it’s hard to determine how much military value they really have. I have also not considered any of the ground units, because I simply don’t follow the army enough to accurately assess their value.
Having said that, this is a list of system that are news worthy, but have not made the top 20:
Su-30MK2 – When it first joined PLANAF, it was definitely the most capable fighter-jet in service at that time. However, with the recent induction of JH-7A, J-10 and J-11B regiments, MK2 is no longer the best air superiority fighter nor the best strike aircraft. It really provided no new value to PLA that it did not have before (Su-30MKK already achieved that) nor value for China’s aerospace industry.
956EM – The improved Sov units were definitely the most powerful ships in the East Sea Fleet when they first joined, but they have since been overtaken by 054 series in terms of importance in ESF. Unlike the first batch of 956, which introduced associated systems like Ka-28, Top Plate, Bandstand, Shtil, Orekh FCR, AK-130 to PLAN, the second pair really provided nothing new.
051C – These two ships remain the most powerful ships in North Sea Fleet with their true area defense capability. Outside of 052C, they are probably PLAN’s second best air defense ships. However, there are only 2 of these ships and they provided no new capability to PLAN. It still uses hull that’s relatively similar to 051B with similar propulsion. It has no hangar space. It only has 8 AshM compared to 16 of a typical new PLAN destroyer. The air defense suite also does not have the advanced CeC capability of 052C.
052B – These two ships remain two of the most capable ships in PLAN, but they have been overtaken by the induction of 052C. In many ways, they are just a Chinese and more stealthy version of Sov. They didn’t really provide any new capability when they joined service.
804/805 MCM units – These ships really provided huge improvements to MCM operations for PLAN. They also changed PLAN MCM from its shore limitations to blue water. It also incorporated ROV, advanced sonar systems and combat systems that had never existed on any PLAN MCM ships. However, MCM ships still can’t compare to the importance of major surface combatants units.
WZ-9 – This is China’s first crack at HALE UAV. It is much smaller and less enduring than other projects in development. It’s hard to gage how important it really is to PLA at the moment.
Z-9G – This helicopter finally gave PLA its first real armed combat helicopter that is capable of night time operation. It is also widely deployed in PLA. However, it really is not all that advanced and really didn’t represent a huge advancement for Chinese helicopter industry, so it can’t make the Top 20 list.
Z-8K/JH – The improved Z-8 variants really provided PLANAF large helicopters that it can equip on the larger ships. They are also extremely useful as SAR helicopter due to their large space. However, they don’t really represent any kind of huge improvements to the helicopter industry nor do they exist in great quanity at the moment to really make a huge difference.
JL-9 – Even though there are numerous parts of this trainer that is pretty archaic (like using turbojet engine), its other performance parameters make it a true modern 4th generation trainer. It is also very critical to PLAAF, because it represents a generational or greater improvement vs JJ-7. However, I really don’t like to overrate the importance of a trainer
L-15 - This trainer was supposed to be more advanced than JL’9, but its development has really turned into a fiasco. Even now, it is hard to determine when L’15 will join service. It should have elevated China to amongst the world leaders in LIFT, but we don´t even know if it will ever join service with PLAAF.
Now for the top 20 list:
20. JF-17 – This fighter has yet to join service with PLAAF and I don’t know if it ever will be more than just an export aircraft. However, this plane represents such a huge accomplishment for Chinese aviation industry that I have to list it here. As mentioned in a previous blog entry, China has went from a country that imported license production lines to a country that exports licensed production lines of 4th generation fighter jet in the space of 11 years. Its importance to PLA is still yet to be determined, but this fighter represents in the first of China’s forays into the more competitive world fighter jet market. Hopefully, China will no longer just be exporting J-7s to African countries in the future.
19. 886/887 – These two ships are amongst the first component of China’s future blue water fleet. They are an entirely new generation of replenishment ship that are critical to any long distance mission. Even though there are only two of them, they have already proved their importence in different long range missions like the Somalia mission and 052B’s world wide port call. I’m also sure that there will be more of these ships (or improved evolution of them) in the future as PLAN becomes more and more blue water.
18. Type 022 FAC – Galrahn recently had an entry on this ship. When people first talk about PLAN modernization, 022’s importance is rarely mentioned, but they really are a huge part of China’s anti-access strategy. They represent a multi-generational improvement on the existing fleet of Type 021, 024 and 037, but they are really so much more. They are quick, very stealthy (they need to carry radar deflectors during peacetime to avoid collision) and carry a lot of fire power. When coordinated with KJ-200 and other assets, they can engage targets with multiple missions from BVR and then scamper away. Individually, they are not that significant. However, they are very lethal operating as a group with aerial assets. They can be mass produced around many different shipyards in China when war is around the horizon. They can be built in in-land shipyards, so they can be produced even if the major naval shipyards are taken out during wartime. They are revolutionary in PLAN because they not only improved upon the existing fleet, but provided so much more options and capabilities that never existed before.
17. JH-7A – When JH-7A entered service with PLANAF, it was by far the most advanced strike aircraft in PLANAF. With PLAAF, the role of a long range strike aircraft was already filled by Su-30, but JH-7A’s cost + versatility has proven to be really important. It gives PLAAF a plane that can launch every type of land attack missile, anti-radiation missile, PGMs and AAMs. So it is the first Chinese aircraft that can really do land attack, SEAD and EW missions. It has sort of become PLA’s version of super hornet. It is not the most agile platform, but it can be converted to do so many missions. As seen recently, JH-7 units with PLANAF have become the first aircrafts to be equiped with the pods to really do EW missions. With around 7 regiments in service, they also fill the criteria of achieving critical mass in PLAAF. When people talk about the SRBMs across from Taiwan as PLA’s land attack options, they tend to miss out on the strike capabilities of just one regiment of JH-7A. There are still some limitations to this aircraft due to an underpowered engine and older/non-stealthy airframe. That’s why it’s not higher on this list.
16. Type 920 Medical Ship – Similar to 886/887, this medical ship is part of PLAN’s shift from a coastal force to a blue water fleet. As mentioned in blog entries before, this ship can be used for humanitarian missions around the world as part of China’s soft power. It really is one ship that can be used to improve PLAN’s profile globally. This ship also allows remote islands in South China Sea to be treated, although I think it’s other main purpose is to just treat the wounded during a sea battle far off the shores.
15. Y-8 High New Series – We saw a bunch of new Y-8 High New Series aircraft coming at the same time. They are important, because they are a major part of China’s effort to improve its C4ISR. We have seen wide deployment of these aircraft in PLAAF and PLANAF. They allow China to finally conduct the kind of operation that USAF have always been able to. I think that very few air forces around the world have ELINT, SIGINT, airborne command, ECM, battlefield surveillance and psychological warfare aircrafts. The induction of these specialty aircrafts is part of PLAAF’s effort to achieve comprehensive status.
14. Yuan – Yuan is the most recently example of China’s foray into diesel submarines. They represent China’s broader effort in producing quiet submarines to counter the much stronger USN. Even though they are just an evolution of the Song class submarines, they actually also represent part of China’s shift to blue water fleet. They are larger than any other diesel submarines in PLAN, so they can carry additional components including more advanced combat systems, flank array sonar and AIP engine. They are not as advanced or large as the Collins/Oyashio class, which often operate like SSN far away from the shore, but they are definitely part of PLAN’s effort to expand operations. As seen with the expanded number of patrols by PLAN submarines and from Song’s encounter with Kitty Hawk, PLAN diesel submarines are going further and further away from the shore.
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