Posted on 02/05/2019 5:01:44 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
China unveiled a set of photos of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s Su-30MKK fighter jets' first training in the new year on January 6, 2019. These photos "inadvertently" revealed a detail: a Su-30 MK2 fighter preparing to take off was mounted with a Chinese PL-12 air-to-air missile.
This does not seem to be anything special, but it indicates that China has already been able to modify the Su-30MKK's fire control system to give it the capability to use China’s homegrown weapons. The last thing that aircraft carriers want to see is the Su-30 MK2 fighter jet carrying YJ-12 and YJ-18 anti-ship cruise missiles.
Su-30MKK is known as the most powerful fighter jet of the Su-30 family. It has enhanced the structure on the basis of the former Su-30 fighters. It has two internal heavy-duty hanging points that have been enclosed since the Su-27 fighters, increasing its total payload to 12 tons.
Su-30MKK also has increased its maximum take-off weight. Its maximum range is almost 4,000 kilometers, and therefore it can patrol the entire South China Sea with the support of tanker aircraft.
Since 2004, Su-30MKK fighter jet has been an important air-borne anti-ship force in Chinese military. The Su-30MKK fighter jet, H-6 Strategic Bomber and JH-7 Fighter-Bomber shoulder together the heavy responsibility of China's long-range anti-ship attack task.
However, today, more and more shortcomings of the Su-30MKK fighter jet have been exposed after 15 years. As a Russian product, it originally can only carry the Russian-made KH-31 and KH-41 anti-ship missiles. These two missiles are too old, and their performance have long lagged behind that of China’s YJ-12.
Moreover, the KH-31 has been exported to the US to be used as target missile, and it is likely that the US has found a way to deal with it. Therefore, today's Su-30MKK has become a "chicken rib" for China and its bomb-bearing capacity and cruising range are under-utilized.
But China has adopted its own method, which is to decrypt the fire control system of Su-30MKK, and make it compatible with China's homegrown weapons.
The fire control system is the system used by fighter jets to manage, aim at and guide offensive weapons, and it is one of the most important systems on any fighter jet. The country of origin generally does not prohibit the user from modifying the system of exported fighter jets, but it will not provide decryption (or charge a fee) to do so. In this way, the user is on his own when it comes to technical system modification.
India repeatedly hit such wall when it was trying to modify the fire control system of the Mirage 2000 multi-role fighter jet, and it had to pay $800 million to ask Dassault Aviation (an international French aircraft manufacturer of military, regional, and business jets, and is a subsidiary of Dassault Group) for help.
China has already had a fairly mature experience in the research and development(R&D) of fighter jet fire control system and the use of Russian fighter jets. China also has experience in upgrading Russian fighter jets independently. Therefore, China successfully modified the fire control system of Su-30MKK and it is now compatible with China's homegrown weapons (maybe it has been replaced with a domestic fire control system).
The photo of a Su-30MK2 mounted with a Chinese PL-12 air-to-air missile in the training on January 6th is a proof of such accomplishment. Since PL-12 can be used, the YJ-12 missile can also be used.
The Su-30MKK fighter jet has three 2-ton heavy hanging points while the YJ-12 missile just weighs two tons. That is to say, a Su-30MKK fighter jet can mount three YJ-12 missiles to attack targets within a radius of 1,500 km. The distance between Zengmu Reef and Chinese Guangdong Province is only 1,900 kilometers.
A Su-30MKK fighter jet that takes off from the Chinese mainland can attack enemy targets within more than half of the South China Sea. And it can cover the entire South China Sea if it takes off from the Yongxing Island.
The super high speed of the YJ-12 missile is a huge threat to the Aegis system. It is conceivable that the Su-30MKK fighter jet mounted with YJ-12 missiles will become one of the most threatening weapons against enemy's aircraft carrier fleets.
another Clinton American-tech-XFER against America?
covered up by Uranium-1-Mueller?
what is the likelihood.
This is almost like “climate change” - in that we’re getting at least one “Chinese end of the world military weapon” report per day.
Perhaps these things work.
Perhaps not.
Our biggest problem is that we still have not eliminated the Dorkbama milquetoast idiots that managed to do a good job of wrecking the Navy, not so-called Chinese (Clinton supplied) technology.
Carriers are sitting ducks. They replaced battleships as the Flagship of the fleet (and rightly so for WW 2 and the early Cold War) They in turn need to be replaced as flagships by subs. Both hunter killers and boomers.
For police actions like the gulf war et al they are fine. If We fight China or Russia? Carriers will be the first to go. (That includes China’s fancy new carriers).
This is not a new weapon system; China received the first SU-30MKKs around 2000 or so. They are adapting these systems, that is the news.
We need to sink every aircraft carrier now in a preemptive strategic play to render their missile threat obsolete.
You agree then that we need to sink our carrier fleet now. Why wait?
I wrote they are excellent for small police actions. Fighting ISIS etc. when push comes to shove and we are against Russia/China etc. all the carriers are sitting ducks and basically just targets.
The fact is that all surface capital ships are obsolete floating coffins. Brave young crews sent to watery graves by “battleship”, politically correct admirals.
That is why India, Russia and China are desperately trying to build a viable carrier fleets. Carriers will be obsolete when the concept of air superiority over huge swaths of ocean becomes obsolete, i.e. never. So how long were you in the Navy admiral?
Then you have never seen a carrier at flank speed.
You agree then we should just get rid of the Navy surface/air entirely right?
By the end of WW I, it became obvious that horse cavalry, despite over three thousand years of action around the world and a love of horses, was obsolete, had no role or survivability on a modern battlefield. Surface warships in an era of satellite and magnetic resonance surveillance, pin point guidance systems, stealth supersonic missiles and equally stealth and quiet submarines cannot survive against a technologically semi sophisticated opponent despite up to date defensive weaponry. It would be illogical and immoral to send brave young crews into battle on these later day “horses”.
You may have not noticed but once the Iranians became armed with the stealthy Chinese shore to ship missiles that they developed ( yes with a Clinton supplied American designed guidance system) to control the Taiwan Strait, the presence of American ships in the Persian Gulf became untenable.
Modern technology and realities are harsh arbiters of behavior.
There is a saying amongst submariners in the US Navy;
"There are only two kinds of vessels at sea. Submarines and targets."
With the advant of guided shells and artillery range of 100 miles, the battle ship might make a comeback.
There was a project for a sub carrying jump jets. I think that would he awesome
Preemptive revenge - One of my favorite tactical maneuvers...
Ha...with Ticos and Burkes with their VLS open ready to rock and roll.
I fear we are reaching the same point, vis-à-vis manned versus unmanned fighters.
The USAF has what we used to call the “Fighter Mafia”, back in the 1990s, led by General McPeak, but basically these boys believed that the fighter pilot's skill and daring-do were all that mattered to first sweep the skies of the enemy before bombing, close air support, etc.
And even so, sweeping the skies of the enemy really is job #1 for the USAF--otherwise our people die in aerial attacks when their people should die in OUR aerial attacks--i.e., CAS.
Now that was 20-30 years ago, but the USAF has been doing counter-insurgency for 20 years now and lost there focus on a larger, more lethal enemy like Russia or China.
There is no Taliban or ISIS Air Force we have to fight. Those skills get lost.
I fear that the focus now goes back to the manned fighter, when we really should be looking at unmanned Aerial weapons. Weapons that are far cheaper than a single fighter (like the F-35, which now runs $130 million each) and because of this, so many more can be deployed in fight.
The first country to figure this out, and can make robust, autonomous fighting drones in large numbers will, imho, win the next big war.
That could also mean autonomous ships and subs. I fear the days of Cyberdine and SkyNet are close at hand!
He who masters the technology wins. As retired USAF, would you want your son flying off a carrier?
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