Saturday, November 1, 2008

252 is launched

One of the members on SDF asked me last night if the 2nd F-22P was launched and I just answered no. Of course, I didn't get a chance to check the military forums, because of the Halloween stuff. When I checked it this morning, it was a little embarrassing that I was wrong about it. Anyhow, here are some of the photos from 252 launching.





Also, we saw a new video + photos of the new CAC UAV that came out recently. I'm convinced this thing is not going to be a major part of PLA, because they normally keep new systems tightly under the wrap. Only export items like JF-17 and L-15 get shown right from the start.





Also, some additional news:
  • Venezuela reduced the order of K-8s from 24 to 18
  • Harbin received an order for 4 Z-9s from Kenya
  • China will get help from Russia in its goal of building a heavy helicopter with maximum start-off weight of around 30 tons
  • They have also purchased 4 Mi-26s from Russia
Next week is the Zhuhai airshow, so we will get plenty of news coming out, stay tuned.

2 comments:

duskylim said...

Dear Feng:

Pretty ship! Congratulations to the Pakistani Navy! Pity that they have such great economic problems however.

Probably the last reincarnation of the 053Hx hull, although it already shows some influence from the 054A frigate, better stealth, sensors, electronics and CIWS.

The FM-90 (HQ-7) is still a disappointment however, what will it take to get these guys to make a VLS version? Such a waste of space and potential.

Also a modern 3-D radar should have been installed - although given the short-range of the FM-90 aside from ESW and countermeasures it would only serve to warn you where the blow would be coming from.

Best Regards,

Dusky Lim

Feng said...

hey, I'm not sure that anything China has right now can fit on F-22P other than FM-90N. See, the problem is that HH-7 is actually pretty reliable against AShM, probably the best in PLAN, but it takes tremendous space for a SR-SAM. If only they can get something like RAM developed. As for 3D radar, I'm not sure if it's needed. And when you add something like that in, you will have to factor in the additional weight on top + power supply and such needed.