Pakistan Railway was once very interested in J-8. Why did it choose to give up after sending a test pilot for a test flight? Instead, purchase J7
In 1990, Pakistani Air Force pilots tested Chinese Air Force J-8II fighter jets with the permission of China. At that time, J-8II fighter jets represented the highest level of the Chinese Air Force. At that time, J-10 fighter jets were being developed. Not long after the project was established, the introduction of Su-27 fighter jet is still under negotiation. The reason why the Pakistan Air Force is interested in the J-8II fighter jet is closely related to the U.S. F16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet. In 1990, the United States announced an arms embargo against Pakistan . The reason was that Pakistan converted its F16 "Fighting Falcon" fighter jet into a tool for delivering nuclear bombs during the nuclear race with India, which caused dissatisfaction among Americans. The first person to bear the brunt of the arms embargo was no longer Provide F16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets to Pakistan.
In 1990, Pakistani Air Force pilots tested the Chinese Air Force's J-8II fighter with China's permission
Throughout the 1980s, due to the impact of the Afghan war, the United States was able to provide weapons, intelligence and funds to the Afghan anti-government forces through channels in Pakistan. support from other parties, and to win Pakistan to stand on the same line. In exchange, the United States needs to provide Pakistan with financial assistance for Pakistan's economic development and at the same time lift restrictions on arms exports. It has signed a series of aid agreements and arms export agreements with Pakistan. During this period, the Pakistan Air Force successively signed the "Peace Gate 1", "Peace Gate 2" and "Peace Gate 3" plans with the United States, ordering 40, 11 and 60 F16A/B models from the United States respectively. Fighters, a total of 111 F16A/B fighter jets have been ordered from the United States. For a time, the Pakistan Air Force became the first country in the world to obtain F16A/B fighter jets from the United States. Even many close allies of the United States had not yet equipped them. This allowed the Pakistan Air Force to achieve a leap from the second-generation aircraft era to the third-generation aircraft era. Time has also widened the gap with India.
The F16 "Fighting Falcon" fighter jet of the Pakistan Air Force
However, the good times did not last long. With the end of the war in Afghanistan in 1989, and Pakistan's development of nuclear weapons , the United States was dissatisfied. In 1990, the United States imposed an arms embargo on Pakistan and terminated it. Deliver undelivered F16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets to Pakistan. At this time, the Pakistan Air Force only received 40 F16 "Fighting Falcon" fighter jets signed under the "Peace Gate 1" plan, and the United States refused to deliver the remaining 61. Of these 28, Pakistan has paid a fee of US$650 million. This part Some were mothballed, while others were incorporated into the U.S. Air Force or Navy. For the Pakistan Air Force, only 40 F16 "Fighting Falcon" fighter jets are difficult to meet the combat needs of its own air force.
The F16 fighter jet of the Pakistan Air Force
The "Super-7" light fighter plan jointly developed with China in 1988, but also because of the deterioration of Sino-US relations, the idea of ​​developing the "Super-7" light fighter with the help of Western advanced technology and equipment finally collapsed, and the "Super-7" light fighter The development plan of the 7" light fighter has been shelved. At this time, the Mirage 3 and Mirage 5 equipped by the Pakistan Air Force, as well as the Chinese-made J-6, Qiang-5 and other fighters have been seriously aged and are difficult to adapt to the combat needs of the Pakistan Air Force. Therefore, the Pakistan Air Force urgently needed to replace old models and achieve a comprehensive upgrade of the air force. At that time, the only country that could provide weapons and equipment to Pakistan was China. However, in terms of the overall level of the Chinese Air Force at that time, it did not have the ability to provide Pakistan with cutting-edge fighter jets . The main force of its air force was still a large number of second-generation aircraft such as J-6, J-7 and J-8II. In addition to its numerical advantage, , the overall level is not even as good as the Pakistan Air Force.
The Pakistan Air Force’s J-6 fighter jets
However, due to insufficient numbers and the serious aging of early models, the Pakistan Air Force is still interested in the latest improved models of China’s J-8II and J-7.Hence the scene where the Pakistani Air Force pilots test-flyed the J-8II fighter jet at the beginning. In addition to the Pakistan Air Force's interest in the J-8II fighter jet, the Iraqi Air Force and the Iranian Air Force have also sent delegations to inspect many times since 1985. However, due to the impact of the "Peace Pearl" program and the overall level of China's aviation industry, the J-8II was unable to solve problems such as mid-range missiles domestically. Its air combat capabilities were far inferior to those of similar products. Potential customers would not be able to solve the problem unless the problem was solved. Will buy it, and the Pakistan Air Force finally chose the J-7M fighter jet with stable and reliable performance. In order to solve the problem and launch a foreign trade version specifically, in 1992, China Aviation Technology International Economic and Trade Development Co., Ltd., 112 Factory, 01 Institute, etc. jointly established a J-8II export consortium to jointly invest in the J-8IIM fighter jet, specifically for export.
The J-8II unveiled at the Paris Air Show
At this time, Sino-Russian relations entered, and it became possible to introduce Russian advanced technology to improve the J-8II fighter. The "Beetle" 8II pulse Doppler fire control was successively introduced from Russia. The radar system has the ability to launch R27 and R73 air-to-air missiles. In 1993, after seven rounds of negotiations, the two parties signed a contract. After another three years of hard work, on March 11, 1996, the first J-8IIM export fighter prototype made its first flight. On November 24 of the same year, two J-8IIM fighter jets participated in the first Zhuhai Air Show (one of them had an air parking incident on its way to Zhuhai, and finally made a successful forced landing in Wuchang), and the other one The J-8IIM performed a flight demonstration at the Zhuhai Air Show, which means that the J-8II fighter jet has officially launched a foreign trade model.
J-8IIM
The J-8IIM fighter adopts the Russian-made "Beetle" 8II pulse Doppler fire control radar system, which has greatly improved its performance. The "Beetle" 8II pulse Doppler fire control radar system is used in the MiG-29M fighter The airborne radar used on the aircraft has multiple working modes and a downward-looking function, with a detection range of 80 kilometers. It can search for 10 air targets at the same time and attack two air targets at the same time. The system also integrates an identification friend or foe antenna. In addition, a new navigation system, radar warning device, a new mission computer and fire control system are also used. The J-8IIM fighter jet has the ability to launch Russian-made R27 and R77 medium-range missiles, and has precise sea and ground strike capabilities, as well as all-weather combat capabilities.
The upgraded J-8IIM fighter's radar performance is comparable to that of the Mirage 2000, and even exceeds that of the early F16A/B fighter. The engine has also been replaced with a more advanced turbojet 13B engine, with improved power, range, combat radius and maneuverability. The performance has been improved, but the J-8IIM fighter did not complete all test flights and acceptance work until March 2002, and appeared again at the Zhuhai Air Show in 2004. At this time, it has been replaced with the domestic 1491 pulse Doppler radar, and the electronic equipment, cockpit equipment, etc. have been upgraded. It is capable of launching domestic PL 5C, PL 9, PL 11, C801 anti-ship missiles and multiple types of ground-attack missiles. The combat capability of precision strike weapons.
However, with the continuous development of the world's aviation industry, and various countries have successively replaced third-generation fighter jets , the J-8IIM fighter jet has become a backward product after entering this century. At this time, the JF17 "Fierce Dragon" fighter jet jointly developed by China and Pakistan also achieved its first flight. The JF17 "Fierce Dragon" fighter jet is a third-generation light fighter specially developed according to the needs of the Pakistan Air Force. It is more suitable for the Pakistan Air Force. In order to meet the combat needs, the design is at the level of a third-generation aircraft, and its air combat capability and maneuverability are more advantageous. The J-10 fighter independently developed by the Chinese Air Force has also completed its development work and been equipped one after another. Coupled with the impact of the "South China Sea Collision" incident on April 1, 2001, it has been proven that the J-8II fighter has poor low-altitude and low-speed flight performance and is more suitable for high altitudes. The combat capability of high-speed interception undoubtedly exposes the shortcomings of the J-8IIM fighter jet. The third-generation fighter can take into account both low-altitude and high-altitude combat capabilities and interception capabilities, and its comprehensive combat capabilities are more advantageous.
JF17 "Fierce Dragon" fighter
Although the J-8IIM fighter jet was successfully developed, it has become a backward product. In the end, not one was sold, and only the Chinese Air Force and Navy have equipment for use. At the same time, with the successful development of the JF17 "Fierce Dragon" fighter jet, my country has realized that the JF17 "Fierce Dragon" fighter jet has greater export potential. As for the J-8IIM fighter jet, why did Pakistan once have great interest in it but finally chose to give it up? Pakistani test pilot Lieutenant Colonel NADIM BAHAD once told the reason in an interview with "Aviation Club" magazine in the early years.
The general reasons can be divided into two points:
â‘ The "Peace Pearl" program allowed the United States to look at the J-8 fighter jets all over. There is no secret at all. In the "Peace Pearl" program, the Americans obtained the J-8II fighter jets and then dismantled them. After conducting very detailed research, the aircraft structure, design, and performance have long been known to the United States. The Americans even copied one for research. For Pakistan or other buyers, purchasing J-8IIM fighter jets carries huge political and military risks. Once the United States discloses its core secrets and parameters to other countries, this will be disastrous for the user country.
The design of J-8II in the United States is outdated and unreasonable. Pakistani test pilots believe that although the J-8II fighter has excellent high-altitude performance and is still the fighter with the lowest resistance when flying at supersonic speeds in the world, it has no practical significance. For example, F-16 and Mirage-2000 are equipped with advanced pulse Doppler radar and missile and ignore it after launch. Although the maximum speed and ceiling of the J-8II fighter jet exceed them by a lot, it is difficult to escape the tracking of the missile. The conventional delta wing design used by the J-8II is no longer the development direction after the 1980s, and this design is only suitable for high-altitude, high-speed flying interceptor aircraft . The maneuverability and use economy are very poor, and it is not Suitable for multi-purpose fighter use. The overall maneuverability of
is not even as good as the J-7MG or J-7E with double delta wings and leading edge flaps that were improved from the J-7. At the same time, the pure delta wing design also makes the J-8II fuselage very, very slender. The subsequent development trend of combat aircraft is small size and large thrust-to-weight ratio, focusing on breakthroughs in mid- and low-altitude performance and maneuverability. The J-8II fighter is the fighter with the largest slenderness ratio in the world, but its maximum take-off weight is only 17.8 tons. The European Rafale, Typhoon and F16 fighter jets all exceed 23 tons, such as the Su-27 "Flanker", F15, etc. The fighter jet is close to 30 tons.
Therefore, the larger aircraft size does not bring greater take-off weight, weapon mounting capacity, range and combat radius to the J-8II. The weapon only has a 23mm double-barreled cannon, 2-4 combat missiles , 2 rocket launcher nests or 4-10 bombs. This kind of weapon mounting capacity has no advantage over the J-7, and the J-7 has the largest The take-off weight is less than half that of the J-8II. In addition, the performance of the early J-8II radar lagged behind and did not have the ability to launch medium-range air-to-air bombs. At the same time, the engine thrust was small, noisy, and fuel consumption was high. It lacked the use of composite materials, and the internal fuel tank was very small and had poor space utilization. Low. There are some unreasonable aspects in the
control system, pylon layout, landing gear retraction and retraction mode, and cockpit layout. The overall performance is even lower among second-generation fighters such as MiG-23, F-104, F-5, F-4, Mirage III, Mirage F1 and Saab-37. In addition, by the beginning of this century, with the successful development of the JF17 "Fierce Dragon" fighter, even though the overall combat capability of the improved J-8IIM has been improved, it is still inferior to the JF17 "Fierce Dragon" fighter that adopts many advanced technologies and a completely new design. In other words, the latter is more in line with the combat needs of the Pakistan Air Force.
In addition, the investment cost of the J-8IIM fighter is 2 to 3 times that of the J-7M/P. In addition, it incorporates a large number of Russian radar systems, electronic systems and other combat systems. It requires the establishment of two sets when using it. Logistics support system, this will undoubtedly increase the cost of use. For Pakistan, purchasing J-7M fighter jets and improved models and waiting for the advent of the JF17 "Fierce Dragon" fighter jet is the best choice.
As for why it did not break into the markets of Iraq and Iran , the reason is also very simple. The two countries became interested in this fighter during the Iran-Iraq war, and the combat capabilities of the J-8II fighter at that time were It is not perfect and cannot meet the operational needs of the two countries. With the end of the Iran-Iraq war and the outbreak of the Gulf War in the 1990s, the poor performance of Chinese weapons and equipment in actual combat caused the two countries to lose interest. Even if the development of the J-8IIM fighter jet is successful, it will be difficult to enter the international market. This is mostly due to distrust of the overall strength of the Chinese aviation industry.
Note: The above data comes from the Internet and is for reference only!
(Written by Periscope on July 2, 2022, please do not reprint without authorization, plagiarism will be investigated!)
