Posted on 09/17/2008 8:42:45 PM PDT by Flavius
Hong Kong, China — China’s official media have released photos of K-8 fighter trainers demonstrating impressive attack power against land-based targets. The aircraft are the same model that China has exported to Sudan, ostensibly for training purposes.
However, the K-8 trainers are very much like standard attack aircraft, and their tactical application in the Sudanese Air Force is not only for training but also for land attack operations. The K-8 has flight endurance of three hours, a maximum flight range of 2,100 kilometers, and its combat radius covers the whole of Sudan’s territory
(Excerpt) Read more at upiasiaonline.com ...
it looks 1959ish.
Looks like a BAE Goshawk.
Primitive isn’t it?
Might as well crank up the A4 line, the A4 would outperform their K-8.
yeah,
but if you’re on a camel,
this thing’s got you down.
true true
unless you get a stinger or two
yeah,
that’s how we got the soviets out of afghanistan,
and later, we got in!
ironic, isn’t it.
china’s going to control africa.
PLAF K-8 export thread
//ironic, isn’t it.//
yes it is.
//china’s going to control africa.//
Africa is an bottomless pit for all who try to control it IMO.
For a typical strike mission, how many slaves will be required to push it to the target area? Won’t the wheels bog down in the sand?
Is it me, or does the skin of this aircraft look a little mottled - it isn’t the paint, it looks like they hammered out dents and got them almost smooth.
I wonder if the Sudanese animists and Christians would like a pack of Stingers.
It’s an intermediate jet trainer-a level below the Hawk/Goshawk so it’s not meant to be flashy. The PRC has two advanced jet trainer projects going on at the moment.
Sure, but the K-9 is a real dog.
If so astonishingly advanced for the time
Czech Aero L-39 first flight 1971 
British Aerospace Hawk first flight 1974 
Spainsh CASA 101 first flight 1977 
Yugoslav SOKO Super Galeb first flight 1978 
Taiwan AT-3 AIDC first flight 1980 
Thanks for the info.
the point is,
it does not look like 2008.
Actually it does. Since the 70s military Jet Trainers either look like the British Aerospace Hawk or the Dassault/Dornier Alpha jet. Still do
Russian MiG-AT first flight 1996 
Indian HAL HJT-36 first flight 2003 
Shiny, expensive, high-tech weapon systems are great for countries that need them and can afford them.
Sudan is not one of those countries- any opponents it is likely to face will be even lower tech than the Sudanese military. And Sudan simply does not have the military infrastructure to maintain any advanced weapon system.
We have to remember that most ongoing conflicts in the world today involve mostly light infrantry with some artillery and maybe a little armored support. Only a handful of nations in the world have the ability (and need) to support an advanced military.
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