Posted on 06/12/2010 5:23:10 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
China Retires All F-6 Fighter Jets
A F-6 fighter jet takes off in this undated photo. [Photo: Sohu.com]
China on Saturday retired all F-6 fighter jets from the active duty of its air force fleets, which has been undergoing an accelerating upgrading process with more self-developed advanced planes put into service in recent years.
As the country's first-generation supersonic fighter jets, the F-6 models took up an overwhelming majority in Chinese air forces from its birth in 1964 to 1986 when the country stopped its production.
The jets are still keeping the records of the longest service period in China and shooting down the most enemy aircrafts. According to China Central Television, more than 20 hostile planes were brought down in the combats with the F-6 jets between 1964 and 1968.
Made by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation from a prototype of the Russian Mig-19, the F-6 jets were developed into four models suitable for different tasks from fighting for air control to giving support to ground troops.
Its just a mig-19 no match even for our early 1970’s aircraft.
Self-developed? What a huge laugh. I can't think of a single technological development or product that China makes/builds that isn't essentially ripped-off technology from someone else.. At least they use to actually do some form of licensing from other nations for their weapons systems (mostly Russia), but now - they unabashedly copy everyone else.
There more recent "designs" for fighters look and operate strikingly like the Eurofighter Typhoon with a drop or two of US F-16. Their missiles that this plane carries are copied from Israel's Python system.
And their satellites use our staging system, that Clinton gave to them.
With this administration it won’t be long before the Chicoms
have the plans for the F-22 or the F-35.
0 will probably just give them the planes outright since we shouldn’t have any that are better than any one else’s.
I think that if you ask veteran Vietnam pilots you’ll find that the gun-armed MiG-19 presented the F-4 & F-105’s a lot of problems. Neither US aircraft had an internal cannon and the MiG would often sneak in close before it got detected. Close is where guns defeat missiles and also where maneuverability trumps raw power.
You forgot to mention that those Israeli pythons were copies American side winder.
Right you are - technology loss by the US in the last century and our failure to maintain a lead in new technology will be our outdoing.
Well, in terms of aircraft they have the FC-1 (think F-5/MiG-21 replacement for the international market), although they did receive assistance from us pre-Tianenmen Square, the Ruskies afterwards, and probably got a thorough peek at Pakistan’s F-16s. Man, I intended using the FC-1 vs the J-10 (which you say looks like a Eurofighter), given the speculation that the J-10 was a Lavi copy, to argue that they did come up with something original but ended up blowing up my argument.
The F-4E was available in 1967 with the internal gun and 4 sparrow missiles vs Mig-19 with no missiles.
North Vietnam's Air Force used the MiG-19 much later in the air war than the MiG-17 and the MiG-21. MiG-19s, despite their limited numbers, were involved in extensive combat during Operations Linebacker 1 and Linebacker 2 (aka the Christmas Bombing). The NVAF claimed only seven victories using the MiG-19 over US aircraft, all of which were F-4 Phantom IIs.[4] Primarily because of the aircraft's twin engines, which created a maintenance nightmare, the MiG-19 wasn't favored by North Vietnamese pilots. While the MiG-17 had maneuverability and the MiG-21 had speed, the MiG-19 had a combination of both, but not to the same degree as the others. North Vietnam used the MiG-19 from 1969 until the 1980s when it was replaced by newer aircraft.
Compared to the F-4 Phantom II however, although lacking mounts for air-to-air missiles, it had the one advantage that the early model Phantoms did not have: it was armed with cannons. Confirmed aerial victories by MiG-19s while assigned to the 925th FR, which match US records occurred on: 10 May 1972 in which two F-4 Phantoms were shot down by MiG-19s flown by Pham Hung Son and Nguyen Manh Tung. Both NVAF victories over the F-4s were accomplished by cannon fire, pilot Nguyen Tung's downed USAF F-4 Phantom was manned by Major Robert Lodge and his WSO 1st Lt Roger Locher.[5][6][7] Combat results of the 925th FR using MiG-19s, according to the North Vietnamese Air Force were: two F-4s on 8 May 1972 (MiG-19 pilots: Nguyen Ngoc Tiep and Nguyen Hong Son); two F-4s on 10 May 1972 (MiG-19 pilots (both previously mentioned): Pham Hung Son and Nguyen Manh Tung); one F-4 on 18 May 1972; and two F-4s shot down on 23 May 1972 (MiG-19 pilots: Nguyen Hung Son and Pham Hung Son);[4] these losses were in exchange for 10 MiG-19s lost in aerial combat with US jets. The MiG-19 did make history in one manner however; on 2 June 1972 over the skies of North Vietnam, the MiG-19 has the inauspicious honor of being the only recorded jet fighter[citation needed] to be shot down in aerial combat by cannon fire at supersonic speeds, by a USAF F-4 Phantom piloted by Major Phil Handley.
You were correct about the MiG-19 (J-6) that the NVAF used lacked A2A missiles. The article states that they didn't even have the mounts. Up until about 1972 the MiG-19 gave better than it got against the F-4 Phantom. It really wasn't until US pilots trained at "Red Flag" in dissimilar combat began using their Phantoms to best effect.
Significant technological disadvantages can be overcome through tactical cunning.
The Mig-19 pilots flew low and close in to confuse the F-4 radars. Also, I believe that they used a rolling maneuver that threw off the early sidewinder missiles.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.