From Relics to Robots: China Turns Soviet Jets into Supersonic Drones
By Kapil Kajal
Some estimates put China’s remaining inventory at about 3,000 airframes.
China’s military has unveiled a combat drone converted from a Soviet–era fighter jet, a development that could enable massed drone attacks in any future conflict over Taiwan.
The People’s Liberation Army displayed the unmanned aircraft, derived from the retired J-6 fighter, at the Changchun Air Show in northeastern China, which opened Friday and runs through Tuesday.
Its public debut confirms years of speculation that Beijing was converting its large stockpile of J-6s into unmanned platforms.
1950s Soviet jets
China produced thousands of J-6s, a copy of the Soviet MiG-19, between the 1960s and 1980s. Once the backbone of the PLA Air Force, the second-generation supersonic fighter is now far slower and less capable than China’s front-line jets.
The South China Morning Post reported that the J-6 has a top speed of Mach 1.3, a combat range of about 435 miles (700 kilometers), and can carry roughly 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of ordnance.
According to information displayed at the show, the first unmanned J-6 flew as early as 1995.
The conversion removes all crew-related systems, such as ejection seats and auxiliary tanks, and adds an autonomous flight control suite, autopilot, and terrain-matching navigation. Additional weapon stations increase its payload capacity.
The exhibit described the aircraft as capable of serving as a strike platform or a target drone for training.
In a Taiwan contingency, the drones could be used in swarms for saturation strikes or as decoys to reveal air defense sites.
Full-size jets with minimal modern avionics may be less vulnerable to electronic jamming or directed-energy weapons aimed at smaller drones.
Supersonic combat drones
Military commentators in Taiwan have voiced concern. “I am not afraid of the Dongfeng [ballistic missiles], I am worried about this drone,” retired Taiwanese Lt. Gen. Shuai Hua-ming said last week on CTiTV.
“Hundreds or even thousands of these aircraft could come in a swarm, which would be more terrifying than missiles,” he said, noting that intercepting them with US-made Patriot missiles would be costly.
Song Zhongping, a former PLA instructor and military commentator, told Chinese media the aircraft could act as the vanguard of an assault on Taiwan, forcing the island to expend expensive interceptors such as the Patriot and Taiwan’s indigenous Tien Chien-2 missiles.
“In the event of a conflict, the safety of manned aircraft cannot be fully guaranteed, and the cost of losing them would be high. Unmanned aircraft are needed to suppress and deplete air defense capabilities,” Song said, adding that the simplest and most cost-effective conversion is to use the J-6 as a kamikaze drone.
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out force to bring the self-governed island under its control.
Tensions have risen since Taiwan’s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party took power in 2016, and the PLA has stepped up military activity around the island.
Most countries, including the United States, do not recognize Taiwan as independent but oppose any attempt to change the status quo by force.
Original source: https://interestingengineering.com/military/soviet-jets-as-supersonic-drones