(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . What do you do with an aging jet fighter? Troubling speculation re China and Taiwan. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-21 Nicknamed the "Grandpa Jet", China is reported about ready to phase them out - but will they go out with a bang? Speculation at INSIDER reported by Michael Peck ponders a possible swan-song for China’s aging J-7 fighters. The Cold War fighter that was once the mainstay of China's air force is finally being retired. The last of the Chengdu J-7 — a Chinese copy of the 1960s-era Soviet MiG-21 — may be completely phased out of active service this year, according to the state-sponsored Chinese newspaper Global Times. But that doesn't mean they won't fly again. There are indications that China may turn J-7s into suicide drones for use in a massive attack on Taiwan. The J-7 is capable of Mach-2 speed, but it is an old design that is functionally obsolete compared with newer aircraft China is currently operating. They still have a lot of them. ...China has about 350 J-7s and J-8s (a J-7 derivative) used by the Chinese air force, plus another 24 J-8s operated by the Chinese navy, according to The Military Balance 2022, published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. (Between its air force and navy, China now has the world's third-largest aviation force, according to the Pentagon.) This would be the equivalent of the US military operating F-35 stealth fighters alongside 1960s-vintage F-4 Phantoms. "The retirement of the J-7s would mark the full shift to fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft for the PLAAF," Rod Lee, research director for the US Air Force's China Aerospace Studies Institute, told Insider. Obviously, if China is planning to convert its J-7 fleet into a fleet of unmanned attack drones (unmanned combat air vehicles, AKA UCAVs) as part of a massive assault on Taiwan, it is not something they are going to publicize. In the absence of confirmation from multiple sources as to what is happening, several possibilities should be considered. This might be an actual scenario now underway. This might be intended to exaggerate the Chinese threat to Taiwan to justify more military spending and a more aggressive posture towards China by the U.S. This might be an effort by China to create a threat to force a response and shuffling of military resources to defend against it — without necessarily being an actual threat. A bluff in other words. Or it might simply be bluster, ritual saber rattling intended for domestic purposes. It might be nothing at all, or something else entirely. IF China was going to launch a massive attack on Taiwan, being able to launch several hundred drone J-7s at once or several waves of such attacks, it’s something that would likely saturate air defenses. It would be even more complicated to respond if the incoming threat also included stealth aircraft. Whether they would simply be deployed as a distraction, were intended to strike specific targets, or were to be used in some other fashion, the idea of using them this way is just one more way drone aircraft are changing the way military planners have to do threat assessment and how to respond. Assuming this is a real threat, or is real enough that it can’t be dismissed... There’s talk of the fog of war, the inability to sort out what’s actually happening given the random nature of conflict and the difficulty of getting good information in a timely fashion. It’s also worth remembering that creating the fog of uncertainty is an old military tactic. Of course, China could always dispose of their old J-7s by donating them to Ukraine…. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/21/2154316/-What-do-you-do-with-an-aging-jet-fighter-Troubling-speculation-re-China-and-Taiwan Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/