Its origin can be traced back to the late 1950s when, in August 1958 the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) requested a jet attack aircraft for the ground attack role.
Lu Xiaopeng was named chief designer of this project which, although based on the MiG-19, this new design, named initially as Qiangjiji-5 (5th fifth attack aircraft design), had a longer fuselage, area ruled to reduce transonic drag and fit a 4 m (13-ft) long internal weapons bay. The air intakes were placed at the sides of the fuselage to make room for a planned target radar in the nose which, eventually, it was never fitted. New wings with greater area and reduced sweep were also incorporated, though they were similarly looking to those of the MiG-19. The Q-5 was powered by the Liming-Wopen WP-6A turbojet engine which is itself a copy of the Soviet Tumansky RD-9, with 6.610 lbf of thrust power.
The redesign meant that the Q-5 was a bit slower at high altitude than the MiG-19, but at low altitudes it proved to be equally faster thanks to the area-ruled fuselage.
Production armament consists on two Type-23-1 23 mm guns mounted in the wing roots, two pylons under each wing and two additional pair of pylons under the engines were also provided in addition to the weapons bay. A total of 1.000 kg (2.205 lb) of ordnance could be carried internally with additional external 1.000 kg externally. On many aircraft the weapons bay were fitted with an auxiliary fuel tank.
Many variants were made, though in this post we're just covering some of them:
- Q-5: The original production version of the 1960s. It was equipped with a total of 6 pylons, two under each wing and two under the fuselage. Replaced by the Q-5A.
- Q-5Jia: A regular Q-5 modified to carry tactical nuclear bombs. Very few were converted to this role and some of them were fitted with the 317Jia radar as an improvement program.
- Q-5I: AKA Q-5A. This version was a regular Q-5 with the internal weapons bay replaced with an additional fuel tank which increased fuel capacity in 70% more. A Chinese-built Type 74Y4 laser rangefinder was also fitted.
- Q-5IA: AKA Q-5B. Improved Q-5A with radar warning receiver and flare dispensers. It was equipped with an improved weapon aiming sight which allowed the attacks to be carried out from different angles. Extra outer pylons on outer wings were also added for PL-2/PL-5 air-to-air missiles, bombs or rocket launchers.
- Q-5Yia: AKA Q-5B (denomination given by the People's Liberation Army Navy - PLAN). A torpedo attacker developed for the PLAN. It was initially going to be equipped with YJ-8 anti-ship missiles but the programme was cancelled because of budget problems, even with the missile well developed. It was tried to retake the project in the 1980s but it was decided to give the role to the Xian JH-7.
- A-5C: Export version fitted with western avionics which we already covered in previous posts.
- Q-5D: An interim attack aircraft introduced during the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis. It featured improved avionics and radar.
Sources:
1. Midland Publishing - Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19. The Soviet Union's First Production Supersonic Fighter
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanchang_Q-5
No comments:
Post a Comment