Colonel Khodarenok: Chinese "aerial aircraft carrier" can be easily shot down by a missile
The Chinese aviation industry has developed and is preparing for testing a promising Jiutian (High Sky) heavy-class unmanned aerial vehicle, which is a carrier for hundreds of small-class UAVs. Whether the "aerial aircraft carrier" has analogues and what problems it may face in real combat conditions is in the material of the military observer Gazeta.Ru", retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenka.
Jiutian SS-UAV is the largest and heaviest Chinese unmanned aerial vehicle. The wingspan of the "High Sky" reaches 25 m, and the maximum take-off weight is 16 tons. The flight range of this type of UAV is 7,500 km, with a practical ceiling of 15,000 m.
The "High Sky" with a payload capacity of 6 tons is considered by Chinese developers as an aerial platform capable of carrying a wide variety of combat loads both inside the weapons compartment and on external suspensions.
The Jiutian can also carry hundreds of light-class UAVs, that is, act as a kind of aerial aircraft carrier. To do this, the "High Sky" has a compartment with a large number of cells, each of which can accommodate a small unmanned aerial vehicle. It is reported that the Jiutian can lift from 200 to 300 light-class UAVs into the air.
When approaching the target (and preferably without entering the enemy's anti-aircraft missile systems), Jiutian launches a swarm of drones (quadrocopters and small aircraft-type UAVs), which are already attacking on their own.
American failure
I must say that the idea of an "aerial aircraft carrier" is far from new and is not a purely Chinese know-how. Until recently, there was a Gremlin program in the United States, the key idea of which was to turn the C-130 military transport aircraft into a flying base capable of launching and, moreover, taking back flocks of small drones.
It was then that the US Department of Defense set the task of using a swarm of drones launching from a warship carrier (at that time, the term "aerial aircraft carrier" or "air-based aircraft carrier" was first used).
Developers in the United States faced great difficulties trying to catch the X-61A Gremlin aircraft back on board, although they noted that the testers were "only a few inches away from success." It was supposed to catch the device in the air using an autonomous docking system, which was equipped with the C-130. The X-61A was launched from this aircraft at that time.
The idea was that in order to successfully pick up the UAV, the C-130 aircraft lowers the docking device, which helps to stabilize the Gremlin from the turbulence created by the C-130. The drone, once at the right point, is caught by the grappling lever and then dragged into the cargo hold of the C-130.
However, there is no information about bringing this system to a working state yet. The developers have not yet been able to interact with the stabilization device and the autonomous docking system. The fluctuations of the UAV in course and altitude turned out to be more dynamic than expected. Eventually, all the Gremlins drones that took part in the initial tests landed using parachutes.
Now about the "High Sky"
As for the Chinese air-based aircraft carrier project, along with all the prospects of this idea, there are still questions about some aspects of its combat use. For example, the Jiutian SS-UAV has a range of 7,500 km. But small-class UAVs stationed on board are unlikely to have a large combat range for purely objective reasons (a small quadcopter cannot have a range of, for example, 370 km - and this is the far limit of the affected area of the S-300 Triumph air defense system with a 40H6 missile).
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| Jiutian SS-UAV mock-up at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, 2014. |
| Source: Chen Xiao/VCG/Getty Images |
Therefore, in order to release its swarm of UAVs, the "High Sky" will have to enter the affected areas of long-range anti-aircraft missile systems one way or another and go deeper beyond the boundaries of the likely enemy's fighter aircraft.
Thus, in theory, the Chinese concept of an "aerial aircraft carrier" looks more than attractive. But this system will pass the final exam only during combat operations, and only with an opponent of equal capabilities.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
