J-6 (Jianjiji-6 Fighter aircraft 6) (2024)

The J-6 fighter is the first supersonic fighter developed by China, which produced 5,200 fighters, and made great achievements in homeland air defense operations. Starting on June 12, 2010, the domestically-made J-6 fighters were officially withdraw from the Air Force's establishment sequence. However, because the number of J-6s is quite large, they can be used for new purposes, and some of the retired J-6s still had long remaining life, and the storage conditions are better, the army decided to modify the J-6s to UAV attack aircraft.

The J-6 converted into a drone is the legendary J-6 "suicide plane". The retired F-6 can be technically converted into an unmanned attack aircraft. A large number of modified F-6s can put a lot of pressure on the enemy's air defense in wartime. The J-6 combat aircraft equipped by the Chinese Air Force began to be retired on a large scale in 2005 and was completely retired in 2010.

With the rapid development of weapon systems and the high maintenance costs, there are usually several flow directions for active fighters after decommissioning: first, important and available parts are removed as backup parts for active fighters, and the remaining parts are dismantled into scrap according to law. Sell ??or enter the metal recycling system; the second is to store important combat aircraft in the military history hall or send them to the museum exhibition area; the third is to convert them into target drones for air defense exercises. The fourth is to transfer to other countries.

The most familiar cases of converting retired fighters into target drones are the U.S. Air Force’s QF-4 and QF-16 target drones. At that time, many countries were unable to obtain these two types of fighters due to military sales schedules or diplomatic factors, and lamented the United States. The Air Force’s waste of equipment; and from the public information, it seems that these two types of drones have not been converted into unmanned "suicide" aircraft. Drone after the removal of most of the parts with a remote control or a pre-flight planning program that lets drone in a particular flight route flight, by actual flight or let air defense interceptor force related to hone tactics.

In 1995, the first flight of the J-6 unmanned target drone developed by China was successful, which could turn thousands of retired J-6s into treasures and become supersonic unmanned target drones, filling the domestic gap and accumulating a lot of experience. It laid the foundation for China to develop a new generation of large-scale cutting-edge high-speed drones.

Since the beginning of this century, the Air Force has launched a project to convert the J-6 into a combat drone. The retired F-6 modified F-6 unmanned attack aircraft has dismantled the ejection seat, oxygen system, cannon, co*ckpit avionics, and auxiliary fuel tank, but retained the co*ckpit cover and does not close the co*ckpit, which embodies the principle of simplicity.

Some photographs of supposed UAV conversions do indeed show co*ckpits retained, while models of the UAV conversion show the co*ckpit deleted. An automatic flight control system has been added, and the autopilot and terminal guidance system have been modified, which can automatically set sail at low altitudes and retain the basic flight efficiency of the J-6. Six pylons are installed under the wing, which can hang 2-6 aerial bombs with a caliber of 250 kg. Refit the automatic flight control system, improve the autopilot, and add a terrain matching navigation system.

Due to the low cost of modification, it won't hurt to be shot down, so this type of drone basically performs "suicide" missions. For example, carrying torpedoes directly to enemy waters or military ports for aerial mine-laying, or acting as an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, or as a decoy aircraft, consuming enemy fighter missiles or ground air defense weapons and ammunition, increasing the survival probability of the main fighter.

The J-6 unmanned attack aircraft can perform a variety of tasks. It can mount aerial bombs during ground attack, aerial mines during sea blockade, and can also act as a radar decoy aircraft during combat. It can be equipped with radar decoy devices to simulate large cluster attacks. The flight of the aircraft lures the enemy’s radar to turn on, exposing its remote surveillance radar and ground-to-air missile positions, or consumes the enemy’s remote ground-to-air missiles.

The retired J-6 modified unmanned attack aircraft is equivalent to a cruise missile with a 1500 kg warhead, a range of about 600 kilometers, a relatively fixed route, and a low altitude terrain matching flight. It can attack the enemy's fixed ground targets, such as airports, military ports, command centers, missile launch positions, and so on. This drone transformed from a fighter jet can also be expanded for many purposes. For example, after being loaded with mines, the aircraft can conduct unmanned aerial mine-laying in waters and ports where enemy air defenses are densely fired. The aircraft can also act as an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, or as a decoy aircraft in combat, to lure the enemy to expose radar and missile positions, or to deplete the enemy’s air defense missiles, so that the PLA’s main fighters can increase their strike effectiveness.

The biggest shortcoming of the F-6 unmanned attack aircraft is that it needs to occupy a large area of ??the runway and parking area of the frontline airport, and it will seriously crowd out the normal airway during combat. Since the J-6 unmanned attack aircraft is modified from a fighter jet, the usual maintenance, pre-takeoff inspection, as well as the guarantee of hanging bombs, refueling, etc., are no different from the advanced fighters in active service.

If an airport station can support the combat missions of 48 fighters from two flying regiments, then the maximum dispatched number of an unmanned aerial vehicle base is about 50. This will also reduce the combat support missions of other manned aircraft units. As a result, only one aircraft can be released one by one. According to the minimum release interval of 3 minutes, each base can release only 20 sorties in an hour. It takes 2 to 3 hours for 50 F-6 unmanned attack aircraft to fly.

According to a report by Defense News on 20 October 2021, the Eastern Theater of the People's Liberation Army posted photos of new training mobilizations, and for the first time showed J-6 fighters suspected of being converted into UAVs. Satellite images show that the People's Liberation Army parked a large number of these drones at two east coast bases near Taiwan. Although the airport that was shot is unknown, there are banners for new training and mobilization in the eastern theater, and the 5-digit tactical numbers on these J-6 fighters have been digitally processed to hide the units they belong to.

This shows that the relevant J-6 fighters are still in service, and three pylons can be seen under the wings. The J-6 is a land-based MiG-19 interceptor. The manned version was officially retired in 2010 because of its obsolescence. Since then, satellite photos have shown that many J-6s have appeared in Liancheng, Fujian, on the Chinese mainland, opposite Taiwan, as well as the two air bases in Xingning, Guangdong. The satellite photos taken by the US commercial satellite company Planet Labs Inc on 15 September 2021 show that there are 50 J-6s at Liancheng Air Force Base, and 9 of them are parked on the 7,830-foot (nearly 2,390-meter) runway.

Although no new satellite images of Xingning were obtained, images taken in April 2020 showed that there were 29 J-6s at the base. The photos of Xingning Base released by Google Earth in March 2013, October 2014, and December 2018 all showed that they were on the runway. In addition, satellite photos taken over the years show that the J-6 appeared in different places on the two bases, further indicating that they are still in service and have not been sealed. Liancheng and Xingning are about 275 miles (nearly 440 kilometers) from Taiwan, both within the range of the J-6. However, China has not yet officially recognized the existence of modified J-6 UAVs.

In mid-May 2019, the news that 70 modified J-6 fighters/UAVs were deployed in Wuyishan, Fujian, once again aroused the public's attention to the news of such fighters/UAVs. Past news about 10 years ago showed that in the controversy over the news of the J-6 fighter drone, there are often sensational headlines about the consumption of Taiwan’s air defense ammunition by thousands of unmanned fighters.

Although the People's Liberation Army's project to modify the F-6 unmanned attack aircraft is very successful, the number is not as large as the thousands reported online. According to satellite images from 2011 to 2015, there were only dozens of J-6 UAV bases located in Guangdong and Fujian that were parked on the runway. Taking into account the number of aircraft hangars in several bases, the total number of F-6 unmanned fighters deployed by the Air Force at the forefront could be three to four hundred, far less than thousands.

From the perspective of the air force’s support capabilities, since the J-6 UAV is modified from a fighter jet, the maintenance, inspection, and refueling before take-off are the same as those of active fighters. For example, one regiment-level station of the Air Force can support two flight regiments. For the combat mission of 48 fighters, the maximum number of UAV bases to dispatch is about 50. This also guarantees the combat missions of other manned aircraft units. Since the J-6 UAV does not have the ability to fly in formation, it can only be released by a single aircraft. According to the minimum release interval of 3 minutes, each base can only fly 20 sorties within an hour, and 50 J-6 UAVs require 3 hours to fully release. After take-off, the J-6 flies to the target like cruise missiles, unable to form dense wave strikes. The "Hanhe Defense Review" counted at least 55 aircraft based on satellite images of a certain base in Fujian in 2011, which is more in line with the base’s support capabilities.

The J-6 unmanned attack aircraft is an emergency product developed for military struggle preparation. The modification is relatively simple. Due to cost constraints, it is impossible to apply expensive laser inertial navigation and advanced terrain matching auxiliary navigation systems such as Dongfeng 10, so the J-6 unmanned The attack performance of the aircraft is not very high and it is easy to be intercepted. After a large number of military inspection and combat drones and various cruise missiles and long-range missiles are in service, the J-6 attack drone will complete its historical mission and gradually withdraw from the front line.

Satellite imagery disclosed hundreds of F-6 and F-7 drones parked at Fujian Liancheng Military Airport.

The People's Liberation Army has no ability to allow thousands of F-6 UAVs to fly over during a battle. There is no air force of any country on Earth that has this capability, not even the United States, because it is impossible to have hundreds of UAV control channels, and the route planning ability to plan hundreds of drones to fight together. Therefore, the PLA has thousands of F-6 unmanned attack aircraft in the media and the Internet. After the start of the war, there will be a dense and black crowd of F-6 drones rushing towards the enemy. This kind of picture will only appear in science fiction movies.

The J-6 unmanned attack aircraft does not have the ability to fly in formation, and has insufficient firepower density to perform multi-wave saturation strikes. Moreover, the J-6 unmanned attack aircraft is an emergency product developed for military struggle preparations. The modification is relatively simple and there are many restrictions on the cost. It is impossible to apply expensive laser inertial navigation and high-end terrain matching auxiliary navigation systems. Therefore, the penetration efficiency of the F-6 unmanned attack aircraft is not very high, and it is easily intercepted by the enemy's surface-to-air missiles.

The J-6 unmanned attack aircraft is only an emergency weapon, and its combat effectiveness is far lower than the long-endurance inspection and combat drones and cruise missiles. A "Pterosaur-2" or "Rainbow-4" large-scale long-endurance surveillance drone can carry multiple air-to-surface missiles or precision-guided bombs, and its single-plane strike capability is better than dozens of J-6 unmanned aerial vehicles.

In recent years, integrated surveillance and combat drones, various cruise missiles, and remote missiles have been in service in large numbers. The J-6 unmanned attack aircraft has also completed its historical mission and gradually withdrew from the front line. With the frequent large-scale air combat exercises and live-fire target training conducted by the Chinese Air Force in recent years, it is believed that more and more retired J-6s will be converted into unmanned target drones to realize their ultimate value.

In addition to the thousands of F-6s that have been retired, the Air Force still maintains eight or nine hundred F-7s and F-8 series aircraft, which are being retired at a rate of nearly a hundred each year. Therefore, some of these retired aircraft are converted into target drones, which are enough for the Air Force to target for decades.