In the previous article, the author talked to you about a series of stories about the development of the most advanced equipment of the PLA forces in China, such as the J-16, J-11 055 destroyers and so on. Today, let's talk about all kinds of first-class equipment imported from Western countries in the 80s. Seriously speaking, taking advantage of the very precious honeymoon period, China has imported all kinds of first-class equipment and systems from Europe and the United States, which has played a great role in the modernization of the People's Liberation Army and catching up with the world's advanced level. So, what ** and equipment does China import from Italy?
First of all, let's talk about the development of our first-class labor system. In the early 50s, our country did not yet have its own military-industrial production system, and a lot of ** equipment was imported from the USSR. For example, all kinds of ** during the period of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, all Soviet-style equipment. Beginning in the mid-50s, our country began 156 important projects one after another, and began to have its own military-industrial production system. Subsequently, on the basis of various Soviet-style **, China began to further imitate and improve.
For example, Type 59 tanks, J-7 fighters, etc., are all imitated on the basis of Soviet-style **. However, after entering the mid-60s, due to various reasons, our country was no longer able to obtain various systems and equipment from the USSR. In the more than 10 years since then, our first-class work system has been exploring independently. At the end of the 70s, China entered a critical and short honeymoon period with European and American countries.
China began to investigate all kinds of first-class equipment in Europe and the United States, and considered all aspects of the import or introduction of production lines. For example, Britain's Type 42 destroyer, France's Mirage 2000 fighter, Germany's engine, and so on, were once the targets of China's investigation. In the course of the investigation, China inspected a series of Italian equipment, among which there are two types of confirmed equipment, namely: A224S anti-submarine torpedo and Aspide medium-range air-to-air bomb.
First, let's talk about the A224 anti-submarine torpedo. For a long time, there have been no anti-submarine torpedoes on the main ships of our Navy, and they can only rely on anti-submarine rockets and depth charges. It must be said that such an anti-submarine mode is very passive, because of the short range and the limited anti-submarine depth. Take the lead ships of our country in the seventies and eighties, the 051 series destroyers, for example, which were only equipped with anti-submarine rockets and depth charges.
Compared with the main ships of Western countries in the same period, they are basically dominated by anti-submarine *** anti-submarine torpedoes. Anti-submarine torpedoes have the characteristics of high hit rate, large anti-submarine depth, and long range, and belong to the standard configuration of the main ships of the Navy. Take the Italian A224 torpedo as an example, with a maximum speed of 40 knots, a maximum combat depth of 400 meters, a warhead weighing 34 kg, and a maximum range of 6 kilometers. It is relatively lightweight, and can be carried by ships and mounted.
Combined with the needs of all parties and the actual situation of our navy, in 1987, China imported 40 A224 anti-submarine torpedoes from Italy. As well as the launcher, a full set of technical information. Later, our country began to carry out a comprehensive imitation of the A224 torpedo, which is the domestic ET52 torpedo. It has to be said that the introduction of the A224 torpedo not only solves the urgent need of China's navy in terms of anti-submarine, but also gives China a comprehensive understanding of the technology and design of the electric power system, active and passive acoustic homing heads, and other aspects.
Through the introduction of A244S torpedoes, the gap in the field of light anti-submarine torpedoes in our country has been filled. In the process of developing domestic anti-submarine torpedoes in China, the A224 torpedo has played a great role in reference and promotion. Before the maturity of domestic anti-submarine torpedo technology, the Italian A224 torpedo and later imitation versions have always been one of the main anti-submarine equipment of Chinese ships.
Not only the navy, but also the construction of China's air force has also used Italian technology, that is, the Aspide medium-range air-to-air bomb. For a long time, all kinds of fighters in our country can basically only rely on machine guns and Jincheng combat ammunition, for example, in the seventies and eighties, the Thunderbolt 5 combat ammunition is still the main force of the air force. At the same time, the world's major military powers have successively launched medium-range air-to-air bombs, such as the AIM120 of the United States, the R27 of the Soviet Union, and the Mika of France.
The firing range of the above-mentioned medium-range air-to-air bombs is basically about 40 to 50 km, which has a clear range advantage. After a comprehensive investigation, in 1988, China imported the Aspide medium-range air-to-air bomb from Italy for 55 million US dollars, including 85 missiles and two sets of first-class testing equipment and related technical documents. The Aspide air-to-air missile is a medium-range air-to-air missile further developed by Italy on the basis of the technology of the AIM-7E-2 "Sparrow" air-to-air missile of the United States, with a maximum range of 80 kilometers.
After China obtained the Asprompt medium-range missile, it immediately stopped the research and development of the Thunderbolt-4 project and began to fully invest in the target test and mapping and imitation of the Asprompt missile. In 1995, China's J-8II test-fired the Aspide missile, with three shots and three hits, and finally realized the first over-the-horizon missile attack by a domestic fighter. On the basis of "Aspide", China imitated an improved version of the process, which is called the Thunderbolt-11 medium-range bomb.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the J-8 fighter and the J-10A fighter of the Chinese Air Force are still mainly equipped with Thunderbolt-11 medium-range bombs and Thunderbolt-8 combat bombs. During this period, Aspide and Thunderbolt-11 belonged to the absolute main force of China's medium-range air combat. Because in terms of missile performance, it is better than the R27 medium-range missile imported from Russia by our country. The emergence of the Aspaid has laid the foundation for the development of a new type of domestically produced over-the-horizon missile, which will not be without ammunition at least during the transition period of the Air Force.
Of course, in the process of developing, finalizing, and gradually improving the Thunderbolt-11 medium-range bomb, it faced the problem of "what is the best of the best". Since the start of China's Thunderbolt-12 medium-range bomb project, it has progressed very smoothly, and all aspects have made rapid progress. By the beginning of the 21st century, the development progress of the Thunderbolt-12 medium-range bomb has even surpassed the Thunderbolt-11 in some aspects.
In the finalized test in 2005, it took only 8 years and 6 months to complete the development of the domestically produced medium-range air-to-air missile. This is the first time that China has reached a height close to that of the United States, Russia, and France in the field of advanced air-to-air missiles entirely on its own. In terms of technical performance, it significantly surpassed the Thunderbolt 11 medium-range bomb.
Actually, it's not just the A224 torpedo and the Asped medium-range shell. According to foreign reports, part of the technology of China's Type 76A 37-mm double-barreled anti-aircraft gun originated from the Breda 40-mm double-barreled machine gun in Italy. The early version of the Type 052 destroyer in our country used a towed sonar system, which also originated in Italy. However, the technology in these two areas** has not been proven.
In short, in the 80s, most of the best equipment imported by China from Europe and the United States came to fruition. It has not only increased the pace of modernization of the PLA troops, but also greatly increased the overall number of equipment after the emergence of various domestically produced imitation models from the 90s to the early 21 st century.
There are many more stories about the development of the modernization of the PLA troops. The author will talk to you slowly in future articles.