July 15, 2010: It was believed that China was retiring its 200 Q-5 attack aircraft over the last five years. But some have been spotted carrying a television guided smart bomb (a half ton KAB-500Kr). This is a late cold war Russian weapon which the Chinese copied. Equipping the Q-5 to carry this weapon, and GPS guided bombs (which the Chinese recently introduced) could extend the lives of the Q-5s.
Based on the Russian MiG-19, the 11.8 ton Q-5 has two engines and thus does not have the nose air intake characteristic of the early MiG jet fighters. China has produced over a thousand Q-5s since 1969. The single seat Q-5 is armed with two 23mm autocannon and can carry two tons of bombs and missiles, The navy has been using its Q-5s to carry anti-ship missiles. The Chinese have been upgrading the Q-5 over the years, and in the early 1990s began adding a lot of modern electronics (HUD, laser rangefinder) and even developed a version able to deliver laser and GPS guided bombs. One development version had a targeting pod. It was believed that these smart bomb versions were only experimental. Maybe they still are, but several have been seen carrying smart bombs at bases for regular, not experimental, aircraft.
