After listening to Norokov¡¯s words, several military observers from West Asia and the Middle East realized that it seemed that a certain big country in the East was moving really fast this time.
How long did it take from the time of the earthquake until the first helicopter arrived at the field airport near the Karakoram Mountains and loaded with relief supplies and headed for the severely affected Shenxian Bay post?
? 4 hours or 6 hours?
Anyway, since the earthquake occurred in the early morning, by noon, three Y-15plus had fallen from the sky, not only unloading a general-purpose helicopter suitable for plateaus, but also loading a large number of logistics support equipment, personnel and a considerable amount of disaster relief materials.
The airborne troops responsible for loading, unloading and disaster relief tasks moved too fast, and the mysterious plateau helicopter was too dazzling. So just like fans meeting their idols, a large group of military observers were all fixated on that helicopter. Attracted.
Now being reminded by Norokov, military observers from Pakistan, Iran and other countries suddenly woke up. The strategic significance of this is self-evident.
You must know that although the Yun-15plus has excellent performance, it is only a light tactical transport aircraft after all. Although it is powered by a turbofan engine, it is much better than ordinary turboprops, and its range is comparable to many medium-sized transport aircraft.
However, its maximum take-off weight and load capacity are obvious shortcomings. After all, transport aircraft are the same as load-carrying trucks in mines. The bigger the load, the better. Even if it seems inflexible, at the critical moment, a large load capacity means that it can be put into operation per unit time. The greater the power of giving.
Regardless of other major events more than half a year ago, the Yun-15plus suffered from a small load capacity. In addition, the number was too small to form an organized heavy equipment delivery force. As a result, the airborne troops were quite ineffective in the operations at that time. For embarrassment.
¡°And the problems exposed in that large-scale exercise that was close to actual combat were not only seen by relevant people in China, but also professional institutions in other countries also noticed the problems inside.
In particular, the performance of the Y-15plus has made many countries interested in it hesitate. Among them, the Pakistan Air Force, which has equipped 12 Y-15plus, is the most typical. Looking at the Y-15plus more than half a year ago, The airborne troop delivery capability of the Y-15plus equipment was so poor that the Pakistan Air Force suspended the purchase contract for eight subsequent Y-15plus aircraft.
The reason is that the Air Force needs to evaluate, but in fact it is dissatisfied with the actual combat performance of the Y-15plus.
The same is true for Iran. When it purchased and leased TRJ-500 regional passenger aircraft, it took a fancy to the Y-15plus. After all, Iran, which has long been embargoed by a foreign country, has already aged its equipment, especially its air transport capabilities, which are in urgent need of updating. .
The Y-15plus was considered to be excellent in terms of range, load capacity and flexibility at the time, so Badiya, Iran's senior commercial counselor at the time, signed a contract with Ascendas Group for the purchase of 12 additional Y-15plus transport aircraft on behalf of the military. The contract has a total value of US$250 million.
As a result, after the big incident half a year ago, Iran also began to re-examine whether the composition of its air transportation force was biased. So after receiving 6 Y-15plus, it decisively cut off the order for the other 6 aircraft.
There are many similar countries. Some are cutting off orders like Iran, some are implicitly holding back and just don¡¯t want it, and some have good intentions but just feel that something is missing and they are unable to take the final step.
In a word, they are not satisfied with the performance of Yun-15plus.
However, at this moment, looking at the mysterious plateau helicopter hanging above the Karakoram Mountains, what was parked at the field airport was the Yun-15plus, which they thought had insufficient performance.
What does this mean?
The Yun-15plus has transformed from a single land-equipped light tactical transport aircraft into a secondary strategic transport aircraft that can also transport important aviation equipment.
Yes, the ranking is so high.
There is no way. In today's world, there are only a few models of transport aircraft that can perform medium-sized helicopter long-distance air transport, and all of them are heavy-duty strategic transport aircraft that can only be owned by the United States and the former Soviet Union.
Medium-sized tactical transport aircraft are not suitable, because due to technical and process reasons, the height of medium-sized helicopters is generally more than 4 meters, which is much higher than the cargo hold height of medium-sized transport aircraft.
Even if the propellers and hub propellers of some helicopters are removed, the cargo compartment is higher than that of most medium-sized transport aircraft.
Because of this, in the current world, there are really not many models that can perform helicopter long-distance air transportation missions, and most countries do not even dare to think about this type of equipment.
There is no way, not to mention the various difficulties required to purchase that kind of heavy-duty strategic transport aircraft, even if you buy it back, what will happen?How to raise it? You must know that this thing is a gold-eating beast, and the maintenance cost is so high that it can even swallow up the annual defense budget of an ordinary small country.
However, such a good product that everyone wanted but faced many barriers suffered a historic reversal in an earthquake that occurred at the Karakoram Pass.
Although the Yun-15plus is not large, it can carry medium-sized general helicopters.
You must know that from landing to unloading, these military observers observed the entire process. Although they were far away, with the help of telescopes, they could see it quite clearly.
Think about that when the mysterious plateau helicopter slowly moved out of the cabin, none of the propeller, hub propeller, and tail rotor were removed. The hydraulic landing gear was simply retracted, the propeller was folded backward, and the tail rotor was folded forward, as if A carrier-based helicopter is normally stored in the Y-15plus cabin.
Precisely because of this, the medium-sized utility helicopter that was just unloaded can complete take-off preparations in an extreme time and quickly put into rescue missions.
"If the propeller, hub propeller, and tail rotor were all removed to make room for the size of the cabin, it would be fine in plain areas, and the maintenance staff would be able to do it with a little work.
The problem is that this place is the Karakoram Mountains, a plateau within a plateau, and there have just been earthquakes and aftershocks are occurring from time to time. If you want to install these accessories in this environment, no matter how powerful the mechanics are, they will not be able to do it in a day or two. The key is that it still takes time to test after it¡¯s installed.
But now, other people's helicopters don't have to be so troublesome at all. They completely follow the situation of ship-based helicopters. Power on to extend the landing gear, open the propeller, lift the tail rotor, and don't even need to worry about the fuel. The pilot just gets up and starts, without a hitch. Don't be sloppy.
At that scene, these military observers did not pay attention because of the emergence of new equipment. Now that Norokov reminded them, they were amazed at the strategic significance of the precise integration between the Y-15plus and the medium-sized helicopter.
Thinking about the Iranian plateau and northern Pakistan, if the Y-15plus is loaded with medium-sized helicopters with plateau takeoff and landing capabilities for forward deployment, it will definitely improve the multi-mission execution capability.
So the military observer from Pakistan frowned and pondered for a while, and then nodded seriously: "Well~~ It seems that the number of our Y-15plus transport aircraft is still insufficient, and we need to increase some. At least they must have one-time capability." Only if it has the ability to transport six medium-sized utility helicopters to any disputed location."
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