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However, the K-8 trainers are very much like standard attack aircraft, and their tactical application in the Sudanese Air Force is not only for training but also for land attack operations. The K-8 has flight endurance of three hours, a maximum flight range of 2,100 kilometers, and its combat radius covers the whole of Sudan’s territory.
Although all trainer aircraft have some land-attack capability, the K-8 aircraft that China has sold to Sudan are different from those in service in China’s PLA Air Force in that they are fitted with 23-mm machine-gun pods.
Along with the trainer planes, HF-20 rocket launchers were also exported to Sudan. The China-made HF-20 rocket launcher is an unauthorized imitation of the Russian S-8 rocket launcher.
The HF-20 rocket launcher has impressive destructive power. It has a firing rate of 0.05 seconds per round, a strike range of 1,200 to 4,000 meters, and the rocket can carry different types of warheads, such as high-explosive or armor-piercing warheads.
China has also exported A-5 attack aircraft to the Sudanese Air Force. Since it already has the A-5 attackers, the question arises as to why Sudan would need the more powerful K-8 trainer/attacker.
The author’s analysis is that the K-8 trainer is useful for the fundamental training of Sudan’s air force pilots, and at the same time, it supplements the A-5 as an attack aircraft, since the air force lacks a sufficient number of these planes. The combat load of this trainer craft has been increased to 1 ton; the A-5 has a combat load of 2 tons, and there is no great difference between the two in attack power.
Judging from photos of the A-5s released by the Sudanese Air Force, the aircraft is not the same as the A-5E that was upgraded after 2005. The biggest difference between the two aircraft is that the A-5 has a blade-shaped communications antenna on the back of the cockpit; this can be seen on the planes exported to Sudan.
The latest model, the A-5E, does not have such a communications antenna, but is equipped with a laser designator. The A-5E is mainly intended to carry Chinese-made laser-guided bombs.
China has also exported K-8 aircraft to Zambia and other African countries, presumably for actual training purposes. Africa is the main recipient of the Chinese trainer aircraft; they have become the key weapon for China to exchange for oil from these countries. China claims that 80 percent of the trainer aircraft in African air forces are K-8s.
Egypt is China’s biggest customer for these trainers. With authorization from China, the Egyptian Air Force has manufactured 80 K-8s, and is currently negotiating a deal for the production of a second batch of 40 aircraft.
The K-8 was jointly developed and produced by China and Pakistan, with Pakistan providing the funding for research and development, according to a Chinese source. As a consequence, Pakistan has participated in the export of K-8 trainers to Muslim countries, and Pakistan also receives a share of the sales and profits.
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(Andrei Chang is editor-in-chief of Kanwa Defense Review Monthly, registered in Toronto, Canada.)
