Air Cache - Air and Space Portal

Half Encyclopedia, Half Breaking News, All Air and Space

  • Home
  • About
  • News and Articles
    • Aviation News
    • Space News
    • Feature Photo
    • Photo of the Week
  • Database
    • By Category
      • Civilian
        • Airliner
        • Firefighting
      • Military
    • Aircraft by Type
      • Airplanes
        • Airborne Early Warning and Control
        • Attack
        • Bomber
        • Electronic Warfare
        • Fighter
        • Observation/Maritime Patrol
        • Reconnaissance
        • Tanker
        • Trainer
        • Transport
      • Airships
      • Conceptual
      • Experimental
      • Helicopters
      • UAV
    • By Development Era
      • 1903-1914 — Dawn of Flight
      • 1914-1918 — WWI
      • 1919-1938 — After WWI
      • 1939-1945 — WWII
      • 1946-1954 — Dawn of Jet Age
      • 1955-1975 — Vietnam era
      • 1976-1990
      • 1990-Present
    • By Country of Origin
      • Brazil
      • Canada
      • China
      • Egypt
      • France
      • Germany
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Russia or Soviet Union
      • Sweden
      • UK
      • USA
    • Missiles, Rockets, and Bombs
    • Ships

Q-5 “Fantan”

July 27, 2012 by John M. Guilfoil

The Q-5 "Fantan" with rocket pods and external fuel tanks.
The Q-5 “Fantan” with rocket pods and external fuel tanks.
How successful was the MiG-19?

There were more than 2,170 MiG-19 “Farmers” built. The Chinese Shenyang J-6 was a domestically produced variant, with 3,000 built. China developed the successful Q-5 “Fantan” attack jet from the J-6, and 1,300 of those were produced. The MiG-19 entered service in 1955. The Q-5 entered service in 1970 and still sees limited service in the People’s Liberation Army Air Force right through 2012.

That is one successful jet.

In truth, the PRC loved the MiG-19. It’s design was perfect for China in both the J-6 fighter and Q-5 attack roles. It was sturdy, supersonic, handled well and could hold a lot of (and a lot of different) weapons. The Q-5 remains in service in China as well as North Korea, Myanmar, and Zambia as of 2010. Pakistan operated the Q-5 from 1983-2011.

China started manufacturing the J-6 locally in 1958 and soon developed a taste for a ground attack jet. The J-6 was more like the MiG-19 — a fighter configuration. The Q-5 “Fantan” was designed by noted Chinese aircraft designer Lu Xiaopeng who studied aircraft design in the U.S. but was loyal to the PRC. He used the MiG-19 as a basis but stretched the fuselage and area ruled it to reduce drag and accommodate a 13-foot weapons bay. The plane also had bigger wings. According to Chinese test pilot Yang Guoxiang in a 2010 interview with Air and Space Magazine, the final product was more like the American F-4 “Phantom II” than the MiG-19.

The Q-5 shares the J-6’s engines, the Liming Wopen WP-6 As.

The plane features two 23 mm cannons with 100 rounds each. This was followed by wing and fuselage hardpoints for rockets, missiles and bombs. Some variants had internal weapons bays, while a long-range Q-5I used a fuel tank in place of the bay.

China built many variants of the Q-5. The Q-5A was very common and featured an extra pylon under each wing for infrared anti-air missiles. There was also a modified Q-5A that carried nuclear weapons. Yang Guoxiang was the test pilot for the Q-5’s nuclear test. He successfully dropped a nuclear bomb after his first test was a near-disaster when the bomb failed to detach from his plane. He shared memories of his test with Air and Space Magazine:

“As soon as the bomb was gone, I reversed course to get far away from the blast zone and activated shields that would protect me in the cockpit. Then I saw the flash, a very big flash. The bomb exploded in the air, at a pre-determined height above the ground. I felt the shockwave—it rocked me like a small boat in the ocean—and then I saw the mushroom cloud rising up into sky. By that time I was already 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) away from ground zero.”

Other variants were made to drop laser-guided bombs, to conduct forward air control, and for export to China’s allies. Export variants are known as the A-5.

The “Fantan” is a capable ground attack jet. Advancements in avionics and other systems have kept it flying, with 150-300 remaining in Chinese service as of 2011. It is most comparable to the American Douglas A-4 “Skyhawk” or the Yugoslav-Romanian J-22 “Orao.”

Specifications

General

Crew: 1
Length: 51 ft 4 in
Wingspan: 31 ft 9 in
Height: 14 ft 3 in
Empty weight: 14,050 lb
Max. takeoff weight: 26,080 lb
Engines: Two Liming Wopen-6A turbojets with 6,614 lbf each or 8,267 with afterburner

Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 1.12
Range: 1,200 mi
Combat radius: 250-370 mi
Ceiling: 54,133.9 ft
Thrust/weight: 0.63

Armament

Guns: Two Norinco Type 23-2K 23 mm cannons, 100 rounds each
Hardpoints: 10 (4× under-fuselage, 6× under-wing) with a capacity of 4,400 lb
Rockets: 57 mm, 90 mm, 130 mm unguided rocket pods
Missiles: PL-2, PL-5, PL-7 air-to-air missiles
Bombs: 50 kg, 150 kg, 250 kg, 500 kg unguided bombs, BL755 cluster bombs, Matra Durandal anti-runway bombs

Essential Reading

Amazon.com Widgets

Photo Gallery

A Q-5 parked. (Media credit/Patc045 via Wikimedia)
A Q-5 parked. (Media credit/Patc045 via Wikimedia)
Q-5 numbered #0064
Q-5 numbered #0064
The Q-5 "Fantan" with rocket pods and external fuel tanks.
The Q-5 “Fantan” with rocket pods and external fuel tanks.
A photo posted in June 2012 showing a Q-5 that reportedly crash landed
A photo posted in June 2012 showing a Q-5 that reportedly crash landed

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit

Filed Under: 1955-1975 -- Vietnam era, Attack, China Tagged With: A-5, attack, china, Fantan, ground attack, Nanchang, Q-5

Categories

Recent Posts

  • “Technical glitch” caused Israel’s Beresheet to crash into moon
  • Photos: Israeli Spacecraft Beresheet Beams back its First Images of the Far Side of the Moon
  • Weymouth, Mass. Native Serves aboard USS George H.W. Bush
  • Russian Air Force An-26 Cargo Plane Crashes in Syria, Killing 32
  • Russian Su-24 “Fencer” shot down by Turkish forces

Recent Comments

  • Bill Crowe on Trivia: What was the name of the helicopter used in the television series “M*A*S*H” ?
  • Gerry Norberg on C-27 “Airbus” and “Aircruiser”
  • John Guilfoil on F-94 “Starfire”
  • Derek McCabrey on F-94 “Starfire”
  • Derek McCabrey on Buccaneer

On Video

Tags

A-10 aircraft carrier air force astronaut astronomy attack B-1 B-2 B-25 boeing bomb bomber brazil C-17 cargo china crash curiosity f-14 f-15 f-16 f-35 F/A-18 fighter ground attack Hubble incident international space station launch mars missile moon nasa navy russia satellite solar flare space spacex stars sun syria v-22 Vietnam wwii

Blogs

  • Aces Flying High
  • Aircraft Profiles
  • APEX Editor's Blog
  • Jet Pilot Overseas
  • Plane Buzz
  • Russian Defense Policy
  • SciGuy
  • The Bore Sight
  • The Cranky Flier
  • Warthog News

News Sources

  • Aviation Week
  • Military Times
  • Popular Science Aviation
  • Space.com

Official Sources

  • NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
  • US Air Force Fact Sheets
  • US Air Force Official Blog

Reference

  • Wikipedia Astronomy Portal
  • Wikipedia Aviation Portal

Copyright © 2025 · Outreach Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...