So quick context of how I started wondering about this, some websites and books claim that the Q-5 could carry 130mm, 90mm and 57mm rocket pods, as we know in game we can only found the first 2 types but what about the 57mm? Q-5 is obviously based on the J-6 which could carry the 57mm rocket pod:
so what about the Q-5? I started looking for images and I found this image that probably everyone has seen:
(I couldn’t download the image hence the screenshot)
On the far right corner we can see the 57mm rockets showcased on the ground, how do we know is the 57mm? here’s a rocket being shown on a museum, it matches perfectly:
Of course there should be more photo proof about the Q-5 carrying the pod and there’s these 2 pictures:
Q-5 Early
hard to tell but considering that is white and variants, is most likely a Q-5C
Both pictures are for propaganda purposes of course but they do show that the Q-5 could perfectly carry the 57mm rocket pods but if you wonder if there’s any picture showing the pod without the poses, there’s this one:
Spoiler
I know is blurry, is the best I could do to crop it but due to the small size of the pod is most likely a 57mm one, you can kinda see the rocket tubes
The 57mm rocket pod is nothing overpowered or extraordinary but the PLA did use them and had them available, why modern photos of the Q-5 never show them with the 57mm pod equipped? that I don’t know but these images are pretty old and this lack of modern day images is not exclusive for the Q-5, there’s old photos of the rocket pods being showcased for the J-8II and the J-7III(D) but there’s a lack of them in modern day
unless the one on the middle is not a 57mm pod, but that means that J-8II is missing rocket pods in game
this last bit is just to justify its addition to the Q-5A/Early, so how it will be useful? in the case of the Q-5 Early it will give it an extra rocket option since it only has 1 currently in game, this one being the 90mm rockets, bottom line is that the 57mm wouldn’t affect as much the flight performance of the aircraft and it would carry 2 more rockets(16) compared to the 90mm with 14 rockets, yes I know the huge difference in penetration and overpressure capabilities, as for the Q-5A it would represent a good addition since it has CCIP and would be able to score 2 extra hits and at 9.3 the 150mm of pen would be enough to destroy or disable vehicles(it also would be able to carry up to 32 rockets if the Q-5A was fixed) so I don’t see why would this addition be too much to ask for.
but I want to read your opinions about this! sorry for the long post I wanted to keep concise but I still wanted to explain my thoughts, thanks for reading!
