Yes, Tu-4 was refitted at some point with Ivchenko AI-20 engines, which are essentially a jet engine with a powershaft powering a propeller (as on the image). This gave more power to otherwise old world war two era bomber, giving it higher speed and better flight characteristics. I will this time provide copy of the english text, as Chat-GPT may make some mistakes.
There is content about the turboprop Tu-4 in the 《Chinese Aircraft Encyclopedia》, but the Tu-4 equipped with turboprop engines is a modified version for airborne early warning aircraft
the Tu-4 engine may not be the AI-20, but rather the WJ-6.
I found an image on baidu baike, which seems to be a modification based on publicly available serial numbers. (However, speculations cannot be considered as evidence, right?)
image
this i use gpt to translate to english
Modification status of the People’s Air Force Tu-4 bombers
Based on various public sources, the modification status of the Tu-4 bombers can be summarized as follows. The serial numbers starting with “280” are the seven-digit serial numbers, and the numbers in parentheses are the “40xx” four-digit equipment numbers:
2806007 (4074): Electronic countermeasure reconnaissance aircraft. Engine nacelle modified, added one blue antenna cover on the fuselage belly, multiple blade antennas and small antennas added to the lower fuselage and both sides, two vertical stabilizer panels added to the tips of the horizontal tail wings, the tail gun turret replaced with a white antenna cover, and all 23mm cannons removed.
2806008 (4005): Engine nacelle modified, two vertical stabilizer panels added to the tips of the horizontal tail wings, and all 23mm cannons removed.
2806010 (4104): Electronic countermeasure reconnaissance aircraft. Engine nacelle modified, one small antenna cover added to each side of the nose, the tail gun turret replaced with a white antenna cover, two vertical stabilizer panels added to the tips of the horizontal tail wings, and all 23mm cannons removed.
2806207 (4003): Electronic jamming aircraft. Engine nacelle modified, one small antenna cover added to each side of the nose, one possible antenna cover added in front of the fuselage bomb bay, two blade antennas added to both sides of the rear fuselage, the tail gun turret replaced with a white antenna cover, two vertical stabilizer panels added to the tips of the horizontal tail wings, and all 23mm cannons removed.
2806208 (serial number pending): Engine nacelle modified, one blue antenna cover added to the fuselage belly, and all 23mm cannons removed.
2806210 (serial number pending): Engine nacelle modified, two vertical stabilizer panels added to the tips of the horizontal tail wings, and all 23mm cannons removed.
Serial number pending (4008): Electronic jamming aircraft. The exterior is painted with a similar color scheme to the H-6 bomber, with a white underside and silver upper side. The tail gun turret replaced with a white antenna cover, two vertical stabilizer panels added to the tips of the horizontal tail wings, and all 23mm cannons removed.
2806301 (4001): Engine nacelle modified, two vertical stabilizer panels added to the tips of the horizontal tail wings, and all 23mm cannons removed.
2806501 (4114): Converted to “Kongjing-1” airborne early warning aircraft, currently preserved in the China Aviation Museum.
2806508 (4124): Engine nacelle modified, one blue antenna cover added to the fuselage belly, a two-stage ventral fin added to the rear fuselage, and all 23mm cannons removed.
225008 (4134): UAV mothership, currently preserved in the China Aviation Museum.
That’s something that I could not clear completely, most sources stated that several Tu-4 had the conversion done. This made me think that there was also a bomber version with turboprop engines. Thank you for clearing this out!
This is true, China probably used domestic made engine. Regarding the image, it was a first one I found, it only served demonstration purpose. However thank you for help!
Would you happen to have any information on the naming convention of Tu-4 in Chinese Air Forces? According to the article I have linked above, it should be called H-4.
Would you happen to have some Chinese primary sources on the Harbin H-5? I would like to first take care of the H-5, as I have triedto find sources in addition to the IL-28. I already made a bug report for the IL-28 undercarriage deployment time with a primary source (technical booklet), it would be beneficial if there were primary sources for the H-5 barbette, engine naming (WP-5A, as in game it is still VK-1) and the canopy changes, to differentiate it from soviet IL-28 in some way.
In my country - Poland - Ministry of Defence used to publish technical booklets and other types of texts for internal use, however with time, these became obsolete and available to general public. Maybe it is same in China? I suppose these books could be used as primary source.
Unfortunately, the situation is very different in China. Due to the long-term use of outdated military equipment in the last century, the PLA’s confidentiality policies are particularly rigid and conservative. As far as I know, up until now, the authorities have not proactively released any type of technical manuals, nor have they officially stated that the parameters related to these technical manuals are no longer classified (even for technical manuals of the T-34-85 tank introduced from the Soviet Union from WWII).
However, you can still obtain information from 1. Public publications, 2. Semi-professional books, such as ‘The Complete Book of Chinese Aircraft,’ 3. Publicly available data on equipment export, like the exhibition manuals from Norinco over the years.
Niestety, sytuacja w Chinach jest zupełnie inna. Ze względu na długotrwałe używanie przestarzałego sprzętu wojskowego w ubiegłym wieku, polityka poufności PLA jest szczególnie rygorystyczna i konserwatywna. Z tego, co mi wiadomo, do tej pory władze nie opublikowały żadnych typów podręczników technicznych ani oficjalnie nie oświadczyły, że parametry tych podręczników przestały być tajne (nawet w przypadku podręczników technicznych czołgu T-34-85, wprowadzonego z ZSRR podczas II wojny światowej).
Jednak nadal możesz uzyskać informacje z 1. Publikacji publicznych, 2. Półprofesjonalnych książek, takich jak ‘Kompletna Księga Chińskich Samolotów,’ 3. Publicznie dostępnych danych na temat handlu zagranicznego sprzętem wojskowym, takich jak katalogi wystawowe Norinco z różnych lat.
That makes everything clear. I did not know that China is so strict about such data, I was honestly expecting a more relaxed approach on old equipment, maybe not like western nations, but more similar to Russia. Thank you for clearing this out, to be clear, I do not want to encourage anyone to do anything illegal.
This is where things get tricky:
You can use this data because:
These outdated equipment have long been retired or repurposed only for militia training
2.Having been referenced in years of military reports or public publications
3.For military equipment export purposes, offered manual to foreigner buyers.
So, in reality, no one will hold you accountable for using the specifications of old equipment that has been sitting in tank graveyards or parks for half a centuries.
However, the authorities have never officially announced that this data is no longer classified, nor have they proactively released the technical manuals.
Te przestarzałe urządzenia od dawna zostały wycofane z użytku lub przeznaczone jedynie do szkolenia milicji.
Były wielokrotnie cytowane w latach raportów wojskowych lub publikacji publicznych.
W celu eksportu sprzętu wojskowego, udostępniono instrukcje obcokrajowym nabywcom.
W rzeczywistości nikt nie pociągnie cię do odpowiedzialności za korzystanie ze specyfikacji starego sprzętu, który leży na cmentarzyskach czołgów lub w parkach od pół wieku.
Jednak władze nigdy oficjalnie nie ogłosiły, że te dane przestały być tajne, ani nie opublikowały proaktywnie tych podręczników technicznych.
So it is like Russia in the end - the overall approach towards outdated equipment is very relaxed, despite never be officially publicly released / declassified. I suppose in China it may be monitored for outside use, hence so little data technical data is available.
I will look for the “The Complete Book of Chinese Aircraft”, maybe it is available somehere in pdf format. So far best I found was “Chinese Aircraft: History of China’s Aviation Industry 1951-2007: China’s Aviation Industry Since 1951”. I might get either of these books anyway, just hope that Chinese one has english version (so far found only in Chinese).
