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Chinese Air Force (PLAAF) News & Discussions

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Via @钢铁机机 from Weibo
 
China to create world-class air force
By Liu Xuanzun and Liu Yang Source:Global Times Published: 2019/11/11 23:03:40

More advanced aircraft, drills to help achieve goal by 2050: experts

5efeb4df-5067-40ac-a2f6-f8ff11a283a9.jpeg
The Bayi (August 1) Aerobatic Team performs during an activity celebrating the 70th founding anniversary of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, Oct. 17, 2019. The five-day activity, where the PLA air force will showcase weapons and equipment and offer aerobatic shows to celebrate its 70th founding anniversary, kicked off here on Thursday. The audience can feast their eyes on aerobatic flights, parachute shows, combat exercises of third-generation fighters and demonstrations of airborne special force. A total of 35 aircraft of 10 types will perform aerobatics, including J-20 stealth fighter, Y-20 transport aircraft and J-16 fighter. With 19 aircraft included, the air force selected 71 pieces of equipment for the static display to showcase the capacity of air combat, strategic delivery, early warning and detection, information support and air defense and anti-missile. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan)

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force will gradually get more J-20 stealth fighters and Y-20 large transport aircraft, as well as the H-20 bomber in the near future to meet the goal of becoming a world-class force, experts predicted, as the service celebrated its 70th founding anniversary on Monday.

A video the PLA Air Force released on Sunday showcased its advanced, main battle equipment, including J-20 and J-16 fighters, H-6N strategic bomber, Y-20 transport plane, KJ-2000 airborne early warning system, and the HQ-9 surface-to-air missile system.

Compared to 70 years ago, when aircraft had to fly over Tiananmen Square twice at the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China to show that China had strong air power, the new video showed what the PLA Air Force has become today, military observers said.

China now has aerial tankers, electronic warfare aircraft and electronic reconnaissance aircraft, and its fighter jets have evolved from first to fifth generation, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese air defense expert, told the Global Times, noting that this shows the Air Force has a more complete system with more types of aircraft and the latest technologies.

Attending a Friday event celebrating the Air Force's founding anniversary, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for efforts to fully build the PLA Air Force into a world-class air force, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.

A senior official of the Chinese Air Force said in November 2018 that the first step is to, by 2020, build a strategic force that integrates aviation and space power, and strike and defense capabilities, then the strategic capabilities will be improved and become modern by 2035, and the Air Force's full transformation into a world-class force will be achieved by mid-21st century, Xinhua reported.

The Air Force will gradually get more advanced aircraft like the J-20 and Y-20 to achieve that goal, an anonymous military expert told the Global Times, noting that variants and new aircraft will be developed to keep the Air Force technologically advanced and systematically complete.

The H-20, China's in-development, highly anticipated strategic stealth bomber comparable to the US B-2, will fill in the void, the expert predicted, noting that the Y-20 could also see a tanker variant so China could get its first domestically developed large aerial tanker.

More drones could also be developed, the expert said. China already operates drones like the GJ-2 armed reconnaissance drone, GJ-11 stealth attack drone and WZ-8 high-altitude, high-speed reconnaissance drone.

Fu said it is also important to focus on military exercises close to real battles to boost the comprehensive combat capabilities of the Air Force.
 
China to create world-class air force
By Liu Xuanzun and Liu Yang Source:Global Times Published: 2019/11/11 23:03:40

More advanced aircraft, drills to help achieve goal by 2050: experts

5efeb4df-5067-40ac-a2f6-f8ff11a283a9.jpeg
The Bayi (August 1) Aerobatic Team performs during an activity celebrating the 70th founding anniversary of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, Oct. 17, 2019. The five-day activity, where the PLA air force will showcase weapons and equipment and offer aerobatic shows to celebrate its 70th founding anniversary, kicked off here on Thursday. The audience can feast their eyes on aerobatic flights, parachute shows, combat exercises of third-generation fighters and demonstrations of airborne special force. A total of 35 aircraft of 10 types will perform aerobatics, including J-20 stealth fighter, Y-20 transport aircraft and J-16 fighter. With 19 aircraft included, the air force selected 71 pieces of equipment for the static display to showcase the capacity of air combat, strategic delivery, early warning and detection, information support and air defense and anti-missile. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan)

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force will gradually get more J-20 stealth fighters and Y-20 large transport aircraft, as well as the H-20 bomber in the near future to meet the goal of becoming a world-class force, experts predicted, as the service celebrated its 70th founding anniversary on Monday.

A video the PLA Air Force released on Sunday showcased its advanced, main battle equipment, including J-20 and J-16 fighters, H-6N strategic bomber, Y-20 transport plane, KJ-2000 airborne early warning system, and the HQ-9 surface-to-air missile system.

Compared to 70 years ago, when aircraft had to fly over Tiananmen Square twice at the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China to show that China had strong air power, the new video showed what the PLA Air Force has become today, military observers said.

China now has aerial tankers, electronic warfare aircraft and electronic reconnaissance aircraft, and its fighter jets have evolved from first to fifth generation, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese air defense expert, told the Global Times, noting that this shows the Air Force has a more complete system with more types of aircraft and the latest technologies.

Attending a Friday event celebrating the Air Force's founding anniversary, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for efforts to fully build the PLA Air Force into a world-class air force, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.

A senior official of the Chinese Air Force said in November 2018 that the first step is to, by 2020, build a strategic force that integrates aviation and space power, and strike and defense capabilities, then the strategic capabilities will be improved and become modern by 2035, and the Air Force's full transformation into a world-class force will be achieved by mid-21st century, Xinhua reported.

The Air Force will gradually get more advanced aircraft like the J-20 and Y-20 to achieve that goal, an anonymous military expert told the Global Times, noting that variants and new aircraft will be developed to keep the Air Force technologically advanced and systematically complete.

The H-20, China's in-development, highly anticipated strategic stealth bomber comparable to the US B-2, will fill in the void, the expert predicted, noting that the Y-20 could also see a tanker variant so China could get its first domestically developed large aerial tanker.

More drones could also be developed, the expert said. China already operates drones like the GJ-2 armed reconnaissance drone, GJ-11 stealth attack drone and WZ-8 high-altitude, high-speed reconnaissance drone.

Fu said it is also important to focus on military exercises close to real battles to boost the comprehensive combat capabilities of the Air Force.
“… A video the PLA Air Force released on SUNDAY (10 November) showcased its advanced, main battle equipment, including J-20 and J-16 fighters, H-6N strategic bomber, Y-20 transport plane, KJ-2000 airborne early warning system, and the HQ-9 surface-to-air missile system…”

Does any one have the link to the above-mentioned video?
 
Military developing airborne laser attack pod, says report
By Liu Xuanzun Source:Global Times Published: 2020/1/7 0:03:39

c97c5c97-c0f9-48ac-a977-74233b9ee7af.jpeg
China's most advanced fighter jet, J-20, performs at the Chinese Air Force's "open day" event in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin Province on Thursday. This is the second time the stealth warplane opened its side missile bays and showcased its short-range combat missiles. They were first revealed at Airshow China 2018. Photo: IC

The Chinese military is procuring a laser attack pod, which Chinese media speculated could be an aircraft-based tactical weapon.

If equipped on aircraft, the laser could potentially protect against incoming missile attacks and dominate in close-range combat, analysts said.

The procurement plan for the laser attack pod was revealed Saturday in a notice released on the Chinese military's weapon and equipment procurement website weain.mil.cn, Weihutang, a column on military affairs affiliated with China Central Television, reported on Monday.

The notice included the title of the procurement, but the details remained confidential.

Weihutang speculated that the laser attack pod was likely an airborne tactical laser, noting that if the weapon was used to guide bombs rather than directly attack, it would be called a laser guidance pod.

The report said China has already developed a prototype for an airborne laser weapon, citing a publically available academic thesis.

Since a laser travels at the speed of light, it shoots where it is aimed - with no time delay - a significant advantage over missiles and bullets, a military expert who asked not to be named told the Global Times on Monday.

This makes a laser a great tool for aerial interception, he said.

An airborne laser weapon could intercept incoming missiles and shoot down hostile aircraft in a dogfight, the expert said.

China has already developed land-based laser weapons.

At Airshow China 2018, state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) showcased the LW-30 laser defense weapon system, which could use a directional-emission high-energy laser to intercept aerial targets such as photoelectric guidance equipment, drones, guided bombs and mortars, according to a CASIC statement sent to the Global Times.

The US has been researching airborne laser weapons since the 1990s and made significant progress in related technologies, Weihutang reported.

However, this genre of weapon has not yet seen wide deployment due to remaining technical difficulties including power supply and energy loss problems, analysts said.
 
By the way, there is again something interesting noted by plawolf at the SDF:

Not really sure where to put this, but I noticed something a bit odd. Weihai airport is a mixed military-civilian one that I sometimes fly to when travelling in China. The airlines are very hot on making passengers close the blinds when approaching the military part, so photos/videos are not worth the hassle, but I did get a peek when I was in China recently.
37°10'39"N 122°13'41"E · 35.8 m
The unit there seems to be a mix of J7s, J10s and JL9s. The J7 numbers have been gradually reducing over the years, and now, there only seem to be 3 J7s there, but they are the only ones armed for CAP. When I am I the area, I frequently see J10s and JL9s taking off and landing (they fly to somewhere else to do most of their actual training), but never J7s. Just seems odd to me to have a tiny token J7 unit present who don’t seem to train and just sit there on quick alert CAP standby duty. Maybe the J7s are homebased elsewhere, and they just maintain their presence there for CAP cover to ensure the J10s are available for training

My reply was, that this is indeed interesting since Wendeng (at least I know this base by that name) is home of the 36th Air Brigade allegedly flying J-7G ... and he explained that those J-10As are there since "at least 3 years".

Those are J10As, and they have been there for at least 3 years from my personal observations. I cannot really tell if they are still J10As or if they might have upgraded to Bs of Cs since, because the J10s all had covers on when I was there this year.
The JL9s are not a full unit, just the odd aircraft parked at one of the shelters. I do see them go up every now and then (first time I saw a pair I thought they were JF17s at first glance), so not sure if they are homebased there or just come over for exercises every now and then.
The J10As are definitely homed based there.

So does this mean, the 36th Brigade is now also converted to J-10A, but from which unit then did they come from or at least any J-10 variant?
Or are they from another unit and we did not notice that they are now based at Wendeng?

Best,
Andreas
 

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