A Taiwanese fighter jet closely follows a Chinese bomber over the Taiwan Strait in February 2021 (Image: SCMP) According to Taiwan, these military aircraft include many fighter jets and bombers capable of dropping atomic bombs. This is considered the largest airspace crossing of China that Taiwan has recorded so far. Although there has been no comment from Beijing, according to Reuters, this information comes after G7 leaders issued a joint statement last Sunday in which they criticized China for a series of issue, emphasizing the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Beijing later condemned the joint statement as “defamation”. Over the past several months, Taiwan has continuously released information about a series of incidents of Chinese air force entering its airspace, mainly concentrated in the southwest area of ​​the air defense identification zone. The most recent incident involved 14 J-16s, six J-11s, and four nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, along with anti-submarine and electronic warfare aircraft. and early warning; according to the Taiwan Defense Agency. The incident has just been reported to be the largest-scale incident since Taiwanese authorities began publicly reporting violations of their ADIZ since last year, breaking the previous record of 25 Chinese aircraft. entered Taiwanese airspace on April 12. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry added that its fighter jets were deployed to intercept and repel the Chinese aircraft, while missile systems were deployed at the ready. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense has not yet commented on this information. China has previously asserted that such missions are necessary to protect the country’s sovereignty and deal with “collusion” between Taipei and Washington. The United States, like most countries that do not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, keeps a close eye on events that raise tensions with Beijing.

First clear image of a working J-10C with WS-10 engines/ Source: Chinese social media As with so much in China’s air force, much of the J-10’s history is shrouded in mystery. It is understood that the J-10 fighter originated in the 1980s, the prototype was the J-9, a delta wing fighter that was abandoned in the 1980s. It is also believed that the J-10 enjoyed benefit from Israel’s Lavi fighter program. The J-10 fighter was considered a state secret until January 2007, when the media revealed that it had entered service with the PLAAF. A few months later, in May 2007, the Russian arms agency Rosoboronexport announced a $300 million deal to sell 100 Saturn AL-31 engines to China’s J-10 fleet. Then, at the end of 2008, the J-10A made its public debut at the Airshow China exhibition in Zhuhai. Since that time, the AL-31 has been the key engine for all variants of the J-10, from the original J-10A to the more advanced J-10C. Challenges related to the development of the domestic Shenyang WS-10 Taihang engine forced the J-10 to stick with the Russian engine longer than planned. Finally, in early May, a J-10C in a combat unit equipped with a WS-10 engine was discovered by the public. However, there is no official statement yet. Instead, a clear photo of a flying J-10C with a WS-10 engine appeared on social media. Andreas Rupprecht, author of China’s Modern Fighter, was one of the first observers to comment on this. “This is a real milestone not only for the J-10, but even more so for the WS-10 program as it marks the end of China’s dependence on the Russian AL-31 engine for the AL-31. with all three of the PLAAF’s main fighters, namely the J-10C, J-16 and J-20,” he said. He noted that a decade has passed since the J-10B first flew with the WS-10 and that the engine was tested on the J-10A even earlier. Finally, after years of improvement, it seems the WS-10 is reliable and safe enough to power a single-engine fighter. Mounted inside the J-10, the WS-10 can be identified by several characteristics. One is that the petals of the posterior burner are significantly wider than those of the AL-31. The WS-10 also has a structural ring inside the nozzle that is not present on the AL-31. The J-10A used by the Chinese aerobatic team can be distinguished from later variants by its rectangular intake that is not horizontal to the fuselage. This variant was in production until the end of 2014, when production switched to the J-10B. However, the J-10A has been modernized, including the ability to carry the PL-10 infrared-guided missile. However, to evaluate the success of the WS-10 engine requires one thing: Time. Only through use can we know if they are really good, really replacing the Russian AL-31 engines.

Pilot Wang Zunxi (a fairly well-known PLAAF officer) in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV 7) gave a very remarkable point of view. According to the veteran pilot, the multi-purpose fighter J-16 manufactured in Shenyang Aircraft Corporation and is being massively employed for PLAAF combat units of generation 4 ++. “J-16 fighter jets (including the J-16D electronic warfare version) have surpassed Russia’s Su-30 series heavy multi-role fighters in almost all tactical specifications. “. “The superiority shown in both avionics and electrodynamic properties, the radar reflection area reduction coefficient (RCS), the J-16 retains only the aerodynamic layout of the airframe”, pilot Vuong said clearly. Faced with the above situation, the Russian press stated that in order to seek export contracts or bring high morale and psychological state to the soldiers, the weapons manufacturers used very sophisticated promotional tools and are not always objective. Russian military experts rebuttal when emphasizing that the Chinese pilot is comparing the technical specifications of the electronic equipment on the Su-30MKK and Su-30MK2 fighters that are somewhat out of date. These fighters were supplied to the PLAAF 20 years ago, and they are actually significantly inferior to the J-16 when facing exercises (both for surface attack and long-range interception missions). ). The reason is that China’s Su-30 integrates the N001VE passive phase array radar (PESA), which ensures the realization of “truncated” synthetic aperture and “truncation” (SAR) mode with low resolution. , only allows the detection and classification of targets with large RCS parameters. In addition, the capacity and anti-interference ability of the N001VE radar is quite low, it can only catch the 1m2 RCS aerial target, 75 – 80 km away in case the enemy does not use electronic countermeasures. In fact, the J-16’s high energy and anti-interference active phase array (AESA) radar has a target capture range with 1 m2 RCS from 130 to 150 km, and high anti-interference ability, range is only slightly reduced in a highly noisy environment. This is due to the presence in the electronic architecture of the advanced AESA radar, which consists of more than 1,500 transceiver modules, each equipped with an individual arsenide / gallium nitride microwave transistor. Moreover, this type of radar is also capable of operating in synthetic aperture (SAR), reverse synthesized aperture (ISAR) and tracking ground targets moving in real time. Although the equipment for the J-16 is very advanced, the Russian side thinks that it is necessary to compare the J-16 with more modern modifications, for example the Su-30SM2 variant is about to enter service. Although the N035 Irbis radar that will equip the Su-30SM2 of the PESA class may be significantly inferior to the J-16’s AESA radar in terms of interference resistance, the capacity is higher (providing target acquisition range. with 1 m2 RCS at a distance of 250 – 270 km). With the N035 Irbis radar, the Su-30SM2 will have the ability to “foresee and shoot before” the J-16 in a direct confrontation situation, especially when Russia is still completing the long-range air-to-air missile “product. 180 ”. But it must be noted that the Su-30SM2 is still on paper, while the J-16 has been on duty for many years and there is no guarantee that the Russian fighter really possesses outstanding features. as they still publish.

The J-11B fighter today became a mainstay of China’s heavy fighter squadron and is considered one of the fourth-generation fighters capable of serving the best in both air-to-air and attack capabilities.

More than 200 J-11B fighters are currently in service with the Chinese Air Force, including 70 in the Navy and about 140 in the country’s Air Force.

The design of the J-11B fighter was based on the Soviet Su-27 Flanker airframe, and the Su-27 was rated as the best combat aircraft of the Cold War era.

At that time the Chinese Air Force was equipped with older and increasingly out-of-the-way fighters, losing its serious advantage against Japanese F-15 fighters in the region.

The Su-27 is equipped with the R-73 short-range air-to-air missile, as well as the R-27 long-range missile with a range more than twice as long as any previous missile in Chinese payroll.

China quickly copied the Su-27 to create its own fighter, the J-11, and was generally similar to the Su-27 in the Russian Air Force. China then began a program to develop more capable heavy fighters and launched the J-11B.

Ten years after the first Su-27s were delivered, the first simulation of the J-11B was revealed in 2002 by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.

The aircraft used more composite material, an area where China overtook Russia at this time, making the airframe both lighter and more durable, while improving flight performance due to its lower weight.

New electronic combat systems and sensors were also integrated, including the Chinese-designed Type 1493 pulsed doppler radar and a significantly more powerful IRST system than the already formidable Soviet N001E radar. According to the report, the new radar can detect medium fighters at a range of about 150-170km and surface warships at about 350km.

The new aviation electronics and sensors also allowed J-11B fighters to operate much more efficiently in air and sea attack roles than su-27s, an example of the ability to carry accurate bombs and guided missiles against enemy targets.

The J-11B also replaced the R-27 semi-active radar-guided air-to-air missile with a native PL-12 missile, which had active guidance radar that allowed the aircraft to strike more targets simultaneously and provided the ability to “shoot and forget” against enemy aircraft.

This puts the J-11B on par with the latest U.S. competitors in terms of firepower, American fighters in the 2000s began using AIM-120C missiles with active radar guidance and a similar range of about 100km.

China’s fourth-generation fighter will greatly improve its combat capabilities over the next decade, with J-16 fighters also based on the Su-27 Flanker design being entered service since 2013 and boasting the first AESA radar built into the fighter.

The J-16 is more capable than the J-11B in both air-to-air and attack roles, not only due to modern radar but also by stealth coatings, electronic combat systems, weapons, and aviation electronics including helmet-mounted sights. In addition, the PL-15 missile of the fighter has an estimated range of about 250-300km.

The J-11 would then continue to be improved to upgrade to a level closer to the J-16, with the J-11BG version integrating an AESA radar believed to be based on the J-16’s radar as well as new aviation electronics. These allowed the aircraft to use PL-15 and PL-10 air-to-air missiles.

It is unclear whether the J-11D will be produced in the same number of more than 200 as the J-11B, or how many J-11Bs will be upgraded to the J-11BG standard. However, China will continue to develop new technologies for the fifth, sixth and J-11 fighters that will continue to be improved to have power on par with the world’s leading aircraft. Image source: Pinterest.

Close-up of the J-20 fifth-generation fighter – the Chinese-made fifth-generation fighter, which is said to outperform the Su-57. Source: QQ.