By Carlo Kopp
In strategic terms, China’s Flanker fleet is its regional ‘big stick.’ These aircraft have a combat radius without aerial refuelling of up to 900 nautical miles, robustly covering the ‘First Island Chain.’ With heavier weapon loads operating radius is reduced, with aerial refuelling it is further extended. Importantly, the Flanker is a credible modern air combat fighter which matches or exceeds key performance and capabilities of the US built Boeing F-15C/E, F-15CJ/DJ and F-15SG operated by the United States, Japan and Singapore, while the indigenous Chinese PL-12/SD-10A air to air missile is a credible equivalent to the US built AIM-120 AMRAAM. Meanwhile, the large fuel and missile load carried by the Flanker provides it with superior combat persistence, compared to most F-15 variants.
But while the Flanker has become the backbone of the PLA tactical fighter fleet, it is not the only important advance under way.
The legacy fleet of lightweight Cold War era J-6 Farmer and J-7 Fishbed fighters is being replaced by newly built indigenous Chengdu J-10 ‘Sino-canard’ fighters, modelled on the European canard fighters, and a direct competitor to US built F-16 Falcon fighters operated across Asia. While many US observers have described the J-10 as a clone of the US-funded and later cancelled Israeli Lavi fighter, this isn’t actually the case. The design of the J-10 is uniquely Chinese, and the ‘double delta’ wing design is clearly based on the earlier Chinese Chengdu J-7G design. The J-10B is designed to carry an advanced electronically steered radar antenna, and employs an engine inlet design modelled on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
And in terms of basing? PLAAF and PLANAF tactical fighters continue to operate from the extensive network of around 200 Cold War era fighter bases. Modelled on period Warsaw Pact semi-hardened base designs, these typically employ fully dispersed service areas protected by berms. Thirteen of these bases qualify as ‘superhardened’ with deep underground hangars tunnelled into hill sides, while a number of other bases have been equipped with Hardened Aircraft Shelters to resist smart bomb attacks. The PLA’s tactical fighter basing system is a strategic asset in its own right, providing the means for rapid redeployment, dispersal and offering inherent strategic depth unavailable to any other nation in Asia.
All this means that China’s evolving fighter force is potent, and will increase in potency over the next decade as remaining legacy fighters are replaced with new ones. With a force structure modelled on that of the US Air Force tactical fighter fleet, the PLA’s fighter force is becoming a strategic asset without peer in the Asia-Pacific.
Carlo Kopp is an Australia-based military analyst and editor of Air Power Australia
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ronny
Your site is fantastic, this is just what i was looking for!
best,
ron,
ari
Reading al those American cowboys’ comments reminds me of fascist Nazis boasting about choking off Britain and Russia sea supply routes. These warlike Americans seeking and hoping for a confrontation at China’s doors brings to question the mentality and intentions of Washington. Mother Teresa these Washingtonites aren’t.
mohammad amjad
China has made great progress in the field of aviation,and in the construction of new airports.wishing good luck and lot of earning to workers in aviation industries.
James
China will not respond to a USA engineered false flag incident militarily, as she knows, the USA has all the advantaged.
If the irritant becomes unbearable, there are other preferable options.
China can wreak the USA economically by dumping a 100 billions US dollar denominated bonds in one hit! This is the equivalent of administering an electro magnetic pulse on the US Dollar.
Wall Streets will tanked overnight. The US treasuries bond market will suffered and buyers will rush for the exit doors. In essence, if the USA cannot sell its bonds or IOU, it will not have the means to pay for its oils, its imports, its infrastructures maintenance, its salaries, its pensions, its medicare….
Sure, China will suffer too, but as they say, some suffering is better when your adversary suffered more then you.The USA economy will be in a complete shambles.
So, China needs not pick a fight with the USA militarily. She has all the aces.
jun soyar
i disagree with you brother. You better come up with something believable.
Typhoon
@James,
I totally agree with you. China has the Ace on hand.
I have already dump all my US dollars fixed deposit and put my savings in Yuan.
@Jun Soyar,
Too bad. You refused to believe this will happen when China and US relation get worst.
Jonathan
Christian is so perceptive. What I would like to point out is that no one has mentioned that China does not have the capability to built her own jet engines. The engines for all those fighters are imported from Russia!
michael
the chinese successfully produced the INDIGENOUS WS-10 and WS-10A turbofan engines and implemented them on the j-11B fighters. they are also in the late stages of developing the WS-15, an engine with planned maximum thrust of 180kn, more than the AL-31Fs that currently equip su-27s by 50kns. please do some research before you publish your jingoist comments online.
durandal
guys..
when it comes to china weakness, think of only two words….”chocked points”.that`s right boys control of the sea lanes…, submarines, carriers battle groups, deep strikes by our stealth fighters and cruise missile assets . and a few allies , that`s all we need… their supply seawagons comes to a screeching halt and their economy will go in to a tailspin.that will force them to come out in to the open sea for a fight.lets see how their fancy fleet of 900 miles range fighters and their amateur, barely blue water navy will fare up agains`t the us navy 100 plus years of espirience at sea warfare,,what?? did say their ballistic missile threats!!!..hum?? that.. depends on a lot of very acurate and sophisticate space base asset for very presice targetting and we are lights years away in space compare to china.sorry boys but china has too much invested in u.s economy(treasury bill/us consumer market) to be looking for a dumb fight it cannot win.
Herb O’Fallon
The Chinese can survive their economy going into a tailspin better than we can. They’ve had hard times before. China has been around a long time for a reason. They’ve made more progress economically, militarily, etc. in the past 30 years than any other country. Their people are together. American arrogance can only last so long. Because of Washington’s stupidity in how it spends the taxpayers’ money, the U.S. can’t afford to do as much as it used to. It might be well for the U.S. to sit on the bench for a while. Think about things.