With recent state-enforced organisational reforms, institutional restructuring and the induction/ flight testing of a variety of fourth and fth-generation combat platforms over the last decade, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force... more
With recent state-enforced organisational reforms, institutional restructuring and the induction/ flight testing of a variety of fourth and fth-generation combat platforms over the last decade, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) is on course towards becoming a most assertive instrument for regional dominance and international in uence for China. The paper reviews the status of PLAAF restructuring & reforms, mission strategy and combat capabilities, along with focus on the PLAAF’s indigenous Air Superiority Fighter (ASF) force, concluding with an assessment of the PLAAF vs IAF scenario over Tibet in the coming years.
In today’s battle environment monitoring real time enemy air activity is surely on top of the commander’s mind. AWACS provides the air force commander the ability to see enemy air activity from low level to high level, deep inside his... more
In today’s battle environment monitoring real time enemy air activity is surely on top of the commander’s mind. AWACS provides the air force commander the ability to see enemy air activity from low level to high level, deep inside his territory. It is like having an ADDC (Air Defence Direction Centre) in the air with a clear view of what is happening up to long distances. Thus, meeting the age old requirement of commanders to know what is happening on the “other side of the hill”. The early warning from an AWACS gives a definite advantage to the commander in air battle management and guiding friendly fighters to intercept enemy aircraft well in time before the weapon release line. AWACS has changed the way war is conducted. As a force multiplier AWACS aircraft have become so critical in modern warfare that the side which does not have them will suffer from a huge asymmetry right from the start of the shooting war. The Chinese realized the importance of these platforms 44 years ago and now after long years of effort have their own fleet of AWACS/AEW aircraft with four Kong Jing-2000 (KJ-2000) and four of the smaller KJ-200. This article briefly traces the history and development of China’s indigenous AWACS project.
The new upgraded design, the J-10B, has several improved features from airframe modification for better performance, to reduction in RCS and incorporation of new sensors. The J-10B comes with a Diverterless Supersonic... more
The new upgraded design, the J-10B, has several improved features from airframe modification for better performance, to reduction in RCS and incorporation of new sensors. The J-10B comes with a Diverterless Supersonic Inlet (DSI), which is a slight angled bulge in front of the engine air intake section. e. the radome geometry has been made a little flat and long with a tilt downwards. This pulls the nose section angle away from 90 degree reducing the radar reflectivity.
China's Aviation Industry has grown in leaps and bounds over the past decades. A look at the latest advancements of some major programmes that are underway.
The article speaks about the air power scenario at the northern border with China - about the capabilities, limitations of air power on both sides. Bottom Line - warns against any complacency on our side.
The mission saw the use of Russian made Su-30MKK as fighter escorts for the H-6K, with the Su-30MKK carrying only airto-air weapon load (as observed from the released photographs) like all other previous missions of similar profile since... more
The mission saw the use of Russian made Su-30MKK as fighter escorts for the H-6K, with the Su-30MKK carrying only airto-air weapon load (as observed from the released photographs) like all other previous missions of similar profile since 2015, which points to the fact that PLAAF would likely depend on the Su-30MKK as fighter escorts for H-6K strike missions in the future and not the reverse engineered Flanker variants. Further, the use of Russian made Su-30MKK might also indicate that the data links for communication between aircraft-to-aircraft and with the AWACS and ELINT are of Russian origin or reverse engineered Russian equipment.
