At the end of last week, the Chinese Air Force announced that simulated aerial combats had been conducted between its J-10C fighters and the stealthy J-20s, highlighting that the former was reportedly capable of “shooting down” the latter during the face-to-face maneuvers. The news was first published through China Bugle, which is considered an official press channel for the activities of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), while a documentary released on Friday by China Central Television (CCTV) delved into greater details of the exercise.
Along those lines, the documentary showed the pilot of the J-10C fighter, Xiao Nan, who stated that the simulated shootdown occurred through the launch of a missile against the stealth aircraft that was elusive to his radar systems. For the attack to be successful, he affirmed that he had to request support from allied early warning aircraft in order to keep the target within range, noting that his own equipment was being interfered with by the electronic warfare systems of the J-20.
Both for the pilot himself and for the Chinese experts who later analyzed the simulated combat, the presence of the early warning aircraft was indispensable for the J-10C to prevail, highlighting the role of this type of platform in modern scenarios; without which the fourth-generation fighter would not have had the opportunity to shoot down the fifth-generation one with greater capabilities. In this case, however, the type of AEW&C aircraft involved in the exercise was not detailed.
In a subsequent exercise, the CCTV report allowed for closer observation of the platforms involved in the exercises, suggesting that it had been a KJ-500 aircraft as previously indicated. In this case, the combat was not only between the J-10C and the J-20 fighters, but also included a J-16D fighter specially equipped with electronic warfare elements. Regarding the mission objective in the exercise, it was detailed that the combat between the aircraft was configured as a first stage in which they had to achieve air superiority over the operational area, after which they were to carry out an attack on a fixed defensive position.
*Images used for illustrative purposes only
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