Posted on 08/12/2018 7:50:37 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
China’s expanding line-up of multirole, all-weather J-16 fighter jets will help the air force to launch strikes deep into enemy territory and destroy key strategic assets like airfields and bridges, military analysts say.
While it is not as advanced as the new J-20 – officially named Weilong, or powerful dragon – the Shenyang J-16 will become a key part of PLA Air Force operations and any strategy against Taiwan or to deter US military intervention, they said.
China’s air force announced last week that a squadron of J-16s would soon be combat ready. Based on the Russian Sukhoi-30 fighter jet, the J-16 was introduced around 2012 to 2013 but did not make its official debut until a year ago, during a military parade marking the 90th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army. Powered by a Chinese WS-10 Taihang turbofan engine, the fighter jet has been compared to the US F-15A/C Eagle.
Military observers say they have noticed more J-16s entering service recently, based on the serial numbers seen on fighter jets used in recent drills – evidence that the PLA Air Force is quietly adding to its squadron.
The multirole aircraft is the first of its kind that can carry a full range of Chinese-built equipment, from anti-ship missiles and air-to-air missiles to satellite-guided smart bombs, cruise missiles and electronic countermeasure (ECM) jammers. The fighter jets can be used for both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
While the aircraft design is largely based on the Su-30, the J-16 features a Chinese radar and tracking system. It also has a provision for in-flight refuelling – giving it the capacity to strike deep into enemy territory and greater operational range. An electronic attack version, the J-16D, is also under development. China wants that fighter jet to be equivalent to the US EA-18G Growler – the most advanced airborne electronic attack platform.
Electronic warfare is seen as the key to winning any conflict over the Taiwan Strait, with the ability to overwhelm enemy radar systems in the first few hours considered crucial.
Military experts said the J-16, with its large payload and long range, could transform China’s defensive air force into an offensive one.
“Before the J-16, the PLA has had to rely on a limited number of Russian-built Su-30s, whereas the indigenous J-10 lacks the range and payload to qualify as a true deep-strike fighter,” said Collin Koh, a research fellow with the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Beijing has previously imported Su-27s and Su-30s from Russia for its post-cold war and modernisation needs. But these jets were not designed as multirole fighters, so they have mainly been used for defence.
“In the past the PLA Air Force’s combat division has been characterised more as a defensive arm, with limited range and offensive capabilities, confined mainly to its immediate region and territory,” Koh said. “The J-16 will push the envelope further.”
As well as boosting the air force’s combat abilities, the J-16 would also fill a gap in the period before the next generation of fighter jets can be built in greater numbers, Koh said.
“The J-16 will at least fulfil a role as a key stopgap before the J-20 and J-31 [stealth fighters] can be produced in sufficient numbers. These two new-generation jets would be too expensive to mass produce in the necessary numbers required to fully modernise the PLA Air Force’s combat fleet. Hence, the J-16 is crucial to bridge this gap,” he said.
The J-20 and J-31 are fifth-generation fighter jets that have been in development since 2008 and are designed to complement each other in warfare, similar to America’s F-22 and F-35.
The J-20 is expected to have superior dogfighting abilities, while the J-31 will be “the perfect fighter for the PLA to carry out anti-access area-denial (A2AD) strategies in the Western Pacific ”, according to The National Interest.
Adam Ni, a researcher on China’s foreign and security policy at the Australian National University, said the J-16 could give Beijing a supreme ability to either defend what it considers to be sovereign airspace, or to mount an aerial offensive in a wartime scenario.
“The J-16 would play an important role in a campaign against Taiwan or in deterring the US Navy from intervening,” Ni said, but added the J-16’s weak engine design would restrict its attacking ability.
As tensions have mounted across the Taiwan Strait in recent months, the PLA Air Force has “regularly” sent warplanes – in most cases the H-6K strategic bomber – to patrol around the island to show its “capability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity”, according to the mainland defence ministry. But so far the J-16 has not been involved in these missions.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen will go to Paraguay and Belize – two of the island’s remaining 18 formal allies – on Sunday in the latest move expected to infuriate Beijing, which sees the self-ruled island as its “unalienable territory”.
Pretty plane. Does not look stealthy.
China’s Kamikaze Pilots have a new toy
Now they will be able to attack any force that does not have competent air defense, or stealth fighters.
“Powered by a Chinese WS-10 Taihang turbofan engine, the fighter jet has been compared to the US F-15A/C Eagle. “
Unless something has radically changed in the last 2 years, that engine has never run for more than 200 hours, best case.
And is severely under-powered.
Primary weapon system for control of the South China Sea.
Long range, antiship missiles, it can also dominate Philippines and Vietnam, neither of which have effective defenses against it.
Performance by Chinese jets vs ours seems to matter but so does how many they can afford to produce vs our costs per jet.
We can’t be everywhere.
How many Pawns need to be sacrificed to take out a Knight
If it’s supposed to be a Chinese “EA-18” Growler then I wouldn’t think that they’d waste the money on stealth. That thing is going to be broadcasting.
That was just one variant, the J-16D I believe. I am not a fan of their hardware, design, or operations, but I do not underestimate their manufacturing prowess.
I am still undecided on their ability to turn a weapon platform of any kind into an effective war machine by marrying it with training, tactics, and command and control.
Red China is spoiling for a fight and taking Taiwan is top on its list. Red China would prefer to take it without unduly damaging the infrastructure through intimidation but take it they will. Only a president with Mr. Trump’s strong will stands in the way of red China. A Democrat or “moderate” Republican would not deter Red China.
At this rate, cut the amount of fighter planes in half, and make 5000 mini jet fighter “suicide drones” meant to intercept and fly into enemy craft/boats, etc.
[I am still undecided on their ability to turn a weapon platform of any kind into an effective war machine by marrying it with training, tactics, and command and control.]
For some perspective, think about how long the German military stood up against the Western Allies. And the answer is - not all that long. They capitulated a year after the Normandy landings. Yes, the Germans were outnumbered. And yes, the Western Allies had air supremacy. But the Germans had local air superiority, on occasion, and did strafe and bomb columns on the Western Front. And the Germans had superior tanks, anti-tank guns, light arms and better-trained personnel. And yet, a year after the Normandy landings, the Western Allies had outrun the Yalta territorial commitments, such that they twiddled their thumbs while the Soviets caught up on the Eastern Front. And yet was the experienced American commanders from Normandy on who failed to make headway against the leaders of the PLA in Korea.
[At this rate, cut the amount of fighter planes in half, and make 5000 mini jet fighter “suicide drones” meant to intercept and fly into enemy craft/boats, etc.]
“Unless something has radically changed in the last 2 years, that engine has never run for more than 200 hours, best case.”
Slightly better than the Jumo-004s that powered the Me-262 70 years ago.
Yes, the PLA did give the US Forces a bloody nose in Korea. But that was a militia force operating close by their own border with supply lines that weren’t attacked beyond the Yalu. China is looking to move into the Big Leagues. That means logistics are required for projecting force at great distances. Not saying they can’t do it. They have the manufacturing & technical base. I’ll get nervous when I see the air & sealift capability provide the ‘bones’ for all that muscle.
True. It never ought to have been an even contest in Korea. The Red Chinese fought us to a standstill with a 10-1 advantage in manpower in some places, and overall, perhaps a 2-1 advantage because we were fighting a political war.
It is not the ability of the Red Chinese to make war that I am undecided on. It is their ability to be a tyrannical state and make war, and win it.
I don’t underestimate Red China. I simply believe that just as making steel with fundamentally flawed ingredients makes poor steel, making a military with fundamentally flawed premise (citizens who are slaves) produces a weaker military. A rattlesnake that is a slave is still extremely dangerous and formidable.
It is a fundamental difference in viewpoint. And no matter how one slices it, as the end of the day, in Red China, you have no rights the state does not grant you.
Our strength is that our rights are not granted by the State. They are given to us by our creator. I believe that counts for something. Our weakness today is that too many Americans forget that rights are not granted by the State.
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