Posted on 12/06/2023 6:13:13 AM PST by FarCenter
China has showcased its J-16 fighters armed with the PL-17 missile, a weaponry upgrade that significantly enhances the aircraft’s fighting power while reflecting a broader shift in China’s global air warfare posture.
A photo released by China shows J-16 Flanker derivatives equipped with various air-to-air missiles including the long-range PL-17, also known as PL-XX or PL-20, The Warzone reported.
The missile was shown in a formation of four J-16 jets, each carrying a mix of missiles spanning short to very long-range engagement capabilities. The Warzone report notes that the PL-17 is known for its unprecedented reach, significantly enhancing the J-16’s operational capacity.
The PL-17 is a long-range beyond visual range (BVR) missile for critical aerial targets such as aerial tankers and airborne warning and control system aircraft (AWACS).
While the Warzone mentions that the PL-17 was first observed seven years before the article’s publication, the missile type has been the subject of ongoing analysis. It is widely considered a successor to the PL-12 and is intended primarily for targeting high-value assets like tankers and airborne early-warning aircraft.
(Excerpt) Read more at asiatimes.com ...
AWACS and tankers would seem to be the second priority after aircraft carriers.
The war will be determined by the collapse of economies. Whoever starves first will lose. I hope Taiwan is stockpiling food and fuel.
That word “Could” again
Taiwan War?? Sec of State Blinken GAVE CHINA THE GREEN LIGHT last year to take Taiwan by force if necessary.
China doesn’t have to worry. If they want Taiwan, they simply tell Joe they’re taking it.
Post of the Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!
More defense industrial base propaganda: They conflate a Taiwan conflict with risks to US assets.
It is not logical to outline US vulnerabilities without directly addressing the failure of Taiwan to properly arm itself against an existential, looming threat, making all such discussion pure propaganda and intellectually lacking.
This smacks more of a ‘made for tv’ [ahem] crisis in the making rather than a situational analysis.
Bkmk
Are they going to shoot down the thousands of missiles that Taiwan will be shooting at ships, transports, and ports?
People talk like “invading” Taiwan is something China has the capability of doing. The ONLY country that has that kind of sealift capability is the US. And even we haven’t done it since 1951.
Time and time again attempts have been made to intimidate us with the threat of weapon system’s supposed capabilities only to find those capabilities have been exaggerated.
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