The Chinese Air Force's "Bayi" flight demonstration team demonstrated the flight performance of their J-10C fighter jets at the 2023 Dubai Air Show, presenting a shocking "air ballet" to the audience. The performance was well received by the organizers and the audience, which not only demonstrated the superb flying skills of the pilots, but also demonstrated the excellent level of China's aviation industry products. It is worth mentioning that in addition to the J-10C, there was also a flight demonstration of the L-15A, dressed in a black and gold "battle robe". This performance is the second time that the "Bayi" air show team has appeared in the UAE after November 2017, and it is also the first time that the J-10C has been redressed and flown to a Middle Eastern country for a public performance. Among the 7 performance aircraft, 3 two-seaters are J-10S, and the remaining 4 single-seaters are J-10C. The team departed from an airport in western China and arrived at Al Maktoum Airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, after a 7,000-kilometer transit flight.
Unlike the last time I came to Dubai, this time there were no transport planes to accompany the escort and pilotage. This shows that the J-10C is very reliable and capable, and can adapt to short-term overseas long-range deployment, even if there is no supporting ground equipment, it will not affect the normal performance of the fighter. This performance marked the first appearance of the Chinese Air Force's "Bayi" air show team in Dubai after changing its outfit, demonstrating the strength and self-confidence of China's aviation forces. In this J-10C air show, there was no transport aircraft as a navigator, which also shows that China's navigation system has the ability to cover 7,000 kilometers from the mainland. Regardless of whether it is domestic or foreign, the transport aircraft usually has a transport aircraft as a navigator when it is in transition, not only to carry the maintenance equipment required by the fighter, but also to assume the role of navigator.
This is due to the fact that the fighter itself has relatively weak navigation capabilities, while the large transport aircraft has plenty of space inside, equipped with large navigation equipment and a dedicated navigator, so the fighter only needs to follow the transport aircraft to fly. However, the J-10C fighters of the "August 1st" air show team did not have a transport plane as a navigator to accompany them, so the entire flight process could only rely on the aircraft's own navigation and positioning system for navigation. And this system is undoubtedly the famous "Beidou navigation", only it can ensure that the J-10C aircraft will not get lost when flying thousands of kilometers. In addition, the "Bayi" flight demonstration team demonstrated a number of difficult flight maneuvers at the air show, including a six-plane arrow-shaped formation, a six-plane double triangle formation, a six-plane formation Jin Dou, a five-plane goose team through the field, a multi-aircraft vertical flowering, a multi-aircraft horizontal flowering, a four-plane synchronous roll, a double-plane head-to-head crossing, and a single-plane low-speed horizontal flight.
These maneuvers vividly demonstrated the J-10C's excellent flight capabilities and demonstrated to the world its strength as an excellent fourth-and-a-half-generation fighter. In the multinational joint exercise "Indus Shield-2023" organized by the Pakistan Air Force, the J-10C E fighter of the Pakistan Air Force became the focus. Judging from the participation of Chinese fighters in foreign exercises and actual combat, Pakistan, as the first country to purchase J-10CE fighters, has praised this aircraft. Pakistan, as an Islamic country, maintains good relations with a number of Arab countries in the Middle East and regularly holds joint air force exercises. In the past, the Pakistan Air Force usually used F-16 fighters when participating in these exercises, but more recently it has preferred to use the J-10CE.
For example, during this year's Indus Shield 2023 joint military exercise, the Pakistan Air Force used the J-10CE to conduct simulated air combat with the Saudi F-15SA and achieved good results. Therefore, the "Bayi" air show team deliberately flew 7,000 kilometers from China to Dubai, and carried out a number of air shows in a row, aiming to show partners in the Middle East the significant advantages of the J-10C fighter in terms of performance.