2023 is coming to an end, and at the end of the year, we have noticed that the main theaters of our army have presented some unique scenes in a series of recent exercises and training activities.
Not long ago, on the winter solstice, the Eastern Theater displayed the J-8 fighters, which were carefully maintained by ground crews, and these fighters showed a good take-off state in the picture.
Subsequently, the pilot quickly boarded the fighter plane and launched a high-altitude exercise.
This fighter platform was born in the 80s of the last century and was used until the beginning of the century. Although the hardware of the J-8 belongs to the products of the last century, it still has high-altitude and high-speed performance under modern air combat conditions, especially at a flight altitude of up to 20,000 meters, allowing it to perform powerful interception and reconnaissance missions. However, with the gradual replacement of the J-10 and J-11 fighters, the status of the J-8 was gradually marginalized. Under normal circumstances, the Eastern Theater also uses the Jian-8 less for exercises.
At the same time, the Central Theater showed great strength in the year-end exercise, and even launched the J-7 fighter.
In the external propaganda, the cockpit of the J-7 fighter was coded, but it can still be judged that it is a two-seat version, that is, a typical trainer aircraft.
Nevertheless, the vast majority of the current fighter platforms of our army have been retired from active service. After all, these platforms were born in the 60s of the last century, and even with subsequent upgrades and transformations, they now seem to have lost their great potential. This fighter has a limited range and a small bomb load, and its demand for the modernization of our army obviously cannot keep up with the trend of the times, so it can only play its role as a training aircraft. In fact, in our army, the number of active platforms of the same model is already quite limited, and it is puzzling how the Central Theater of Operations introduced so many at once.
However, compared to the operations of the Eastern and Central Theaters, the performance of the Western Theater is more low-key. As can be seen from the published **, a soldier carefully climbed up to the tank stored in the storeroom, carefully removing dust from the tank engine cover with a small brush. By the shape of the turret and the main gun, those familiar with military equipment may recognize at a glance that these tanks are actually 59 platforms.
The Type 59 tank is China's first generation of medium tanks, whose origins can be traced back to the 50s of the last century, and the official equipment of the Chinese Army began in 1959. This tank was the main equipment of our army's armored forces until 1980, although it is light in weight and simple in structure, it is reliable in operation and excellent in maintenance. However, 43 years have passed since 1980. It is surprising that the Western Theater of Operations actually showed this old tank at this moment.
During the year-end exercise, the Northern Theater also showed its unique style. Unlike the various new equipment unveiled in other theaters, the northern theater emphasizes the individual quality of soldiers, allowing soldiers to wear armor, carry out traditional stabbing events with wooden guns, and even practice military physical boxing in the ice and snow. While a little bit of an alternative compared to other brother theaters, the northern theater doesn't show off new or old equipment.
The southern theater of operations is even more unconventional. During the exercise on 22 December, a certain navy and air force aviation brigade of the Southern Theater conducted coordinated training, which mainly involved actual combat exercise subjects such as vigilance and patrol, detection and judgment of situation, and command and guidance. In the picture of external propaganda, AWACS aircraft mainly appeared, and there was no appearance of other equipment. Therefore, the overall style of the year-end exercises in the Southern Theater is markedly different from that of other theaters.
Generally speaking, the major theaters have significantly adjusted their exercise items during the year-end exercises. Especially the old equipment that was rarely paid attention to before was actually unveiled and publicized at this moment. This has shown an interesting phenomenon in the military in recent years, that is, advanced and good equipment will never be at the end of the year, and the reason for this is obviously the problem of funding.
After all, J. 7. We all know the lag of the J-8 fighter, and the dust on the Type 59 tank also makes people see the actual situation. The soldiers of the Northern Theater of Operations wielding wooden guns in the snow are eye-catching, and the picture is vivid. This situation shows that the equipment at the end of the year** is without exception not state-of-the-art, and confirms what observers have observed for many years - everything is for the sake of funding.