【Military Subplane】Author: Lele.
On the 29th of this month, seven J-10s of the Air Force successfully flew to Saudi Arabia to prepare to participate in the Saudi Defense Exhibition in early February. Similar to the situation last time I went to the United Arab Emirates, this time the 7 J-10s are all from the Bayi Air Show Team, with two models: J-10C and J-10S, with a round-trip range of about 4,000 kilometers. What is more unique is that a tank-20 appeared for the J-10 formation to refuel in the air, showing off the rapid growth of the domestic air force's air refueling system. Thinking of the J-10 fleet this time, it is to go to the famous big house - Saudi Arabia to participate in the performance of the defense exhibition, and the J-10CE and Y-20BE have long been placed on the AVIC booth, which is very interesting.
The J-10 formation, which has already arrived in Saudi Arabia.
When the American-made F-16 was not yet in service, there were four Nordic countries as potential buyers (it was also the order from Europe that made the U.S. Air Force, which was originally obsessed with the F-15 at that time, complete the development of the F-16), and it was even more out of control after the installation, and it has been more than 40 years today, with thousands of units sold. Due to the end of the Cold War, the development of global armaments has slowed down, and the constantly updated F-16 still has a place more than 40 years later, and even the latest F-16V continues to get orders. In contrast, although the Chinese J-10 was established in the 80s, only more than ten years later than the F-16, the real export was in 2020, a full forty years late. Entering the game too late has made the J-10 lose a lot of export opportunities, and it is difficult to play with its excellent performance. Fortunately, Pakistan, the only overseas user of the J-10, has dispatched the J-10CE many times in the past two years to fight against the F-16, F-15 and "Typhoon" equipped by surrounding countries.
The F-16 can be said to be all over the world.
In addition, in the recent bombing of targets in Iran by the Pakistan Air Force, the J-10CE was also dispatched to press the formation, which further enriched the combat experience of the J-10. Coupled with the increase in China's international influence and the strategic significance of the next generation of J-35, Middle Eastern countries have also begun to be interested in Chinese fighters, and the UAE even paid a small sum to buy a batch of L-15 higher education aircraft from China to practice. In this case, the J-10CE will take the Middle East as the next export market, which naturally becomes very promising. On the one hand, these oil-producing countries have accumulated a lot of wealth through the best energy, not only can they afford the most expensive J-10CE, but they also do need advanced fighter jets and great power security commitments to protect themselves. On the other hand, in order to support Israel and ensure that it can dominate, the United States has revoked its commitment to the United Arab Emirates to provide F-35A, and Arab countries urgently need new stealth fighters**, and throughout the world, only China's J-35 can do this.
The L-15 has been confirmed for export to the UAE.
This reason is very simple, the world is now really overcoming the threshold of stealth fighters, or only China, the United States and Russia, among which the Russian Su-57 has obvious defects, the Su-75 is still an empty shell, and the J-35, which is being intensively tested, is the only hope against the F-35. The problem is that the J-35 will take some time to mature, and in the early stage of service, it must first meet the Navy's strong demand for stealth carrier-based aircraft, and the actual export will have to wait until at least 2030 later, and air waiting is not a good way. What's more critical is that Chinese fighters have not had a good reputation in recent years, and they suddenly handed over the heavy responsibility of fighting the F-35 to the J-35, and anyone has to put a question mark in their hearts. In this case, the introduction of the J-10CE as a transition not only solves the problem that the old fighters of these countries are about to be retired and need to make up for the gap in combat power. It can also allow them to experience the advanced technology of AVIC, and even in the use of the J-10CE, the support and maintenance system of the Chinese-made fighter is initially established, and the preparation for the introduction of the J-35 in the future.
The J-35 is destined to shine in the future.
Of course, even if the J-10CE is cheaper than the F-16, the cost of procurement into a formation is still not a small number, not to mention that it still occupies the fighter establishment after its service, which has a direct impact on the combat strength of a country's air force. Therefore, no matter how good the prospect of the J-10CE flying to the Middle East is, the premise must first dispel the concerns of buyers and let them truly feel the excellent performance of the J-10CE. This is also the fundamental reason why the domestic air force has made great efforts to send the J-10 fleet to perform in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. After all, the procurement of the J-10 by the domestic air force has basically ended, and the HNA has fully turned to the sea, and will no longer purchase the J-10C as it did when it was equipped with the J-10AH. And Pakistan's orders will not exceed three years, and the J-10 itself is not derived from multiple modifications like the J-7, and there is a steady stream. If you don't want to face the dilemma of running out of orders and dismantling the production line, the J-10CE must win new orders to maintain its operation. As things stand, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are indeed the most promising buyers.
The J-10CE is still very attractive to Middle Eastern countries.
The appearance of the Y-20 to refuel the J-10 fleet this time not only shows that the domestic air force is rapidly expanding the air refueling system and improving the level of strategic strike after solving the air refueling platform, but also to show the outside world that the J-10CE has perfected this field. After all, although the J-10 series was installed with an oil receiving device as soon as it came out, the fighter is related to the national defense and safety of a country, and it is not allowed to be sloppy. In addition, since the turbofan-20 technology has already made a breakthrough, the Y-20B, which is more powerful and not restricted by other countries, and its derivative Y-20B, naturally have export potential. In addition, the J-10CE tonnage is small, and it does need the support of tankers to improve the combat range, once the J-10CE is really exported, as the original "Tank-20BE", it is quite possible to enter the Middle East together.
The Y-20 is of great significance to the J-10.
The J-10, which had difficult development in the early years and was even on the verge of failure due to engine problems, has not been easy to get to today. And when the J-10B went abroad to fight against the Su-35S a few years ago and won it, and later successfully exported it to Pakistan, the outside world basically has no regrets about its service career. If the J-10CE can really break the record, win the favor of Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, and create the history of China's combat effectiveness as an advanced fighter, it will really be a complete merit.