A report in the magazine "The National Interest" listed the Chinese aircraft that the United States is most worried about. Although it is widely believed that China's fifth-generation fighter J-20 will be at the top of the list, in fact, the number one is China's airborne AWACS Air Police-500.
Air Police-500 and other ** synergistic use
The Air Police-500 developed by China is an airborne early warning aircraft developed based on the Y-9 platform, which belongs to the category of third-generation early warning aircraft. Its maximum detection range has reached 470 kilometers, and it is equipped with a three-coordinate active phased array radar, and its detection accuracy and capabilities are at the leading level in the world. As a platform for medium-sized transport aircraft, the Air Police-500 has a continuous flight time of up to 8 to 10 hours, and has the ability to perform missions for a long time. In actual combat, the Air Police-500 can lock on to 60 to 100 targets at the same time, and cooperate with other fighters, showing extremely strong combat effectiveness.
The reason why the United States is worried about the Air Police-500 is that it cooperates with other Chinese fighters and poses a huge threat. The maximum detection range of the Air Police-500 reaches 470 km, which means that in real combat, the Air Police-500 is usually able to detect the presence of enemy aircraft at a distance of 300 to 400 km.
Even in the face of stealth fighters, the Air Police-500 equipped with an active phased array radar is capable of detecting targets at a distance of 100 to 200 km. At the same time, China also has the strongest fifth-generation aircraft with the strongest comprehensive combat effectiveness - J-20. Compared with the American F-22 fighter, the J-20 has a more advanced electronic system, and compared with the F-35 fighter, its stealth ability is stronger, and it also has more advantages in range and maneuverability.
The fact that China has Thunderbolt-15 air-to-air missiles with a range of more than 200 kilometers makes the J-20 fighter more than enough to cover the opponent after the Air Police-500 detects the enemy's stealth fighter. The Thunderbolt-15's range of 200 kilometers is considered a relatively conservative estimate, and as the world's only dual-pulse air-to-air missile in service, many believe that its actual maximum range could exceed 300 kilometers. If the Thunderbolt-15 has a range of more than 300 kilometers, it will have a strike range that surpasses that of the United States' fifth-generation aircraft.
Currently, the maximum range of the most advanced American air-to-air missile AIM-120D type is about 160 km. However, the initial and final stages of this 160 km range do not fully count as "effective range". This is because when the missile has just started its engine or is close to running out of fuel, its maneuverability is greatly reduced, and the pursuit effect is correspondingly weakened. However, the Thunderbolt-15 is a dual-pulse air-to-air missile, and this problem has been greatly alleviated, and almost the entire range can be fully exploited to its attack capabilities. If the Air Police-500 detects conventional third- or fourth-generation fighters, such as the F-16 and F-15, then the Air Police-500 will detect the opponent more quickly, giving the J-20 the opportunity to quietly approach the opponent and launch an unexpected attack on it.
In addition to this, some have speculated that the Air Police-500 may have it"A shot B lead"The function is that the fighter no longer tracks the target after launching an air-to-air missile, but is guided by an AWACS aircraft and finally shoots down the enemy aircraft. If the Air Police-500 really has such capabilities, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese Air Force will be further enhanced. Because in addition to the Thunderbolt-15, China may also have developed the Thunderbolt-17 air-to-air missile. The Thunderbolt-17 missile is expected to have a longer range than the Thunderbolt-15, but it may need to be mounted by the J-16 due to design issues that may be too large to fit into the J-20's built-in magazine.
Assuming that the Thunderbolt-17 has a range of 300 or even 400 km, then when the J-16 is located at a distance of 300 km from the enemy aircraft, it will be able to launch such a missile, which will then be guided by the Air Police-500 and shoot down the enemy aircraft. This will enable the J-16 to also have over-the-horizon strike capabilities to achieve a disguised stealth effect.
After all, the radar power of the fighter is far inferior to that of the airborne early warning aircraft, and even the detection range of the fighter equipped with the active phased array radar is limited to more than 100 kilometers, and the detection range in locking mode will not exceed 300 kilometers. Thus, the J-16 launched an attack at a distance of 300 km from enemy aircraft, in fact, one of a kind achieved by distance"Physical stealth"。
Air Police-500: The heart of air information processing
The Air Police-500 is not only the "eyes" of the Chinese Air Force formation, but also its "brain". Modern AWACS aircraft are not only responsible for reconnaissance tasks, but sometimes must also act as the center of information processing.
To illustrate an example, a fighter of the People's Liberation Army met three fighters of the US military. Without top-notch pilots, PLA pilots can usually concentrate only on one enemy aircraft. At this time, two US fighters could surround the PLA fighters from both sides and behind them and attack the PLA fighters, making it difficult for the pilots to respond effectively.
However, with the Air Police-500, the situation is different. This AWACS aircraft can lock on to three enemy aircraft at the same time, analyze their flight trajectories, and carry out ** on their actions. This is equivalent to adding a powerful "external brain" to the PLA fighters, capable of judging the actions of three enemy aircraft at the same time. The Air Police-500's cooperation with other Chinese fighters gives it an amazing combat capability.
With the Air Police-500, the combat effectiveness of China's J-20, J-16 and other fighters will be greatly improved, which can be called a multiplier of the combat effectiveness of the Air Force.
The United States is concerned about China's overall air force
Fundamentally, the reason why the United States is worried about China's Air Police-500 is not only because China has an advanced military aircraft, but because China has established an advanced air force system. As the saying goes, "the army with Soviet weapons and the Soviet army are two concepts", and a single ** cannot fundamentally change a country's military strength.
Just like China has the Air Police-500 early warning aircraft, but it still needs to rely on the coordinated operation of advanced fighters such as J-20 and J-16, as well as advanced missiles such as Thunderbolt-15, in order to exert sufficient combat effectiveness. The strength of a single army can only gain a certain advantage in some specific battlefields, and only when the entire army system is strong and a large number of advanced forces cooperate with each other can the combat effectiveness of the army be fundamentally improved. The reason why the US military was able to easily defeat the Iraqi army in the Gulf War was that the US military had already built a modern military system at that time.
In the field of the Air Force, AWACS aircraft often represent the key to the Air Force system. Just like the Pakistan Air Force, which has the ZDK-03 AWACS aircraft, although the system is rudimentary, it is enough to compete with the Indian Air Force.
Therefore, China's possession of the Air Police-500 means that China has built a relatively complete air force system, which is the core of the United States' concerns.