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Recently, Chinese officials aired a documentary showing the Y-20 and J-15 conducting their first aerial refueling exercises.
Many friends are curious, isn't this tanker just used to refuel the air? What's the fuss? In fact, officials often hide information in simple images, and viewers have to figure it out for themselves, because the Y-20 tanker belongs to the People's Air Force, and the J-15 carrier-based fighter belongs to the People's Navy. This aerial refueling is a perfect cooperation between the People's Navy and the People's Air Force.
By chance, the West recently discovered that this year the PLA handed over to the People's Air Force a lot of air units that originally belonged to the People's Navy. This means that the Chinese style of play is beginning to change, not only the integration of different theoretical systems, but also the cooperation between different combat platforms. This rapid change was clearly unexpected by the West.
(Global Times report screenshot, J-15 completed aerial refueling for the first time)
The footage released in the official documentary did not mention the specific time, place and formation of the exercise, only that it took place at sea. Although the pictures are few, the amount of information is huge, because under normal circumstances, the Y-20 tankers of the National Air Force only provide aerial refueling for other Air Force aircraft, including J-10C, J-16 and J-20 fighters.
This is not because the People's Air Force does not want to "serve" the carrier-based aircraft of the People's Navy, but because aircraft that receive fuel from the air often require some modifications, and this modification is not easy, not only the fuel tanks must be replaced, but also special equipment, such as fuel fillers and related receiving systems, to receive fuel from another aircraft in flight.
In addition, depending on the design of the aircraft, other modifications may need to be made to the aircraft to ensure that the aircraft is able to fly while receiving additional fuel loads. For example, it may be necessary to improve the design of the aircraft or change the center of gravity of the aircraft. That is to say, if you want to complete the action of refueling in the air, it is actually "a hair pulling the whole body", but the PLA not only did it, but also did it perfectly. However, friends also raised questions. Does it take that much effort to complete this action? In fact, to answer this question, we have to review the history of the development of the mainland navy and air force.
The People's Navy currently has 8 Type 055 destroyers, 25 Type 052D guided-missile destroyers, 6 Type 052C guided-missile destroyers, and some old destroyers with good combat capabilities. In total, there are about 50 ships, plus 3 amphibious assault ships and 100 frigates.
There are even 80 submarines and a third Fujian aircraft carrier about to be stationed. It is no exaggeration to say that the People's Navy is now the second largest navy in the world, and it is worthy of its name.
However, before the 90s of the 20th century, the mainland navy could only meet the requirements of high seas defense, and the national air force lacked strategic projection capabilities. Even for the defense of the motherland, the Nansha Islands have too short a range and extremely limited strike capabilities. Even some countries along the South China Sea did not dare to take China seriously, especially Vietnam took the initiative to provoke and fought two naval battles with the mainland, namely the famous Battle of the Xisha Sea and the Battle of the Nansha Sea, and both of which were quite large. Our country "repented".
(Type 055 fighter "Nanchang", hull number 101, photo: Wanquan)
Let's start with the Battle of Xisha Sea. This is a naval battle in which the weak win the strong and the few win more. But the stronger side was not the mainland, but South Vietnam, as the Inland War took place in 1974. With U.S. help, South Vietnam purchased more than 20 heavy warships, making them the largest fleet in Southeast Asia. Trembling with anger.
At that time, South Vietnam was very arrogant, took the initiative to invade the mainland of the Paracel Islands, and dispatched three 2,000-ton destroyers and one 650-ton minesweeper, with a total displacement of more than 6,000 tons.
Although it's not worth it today. It is worth mentioning that the mainland now has more than 10,000 tons of coast guard ships. But in the context of that time, the South Vietnamese warships were really strong. In comparison, the flagship of the South China Sea Fleet of the People's Navy "Nanning" was only 1050 tons at that time and had not yet been sent there. At that time, the largest warships in tonnage on the mainland were two minesweepers. The displacement is only 570 tons, and the total load of 4 chasers is only 2500 tons. The gap is so obvious, how will this battle be fought? But beyond that, our country did win.
(In the Battle of Xisha Sea, the mainland submarine chasers were mainly Type 037 chasers)
The gap in combat power is so large that many people today do not believe that the mainland can defeat the strong with weakness, let alone South Vietnam, which relied on military and horse strength at that time. In the core area of Vinh Lok Islands, west of our motherland's Paracel Islands, South Vietnam took the lead in shooting Chinese fishermen and militia, killing and wounding many Chinese, and violently occupying Ganquan Island and Treasure Island. Confirm the results of the battle and be ready to face the counterattack of the People's Navy. However, what the South Vietnamese Navy did not expect was that although the submarine chasers sent by the mainland were small in tonnage, short in range and weak in firepower, they fully demonstrated their flexibility and high speed. When the South Vietnamese Navy opened fire first, our submarine hunters were not afraid to make sacrifices, dared to fight a tough battle, and under the pressure of the gunfire of the South Vietnamese warships, arrived at high speed and opened fire at close range, causing the South Vietnamese "Fury" to sink directly to the bottom of the Paracels, seriously affecting the combat effectiveness of the South Vietnamese warships.
Damage to the "Chen Pingzhong" and "Chen Qingyu". Submarine hunters are small in size and are not easily hit by projectiles. In the end, only one person was seriously wounded and stranded, and two were lightly wounded, but at the cost of 18 casualties, 48 South Vietnamese officers and soldiers were captured, and finally Coral Island, Treasure Island and Ganquan Island were captured.
(Wooden hats and hammers used by the mainland in the Paracel Islands in self-defense counterattack)
Unfortunately, South Vietnam was defeated and immediately sent 6 destroyers to reinforce it, and also requested support from the US Seventh Fleet. And in this naval battle, a big problem was also discovered, that is, the main force of the People's Air Force at that time was the J-6 fighter, but the problem was that when it reached the skies over the Paracel Islands, its range was limited, it could only fight for 10 minutes, and it could not provide effective support.
This problem was not resolved until the Battle of Nansha in 1988. Although the mainland's naval power had made great progress at that time, when fighting Vietnam, we recovered only 1 wounded and 0 dead, recovering 9 islands from the Spratlys. Sinking all 3 Vietnamese warships. However, it failed to expand the victory, because the motherland's Nansha Qundao is more than 1,000 kilometers away from Hainan Island, which not only could not be effectively supplied, but also was the main force of the People's Liberation Army at that time, J-8.
Air force. The firing range is only 2000 km, and it can only fight for 1 minute. The two campaigns remind us that the coordination and long-range combat capabilities of the People's Navy and Air Force need to be improved.
(Chinese J-6 fighters stopped in Albania)
Speaking of the latest exercise demonstration, it not only shows that the cooperation between the People's Navy and the People's Air Force is becoming more and more mature, but also shows the PLA's advanced system integration, which can be coordinated and shared by different branches of the military. Use each other's resources to achieve battles. The goal of winning in a war is no longer the embarrassment of winning a battle, but the inability to expand the results of the war.
At the same time, Western intelligence agencies, the Academy of the US Air Force University, which specializes in the PLA, found that naval aviation units such as fighters, bombers, radars, air defense and airfields of the People's Navy were transferred to the People's Air Force. One fighter brigade, two bomber regiments, three radar brigades, three anti-aircraft brigades and airfield stations have been assigned to the National Air Force. From this point of view, the PLA's playing style has indeed undergone major changes. Its purpose is to modernize the joint command of air and sea strike forces and integrate all air defense capabilities under the command of theater air forces to avoid theater dispersion. Between the two armies. Such a move is also conducive to enhancing the mainland's aircraft carrier strength to support the People's Navy's long-term goal of building a full-fledged carrier-based air force.
With the transfer of a large number of fighters and a large amount of infrastructure, the People's Navy may have more idle capacity to develop a modern navy centered on aircraft carriers with existing limited resources.
(Y-20 tanker and J-15 carrier-based aircraft aerial refueling documentary)
Today, the cooperation between the People's Navy and the People's Air Force has become more and more quiet, and the practice of mutual cooperation and resource sharing has enabled the mainland to build a modern and powerful army faster and faster.
It is well known that the superiority of a single service alone cannot completely win a war. In the development of the People's Navy in recent years, the close defense fleet is no longer a fleet that can only defeat the strong with weakness. Progress is also fast. There are not only air superiority fighters such as the J-20 and J-16, but also equipment models such as the Y-20 tanker. Maritime superiority. Moreover, the People's Navy continues to transfer the air force units originally subordinate to the Navy to the People's Air Force. By enhancing air power, it also allows the People's Navy to gain more experience in developing continental superpowers and aircraft carrier battle groups.
The West cannot sigh about this. I really didn't expect the PLA tactics to change so much. At the same time, it also allows Western experts to constantly try to understand what the PLA is planning!
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