Just earlier, the Chinese Air Force released a map of the J-16 formation's actual combat training, with a total of four fighters, each with 10 air-to-air missiles, including Thunderbolt-10, Thunderbolt-12, Thunderbolt-15, and even Thunderbolt-17 missiles.
[Four J-16s in the same frame are really rare]
These missiles integrate close combat, medium combat, and long-range games, and the fighters are plugged in and turned into "warship vertical hair", and the air firepower pressure is appropriate.
Absolute firepower confidence
As the pinnacle of the fourth-generation fighter, the J-16 is derived from the Soviet-style flanker, and like the Russian Su-35, it is the culmination of the Soviet-style flanker.
However, in many ways, the J-16 will have more advantages, for example, when this fighter was developed, the technology of some J-20 stealth fighters was adopted, and the design concept was very advanced.
For another example, the bomb-carrying capacity of the J-16 is absolutely at the top level, taking this training as an example, a J-16 carries 10 air-to-air missiles.
[Zoom in to see this]
But this should not be the limit of the J-16, but the limit of the training target.
Judging from the J-16 plug-in situation in the picture, its limit bomb capacity should be between 14 and 16.
The J-16 also has many mount types, because it is a multi-purpose fighter, which can carry air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, small and medium-sized anti-ship missiles, and so on.
When all air-to-air missiles are carried, it can be perfectly adapted
In the official training pictures released this time, we can see that a "discordant" missile obviously appeared on the inside of the right wing of the J-16.
Compared with other air combat missiles, this one is significantly larger than one circle, and has already surpassed the Thunderbolt-15 air-to-air missile.
The larger the air-to-air missile, the more fuel and sophisticated equipment it is equipped with, and there will be a qualitative leap in both maximum range and accuracy.
This "fat circle" missile should be the Thunderbolt-17 that we have in mind.
Judging by the dimensions exposed in the picture, the Thunderbolt 17 should weigh 300 kilograms, have a maximum range of more than 400 kilometers, and the ultimate distance is possible
At the same time, considering that China's hypersonic missile technology is so excellent, there is no problem with the speed of the Thunderbolt-17 at Mach 6, which basically touches the threshold of hypersonic missiles.
While the United States was still thinking hard about how to build such missiles, we were already far ahead in the air combat process.
如野兽般狂野
At this time, some friends will ask, if it is in actual combat, what mission are these four J-16 fighters full of missiles used to perform?
Considering that the J-16 is full of Thunderbolt series air-to-air missiles, this actual combat exercise should be a large-scale high-altitude frontal confrontation.
In a large-scale high-altitude battle, it was tested
The reason is actually very simple, hanging 5 missiles can only shoot down a maximum of 5 aircraft, but hanging 10 can hit 10 aircraft.
In this kind of battle, the opponent will not give us a chance to return supplies, so the first hanging ammunition almost determines the firepower duel of the entire battlefield, and we have a fairly obvious advantage.
Take the J-16's bomb hanging ability as an example, there are not many fighters in the world that can reach the same level, and Japan's F15J can be regarded as one of them, but the overall performance is not as good as the J-16.
Let's talk about the specific bomb type, not to mention that the J-16 will be equipped with the Thunderbolt-17 air-to-air missile, the Thunderbolt-15 long-range air-to-air alone is enough to give the enemy a headache.
China's attainments in air-to-air missiles are the world's first, and the Thunderbolt-15 seems to have reached the top level.
The AIM120, the main air-to-air missile currently in service in the United States, is not satisfactory in terms of range or accuracy, and can basically only be comparable to the continental Thunderbolt-12.
The latest AIM-260 can only be compared with the Thunderbolt-15 missile, but it is not yet in large-scale service, and our Thunderbolt-15 missile has long been finalized.
Obviously, the Thunderbolt-17 is definitely a nightmare missile for China's "competitors".
You must know that so far, Western countries, led by the United States, have not had an air-to-air missile with a range of more than 300 kilometers. China directly released such a "bombshell" as Thunderbolt 17, which exploded in the Western media.
If we use hand-to-hand combat in the air confrontation, we have powerful J-16 and J-20 fighters, and the United States will not be able to take any advantage, and we may have a small advantage in the confrontation at a medium distance.
As soon as the air war evolves into a long-range one, then the United States will be in a rather passive state, which they do not want to see.
You must know that our Thunderbolt-17 air-to-air missiles have a range of more than 100 kilometers longer than the most advanced missiles in the United States, and as long as we maintain a suitable combat distance, their missiles will not be able to hit us at all.
How to maximize the effect
So the question is, the detection range of the airborne radar is limited, and the locking ability of the long-range enemy is worrying, and the limit has been reached for 200 kilometers alone, and how to aim for the Thunderbolt-17 missiles at 400 kilometers?
At this time, we need to use the Air Police 3000 early warning aircraft that we may appear in the future, as well as the J-16D special electronic warfare aircraft in service.
Among them, the early warning range of the Air Police 3000 may exceed 600 kilometers, and the locking of targets may reach 1000 kilometers.
[Air Police 3000 or Yun 20 as a platform]
With AWACS aircraft providing real-time information on targets, are we still worried that we will not be able to lock on to the enemy?
Of course, after the J-16 enters the range of the enemy's early warning aircraft, there is a risk of being shot down, and the J-16D needs to appear at this time.
This electronic warfare aircraft is equipped with electronic warfare and fire strike pendants, and is likely to be able to carry Thunderbolt-17 missiles.
On the one hand, the electronic warfare aircraft can accompany the J-16, which can provide it with good electronic protection capabilities to reduce the risk of being locked by enemy missiles.
On the other hand, electronic warfare aircraft can also interfere with the opponent through electronic warfare technology, and in the case of the use of the extended-range Thunderbolt-17, there is a great potential to shoot down the enemy's AWACS aircraft.
Therefore, the Chinese Air Force showed the J-16 actual combat training pictures this time, not to show how ferocious this fighter is, but also to warn the United States!
Resources:
[1] People's Daily: "Handsome! J-16 HD wallpaper is coming"
[2] Global Network: "Close to the actual combat! J-16 hardcore display"