The Chinese Air Force has ushered in a critical moment in its modernization, and the J-10 fighter jet, as the "backbone" of the Chinese Air Force, has played a core role as a driving force in this process. In the past two decades of development, the J-10 fighter has made a huge leap from copying Soviet fighters to independently developing new fighters, and has become the pride of China's aviation industry. At present, the Chinese Air Force has about 600 J-10 series fighters, second only to the US F-35 in number, showing China's outstanding achievements in the field of fighter manufacturing.
The J-10A fighter is the first fourth-generation fighter independently developed by the Chinese Air Force, and it is also the fighter with independent intellectual property rights in China's history. Its birth marks an important milestone in China's move away from dependence on Soviet fighter jets and its progress towards world leadership in the field of fighter jets. The advent of the J-10 fighter broke the complete dependence on Soviet fighters in the past and promoted China's great progress in fighter manufacturing and research and development.
The continuous upgrading and evolution of the J-10 fighter is reflected in its status and value in the Chinese Air Force. During the Cold War, China relied entirely on Soviet fighters such as the MiG-9, MiG-15, MiG-17 and MiG-19. However, the advent of the J-10 changed the situation, allowing China to make significant progress in fighter manufacturing and research and development. The combat performance of the J-10 has been gradually improved, and it has undergone many improvements, including the launch of the J-10B and J-10C fighters, which respectively adopt new technologies and fire control systems to improve the overall performance of the fighter.
The J-10C fighter is the latest version of the evolution of the J-10 fighter, integrating the avionics of the fifth-generation J-20 fighter and becoming a representative of the fourth-generation and a half-generation fighter. In simulated training, the J-10C fighter showed absolute superiority and was even able to easily defeat the Russian Su-35 fighter. Although inferior to the U.S. military's F-35 in stealth performance, the J-10C fighter has significant advantages in weapon systems, reliability, flight performance, and avionics. In contrast, the F-35 fighter has a large number of performance flaws, resulting in a low overall combat readiness rate, so the US Air Force has postponed the purchase and reduction of F-35 fighters.
Although the J-10C fighter has a relatively low status in the Chinese Air Force, it plays an important role in the development of the Chinese Air Force and is a key stepping stone to the success of the J-20 fighter. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the first flight of the J-10 fighter, and its successful first flight marks a milestone in China's independent development of a new type of fighter. Through continuous updates and iterations, the J-10 fighter has developed into the most advanced fourth-generation and a half generation fighters, surpassing the Russian-made Su-35S and American-made F-16 and F-15 fighters.
The Chinese military is not only equipping the Chinese military with new fighters on a large scale, but it is also crucial to improve the old models it has in its possession. The improvement of J-11B, J-10A and other models is directly related to the improvement of China's overall fighter combat strength. An improved version of the J-11B, the J-11BG, has been unveiled, and the improvement scheme is not yet clear, but it can be initially understood by mounting the Thunderbolt-15 and replacing the active phased array radar. The J-10A is also facing the problem of mid-term improvement, and it is estimated that China has 200-300 J-10A in service. Due to its age of more than 15 years, there is a gap in performance compared with the current 3.5 generation main fighter, but the life of the airframe is acceptable, and it is suitable for performance upgrades.
The promotional film "Condor" of the Aviation Industry Radar Institute (607 Institute) shows the upgrade process of the J-10A, including the replacement of the JKL-24 active phased array radar. This upgrade will significantly improve radar performance, increasing the J-10A's detection range from 130 kilometers to 170 kilometers, and possibly even more than 250 kilometers, providing the basis for carrying the Thunderbolt-15 and significantly improving the detection capabilities of ground and surface targets, as well as electronic warfare capabilities. Another important improvement of the J-10A is the integration of the combat system of the main battle equipment of the Chinese Air Force, real-time data exchange through a new generation of data links, and the ability to launch and guide B. At the same time, the replacement of the turbofan-10 engine will increase the thrust by 2 tons, significantly improving flight performance and electronic warfare capabilities.
Overall, the upgrade of the J-10A is of great significance, not only demonstrating a high level of active phased array radar technology in technology, but also injecting more than 200 upgraded 3.5 generation fighters into the Chinese Air Force, making it a rare and powerful force in the world. This progress also highlights the urgency of the PLA's war preparedness work and lays a solid foundation for the Chinese Air Force to remain competitive in the future arms race.