In the "Indian Shield" Xi, the Thunder 3 brought the shock of Chinese technology to the world, is this reasonable? According to the Pakistan Watch website, the 2023 "Indian Shield" Xi proved to be the trigger point of the Thunder 3 marketing campaign. After the Xi, Thunder 3 successfully participated in the 2023 Dubai Protection Exhibition. According to reports, in this Xi with the participation of several Arab countries, the Thunder 3 played the role of the Red Army, and when it came to fighting F15 and F16 fighters, it proved that the Thunder 3 had a difficult combination to crack, namely the huge tactical advantage brought by the active phase array radar and the over-the-horizon missile Thunderbolt 15 wing.
In the Indian Shield 2023 Xi exercise, Western fighter jets participating in the exercise include the F15SA of the Saudi Arabian Air Force, the F16CD fighter jet of Turkey, as well as the C130 section transport aircraft and the KC135R tanker aircraft. The main force of the Pakistan Air Force is the J-10CE and the Thunder 3, which can completely confront the main advanced fighters of Western countries head-on, and this opportunity is of course very rare.
In past reports, we have seen that the Thunder fighter is mainly responsible for the tactical coordination of attacking the Indian S400 air defense missile weapon system, and the Thunder fighter is used as a ground strike platform, and the Thunder 2 can be used to perform such a mission. This time, the Pakistan Air Force sent the Thunder Dragon 3 to participate in the exercise, mainly to show its real combat mission, that is, to participate in air combat is its inevitable choice. Pakistan is a window for the display of Chinese weapons and equipment, so that the world can see the technological level of Chinese manufacturing. The effect of this advertisement can be said to be far-reaching.
Today we will discuss the improvement and upgrading of the third-generation fighters, and we can also explain why the Thunder 3 has a huge advantage over the third-generation aircraft of the US military, or even the third-and-a-half-generation fighters.
Many people have the impression that the F15CD and F15SA and Snapdragon III belong to the third generation of fighters, but this concept is likely to be wrong. Because although the platform of the Thunder 3 is still a light fighter, it has become a third-generation and a half-generation fighter due to its use of active phase-array radar, infrared search and tracking system and Thunderbolt-15 long-range air-to-air missile. Now the world's recognized three and a half generation fighters include F15EX, F16V, Su-35, J-10C, J-10 6, Thunder 3, Heroic E, Typhoon and Rafale. Its core symbol is the replacement of active phase array radar. Among the three and a half generations of fighters, only the Su-35 uses passive phase-array radar plus super-maneuverability, which is a special case.
They all belong to the third-generation version of fighters, so what is the key to determining their combat performance? If you discuss comprehensive combat strength, we must take into account the physical performance indicators of the flight platform, such as maneuverability, combat radius, bomb load, and maximum flight speed. If an over-the-horizon air battle is to be fought, then three decisive factors may be: the technical level of the active phase-array radar, the performance of air-to-air missiles, and the radar reflection cross-section of the aircraft.
Some people will ask whether electronic warfare capabilities are also important? Of course they are, but fighter jets can only carry self-defense electronic jamming modules, and they are only used for self-defense. 80% of the factors that really determine an air battle are the detection of the enemy before the enemy fires, and these are closely related to the radar reflection cross-section, the performance of the airborne active phased radar and air-to-air missiles. There are several decisive factors that determine the performance of airborne active phased array radar, one is the caliber of the radar, the second is the technical level of the TR component, the third is the heat dissipation method adopted, and the fourth is the transmitting power of the radar, etc. And the decisive factor for this, again, is the diameter of the radar and the technical level of the TR assembly.
In the past, we have said that although the Rafale fighter has good overall performance, its biggest problem is that the diameter of the radar is too small, so it is impossible to have a strong over-the-horizon air combat capability. The flight performance of the Thunder 3 may not be comparable to that of some medium fighters and heavy fighters, but because of the level of active phase array radar it uses, it is comparable to the American F35 stealth fighter, which is world-class. China's military industry is here, and the strength of China's military industry in this area is already recognized as the top level in the world.
Then the second key factor is the performance of air-to-air missiles, in particular, their range. The so-called one inch long and one inch strong refers to the range, maneuverability, and detection accuracy of air-to-air missiles, as well as the superiority of firing the enemy in coordination with radar. Once our army gets the opportunity to launch first, then the opposing fighters will have to do everything possible to evade them and enter the stage of being completely passively beaten. If you consider that Thunderbolt XV has almost twice the range of AIM120C, it is several times larger to have an inescapable whisker.
If we take into account that the Pakistan Air Force also has AWACS aircraft to provide target guidance for the Thunder fighters, then the situation of such an air battle is completely reasonable. Of course, the stealth performance of the fighter has a great impact on the detection distance of the radar, J-10C is the best model with semi-stealth performance among the three and a half generations of fighters, although the Thunder Dragon 3 does not have stealth capabilities, but because of its relatively small size, the radar reflection cross section is also relatively low, if it is a head-on confrontation with a heavy or medium fighter, then the radar detection distance to it is relatively close, which is also one of the advantages of the Thunder Dragon 3, overall, the key to determining an over-the-horizon air battle is to find the enemy first, fire the enemy first, and determine the prerequisite for these two capabilities and the detection distance of the radar, the attack range of the missile, and the radar reflection cross section of the aircraft are closely related. These factors may be the key to the Thunder 3 fighter being able to compete with the F15 and F16 of the United States and achieve an asymmetric advantage.