Recently, there was news that China's J-16 lost the bid for iranian fighters, what is going on? China's J-16 is very cattle, including this year's Zhuhai Air Show, the first appearance of the electronic warfare type of J-16D, so that the world is even more impressive. Since China has such a powerful J-16 family, why did it fall behind Iran's fighter choice?
First of all, let me talk to you, that is, how is the performance of the J-16 family fighter?
One sentence evaluation, very cattle!
The J-16 fighter is a new generation of twin-engine, two-seat multi-role fighter developed by the 601 and produced by Shenfei Company, which is a new type of fighter with the characteristics of a "three-and-a-half- generation" fighter improved and developed on the basis of the J-11 series of fighters, and its combat effectiveness has been greatly improved compared with the J-11 and J-11B/BS. In view of the weaknesses of the J-11 series fighters, the J-16 fighter adopts the mature technology accumulated in the development of the fourth-generation fighter to make targeted improvements.
First, the fourth generation of avionics represented by active phased array radar and digital avionics system has been replaced, which has the characteristics of long range, multiple modes, strong anti-jamming ability, and strong concealment, which has effectively improved the combat efficiency of the aircraft. Second, the fuselage structure has been strengthened, and an aerial oil receiving device has been installed, and the external attachment capacity of the fuselage has also been significantly enhanced. The third is to adopt a new generation of domestically produced air-air and air-to-ground weapon systems. Due to the improvement of radar and avionics systems, the J-16 fighter has the ability to use the latest generation of domestic weapons, and can use all the domestically produced precision-guided missiles and bombs known for ground attack weapons. Among the anti-air weapons, not only fourth-generation air-to-air missiles such as PL-15 and PL-10 can be used, but more importantly, the latest domestic ultra-long-range air-to-air missiles can be used to take advantage of their strong hull mounting capabilities. In wartime, the J-16 can cooperate with the J-20 and pose a deadly threat to enemy early warning aircraft. Form an asymmetrical advantage in air combat confrontations. Through the upgrading and innovation of various technologies, the J-16 fighter has made a qualitative leap in its combat effectiveness, and together with the J-20 and J-10C, it has formed the aerial "three musketeers" of the new era of the People's Air Force.
If such a cattle fighter, why did it fail to bid for the Iranian fighter?
First of all, the news needs to be further confirmed, one is whether the J-16 will participate in the bidding, and the other is which fighter Iran ultimately chooses.
But taking ten thousand steps back, even if the J-16 is not selected, it is because of the delivery time rather than the performance of the fighter. The reason is very simple, China is now seizing the time to replace the fighter, and purchased a large number of J-11 and Su-30 fighters around 2000. Due to frequent training and use, Su-30 and other fighters have been unable to carry more combat tasks, coupled with the very limited number of Su-35 fighters introduced, so there are J-11, Su-30 and so on imported from Russia.
So what's the dress-up? Of course, it is to use the J-16 and J-10C fighters to replace the Su-30 and J-11 series fighters, which will lead to a problem. At present, both the PLAAf Force and the Naval Aviation Corps urgently need fighters with strong ground-to-sea attack capabilities. The J-16 is such a well-deserved fighter, but the output is limited, after all, the J-16 needs a lot of rearmament, if another production line is opened up now to provide fighter services for Iran, the PLA rearmament cycle will be greatly delayed.
At present, China is facing comprehensive preparations for military struggle, especially from the pressure from the United States, the world is not peaceful, China urgently needs to change gear, under the huge pressure of the change, the J-16 can not be delivered as soon as possible in accordance with Iran's contract cycle, but if delivered according to our schedule, Iran is not willing, Iran is indeed facing great pressure from the United States and Israel, very urgent as soon as possible to install a new generation of fighters and bombers, and Russia's cycle of providing fighters is relatively short. After all, Russia has more than 30 Production Lines and has a strong ability to export abroad, and the pressure on Russia itself to reload fighters is relatively limited, which will allow Russia to have enough capacity to supply Su-30 or Su-35 fighters to Iran. It can be seen that it is not that China's J-16 fighter is not good, but that China's fighter is too advanced and needs to serve more in the People's Liberation Army, which is the most important consideration.
With the continuous release of China's fighter production capacity, it will also be a good day for the export of J-16 fighters. Of course, from China's point of view, we also hope to J-10C, Dragon and other fighters as the main export products, which needs to see whether the other side has the willingness to buy, the overall performance of Chinese fighters is excellent, will inevitably win the favor of the international market.
Because the actual combat cases of Chinese fighters are relatively small, this also restricts the market for Chinese fighters to export abroad, and the Syrian military conflict has just made Russian fighters, and hundreds of Russian weapons and equipment, including the weapons and equipment of the Air and Space Force, have been greatly tested in the Syrian battlefield. The export of Russian warplanes, including other weapons and equipment, can be said to be a rare good opportunity, but also a rare platform and window for marketing.
In any case, the aroma of wine is not afraid of deep alleys, Chinese fighters will inevitably be recognized by more countries, and it is only a matter of time before Chinese fighters go to the world.