China sends dozens of bomber patrols to
invade island of taiwan after its air
force 72nd anniversary. The chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force celebrated its 72nd
anniversary on thursday highlighting
some of the military branch's recent key
missions including bomber patrols around
the island of taiwan and foreign
warplane interceptions in the east china
sea.
Many significant developments took place
in the past year including the
announcement of several types of
advanced warplanes as the air service
branch of the PLA reached a milestone by
crossing the threshold of a strategic
air force and accelerating its efforts
toward the goal of building a
world-class air force with more
cutting-edge equipment to debut in the
future.
Analysts said just before its anniversary the PLA air
force released a short video on patrols
around the island of taiwan in which the
pilots of an H6K bomber led the audience
to view the island from over 10,000
meters in the air and showed the rivers
and mountains.
Talking about the flights over the
island pilot Sun Luyu said i felt fresh
and excited when i went on my first
patrol mission but the more i went the
more it felt like just a usual stroll in
my own yard.
Taiwan's chinese territory and the
patrol is our silent statement The PLA air force has rutinized training
in patrols around the island of taiwan often in conjunction with other service
branches including the PLA navy as
defense authorities on the island of
taiwan have been posting daily reports
on PLA aircraft activities in the
island's self-proclaimed air defense
identification zones.
Above the skies of the vast east china
sea PLA air force sends J-16 fighter
jets on alert missions that would see
foreign warplanes warned away if they
threaten chinese airspace, china's
central television cctv reported on
thursday.
This is the chinese pla air force, you
are approaching china's territorial
airspace leave immediately or you will
be intercepted," said J-16 pilot Shen Yi
in radio contact with a foreign warplane
in such a mission.
Alert patrols in the east china sea
combat patrols in the south china sea
forward deployments in the west pacific
and encirclement patrols around taiwan
island are some of the most
representative missions the pla air
force has been carrying out in recent
years as a sign of its rapid development
in safeguarding national sovereignty, territorial integrity and development
interests, a chinese military expert who
requested anonymity told the Global Times on thursday
Astablished on november 11 1949 the PLA air force made itself known to the world
only one year later by joining the war
to resist u.s aggression in aid korea
1950-53 as the chinese people's
volunteers air force shooting down or
damaging 425 hostile aircraft in deadly
battles against the u.s air force. That fearless spirit never faded away
over 72 years with one of the latest
examples being that the Y-20 large
transport aircraft took part in its
first military operation other than war
by sending medical personnel and
supplies to where they were most needed, also places that were the most dangerous
at the start of the covid 19 outbreak in
2020.
From the aspect of weapons and equipment
the past year was also an important one
for the pla air force as it announced at
airshow china 2021. The commissioning of
new warplanes such as the J-16D electronic warfare aircraft and WZ-7
high-altitude reconnaissance drone and
ensured production capacity for the
country's most advanced stealth fighter
jet. The J-20 now has domestically
developed engines.
Both the J-16D and WZ-7 have recently
entered combat training. The PLA air
force announced in the past week. In recent years a large number of new
domestically developed main combat
equipment including the J-20 stealth
fighter, the Y-20 large cargo plane, the KJ-500 early warning aircraft and the HQ-9B air defense missile system have
been deployed for combat training
CCTV reported on wednesday noting that the
pla air force's capabilities on
strategic early warning, airstrikes, air
defense and missile defense, information
countermeasures, airborne operations, strategic projection and comprehensive
support have been continuously enhanced. As a historic achievement the chinese
air force has crossed the threshold to
become a strategic air force.
Senior Colonel Shen Jinki spokesperson of the PLA air force announced in august, this was in line with a roadmap the PLA air force released in 2018 which said
that the service branch would become a
strategic force by 2020 modern by 2035
and world-class by the mid-21st century.
Experts reached by the global times said
that more advanced equipment will be
developed and commissioned to realize
the roadmap. In the short term there could be chinese
engine-equipped Y-20 cargo planes. the
aerial tanker variant of the Y-20 and
the twin-seat variant of the J-20, expert
said.
