China has been tightlipped about what goes on in Red Sword or even Golden Helmet (far less opsec) since the start of the 2020s.
PLA Air Force news, pics and videos
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
If there are pictures one wants to link from a twitter post, please also post it directly (either as attachments, or upload them to a host site and then embed them), rather than just linking a twitter post itself in isolation in a low effort way.
In this case, given it's from a video, one could have gone to the effort to at least take screenshots of one's own as well..
If we ignore the complete omission of Hongdu's giant new facility East of Nanchang, and the coping about J-35, it was a good effort.
What do Hongdu even build nowadays? AFAIK, it's really only GJ-11 and some missiles right now. JL-10 production is stalled due to a lack of engines as far as last year from the Chahuahui episode on the open day event.
GJ-11 is a big deal. Arguably the best UCAV in the world.
Interesting video! Thanks for sharing.
According to the speaker, retired USN Commander , who had previously served as the Assistant US Naval Attache in Beijing ():
- AVIC will be producing 250 to 300 4th and 5th generation fighters annually by 2027 (he probably actually meant 4.5 and 5th generation fighters).
- Under the "worst case numbers" scenario for the US, the PLAAF and PLANAF will have as many fighters as the USAF, USN and USMC combined by 2028.
- "By 2029, China will have the largest fighter force on the planet and will continue to grow."
I thought JL-10 was using domestic WS-17 engines now? There's also the new JL-XX. And I expect the PLA's demand for GJ-11/21 is very strong. Anyway the new facility is huge, and they built it for a reason:
I don't see how PLAAF can be continually adding 4th generation aircraft as he is showing here.View attachment 170268
Interesting video! Thanks for sharing.
According to the speaker, retired USN Commander , who had previously served as the Assistant US Naval Attache in Beijing ():
- AVIC will be producing 250 to 300 4th and 5th generation fighters annually by 2027 (he probably actually meant 4.5 and 5th generation fighters).
- Under the "worst case numbers" scenario for the US, the PLAAF and PLANAF will have as many fighters as the USAF, USN and USMC combined by 2028.
- "By 2029, China will have the largest fighter force on the planet and will continue to grow."
In fact, their numbers should start dropping. 2500 4th generation aircraft doesn't seem possible. By 2030, it looks like he is projecting about 1000 5th generation aircraft for PLAAF + PLANAF, which seems reasonable.
