I don't think it matters whether a fighter jet is in a combat brigade or training brigade. If a full-scale war starts, those training ones could be used for combat roles as well. The most important thing how many they do have. I am not differentiating between combat vs training jets. Ofcourse I have ignored all dedicated trainers.
three batches of J-15T has already produced for three carriers.. and if you add older J-15 then total units are in between 150-160.
that's hardly being used. and J-7 numbers are actually way less than 150.
These are IISS numbers for Bombers:
There never was any upgrade program for the J-10A/Bs, and I think that it's more to do with the PLAAF not really wanting J-10s any more. Personally I think it's a shame because there's still a lot of utility in this plane and it should be a lot cheaper to operate than a Flanker, but it's how they want to do things. On the other hand the J-11 is a heavy fighter with longer range, a heavier weapon loadout, and probably better power generation to accomodate new systems. The J-11BG is quite possibly a better fighter than the J-10C; which would explain why the PLAAF is invested the upgrade to begin with.
What about the air cooled AESA radar we saw on a J10A a couple of years ago?
Honestly, this is the first I've ever heard about it! If this upgrade comes with datalinks and can use PL-10s and PL-15s, then it's pretty damned cool. The PLA seems to not deem it worthy of giving it a new letter designation so it might be less extensive than the J-1BG. I get why the PLA wouldn't want to operate it in the Southern and Eastern Theaters, but the J-10 is pretty good everywhere else.