East China Sea Air Defense ID Zone

SinoSoldier said:

J-11BSHs were already used to enforce the Eastern portion of the ADIZ, so the entry of the WS-10A into Chinese service shouldn't come as a surprise. It is only a matter of time before the Chinese would face the dichotomy of choosing either a domestic engine that can be produced at the whim of the military (albeit slightly worse reliability) or an import that comes with many strings attached, so I'd expect the WS-10 to see significant service even if it were crucially inept in regards to capability.

The missile load is standard for interceptions, and we have seen it before in other similar encounters.

A MAWS sensor, centered IRST, and black radome are common aesthetic marks of the "B" variant.

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JayBird said:

Hey... maybe this J-11BH pilot is one of the Golden Flight Helmet winners. Look at the color of his helmet compare to this one
here.

View attachment 10251

Usually they are in white or grey color only right?

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JayBird said:

Hey... maybe this J-11BH pilot is one of the Golden Flight Helmet winners. Look at the color of his helmet compare to this one
here.

View attachment 10251

Usually they are in white or grey color only right?

Click to expand...

JayBird said:

Hey... maybe this J-11BH pilot is one of the Golden Flight Helmet winners. Look at the color of his helmet compare to this one
here.

View attachment 10251

Usually they are in white or grey color only right?

Click to expand...

Bltizo said:

Of course it isn't a surprise, but it is nice to have another example of the engine in service, especially for missions where confrontation may potentially require aggressive maneuvering (as is the case with any air intercept), more or less confirming the PLAs confidence in its taihang equipped flankers, considering they have more than enough non taihang flankers to fill the void if there was a performance differential.

Previously I believe only Su-30s and 27s were photographed doing ADIZ patrols, and they were armed with fewer missiles than this, so no we cannot say the two MRAAM two SRAAM missile load is standard, based on photo evidence of previous ADIZ flanker patrols.
But then again our sample size of photos is fairly small, so whatever.

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SinoSoldier said:

Hopefully the J-10Bs do these patrols once they enter service, as their lack of engine redundancy would serve as a test of the WS-10's ability to operate in tough environments. It would also serve to gauge the WS-10H's anti-rust material.

And regarding the missile loadout, it shouldn't be a big issue anyways; neither side is expecting the situation to spiral out of peacetime and the configuration should always be changing in correspondence to the mission requirements of the participating aircraft.

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Air Force Brat said:

Actually there is a very well written and universal standard for air intercepts, stray to far from that, and you'll be swimming your sorry butt home. Doesn't need to be friendly, but lots of times they are, waving, picture taking, mooning, flying the bird, a good sense of humor keeps things cool???? but this is beyond the pale. So President Xi is going to play games???? while I am sure we will "play it Kool", this is exactly why I labeled and continue to label the Chinese ADIZ "provocative". If someone "lights up" someone on radar???? then what???????

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SinoSoldier said:

And at last, we have fresh photographs taken by the patrol aircraft of the recent incident, with kudos going to the Navy. The interception occurred approximately 130 miles east of Hainan, when the P-8 Poseidon was approached by a J-11BH. The fighter supposedly came within 20 feet wingtip-to-wingtip of the Poseidon. I do not possess the credence of a military expert, but 20 feet sounds extremely tight in light of the velocities and sizes of the aircraft involved; it's a relief the respective pilots were able to maintain cool emotions and follow protocol.

Seems like both sides took a lesson or two from the previous incident which exhibited similar operational motifs as this one.

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mr.bean said:

totally unrelated but khazakstan has 4 flankers in china for that SCO exercise right now and they are painted a beautiful blue camo. very eye catching and wish china would do that for their flankers but this J-11 grey looks good in the above photos too. it seems the Chinese ADIZ is giving their pilots lots of action and that's a great thing.

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