PLA Air Force news, pics and videos

BoraTas

Captain
Registered Member
I think we can confidently say that the PLAAF got more stealth fighters in 2023 than the USAF. We know Chengdu AC delivered around 70 fighters (can be higher) last year when the production facility was smaller. Lockheed Martin will produce less than 120 this year. Normally, a few dozen are exported. In fact, thinking about it, the PLAAF may very well got more stealth fighters than the USAF, USN and USMC combined. Was not among my 2023 expectations...

Old news, but I realized this now and I think it is worthy to share.
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ACuriousPLAFan

Brigadier
Registered Member
I think we can confidently say that the PLAAF got more stealth fighters in 2023 than the USAF. We know Chengdu AC delivered around 70 fighters (can be higher) last year when the production facility was smaller. Lockheed Martin will produce less than 120 this year. Normally, a few dozen are exported. In fact, thinking about it, the PLAAF may very well got more stealth fighters than the USAF, USN and USMC combined. Was not among my 2023 expectations...

Old news, but I realized this now and I think it is worthy to share.
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I think the current reduction of the F-35's production rate should be seen as a common cold instead of influenza flu. Once Lockheed Martin manages to resolve the TR-3 problems, the F-35's production should resume to the normal capacity as before.

In the meantime, from presently and publicly-available information, the number of J-20s delivered last year was likely to be somewhere in the 80s, and somewhere between 90 and slightly over 100 this year.

With Chengdu's new assembly hall expected to be completed this year, it is widely expected that the J-20's annual delivery rate would be jacked up considerably in the next few years.

There's also Shenyang, which also has a huge assembly hall under construction right now, with scheduled completion by mid-2025. Then it's only a matter of time before the J-31/35 enters serial production.

Once that time has arrived, Chengdu and Shenyang can definitely jointly produce, at the very least, equivalent numbers of 5th-gen fighters annually as Lockheed Martin...

... until the arrival of 6th-gen fighters (whichever side first) resets the race.
 
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by78

General
Runway repair exercise.

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siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
This is something new:
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China and UAE will be doing a joint exercise in Xinjiang in August.

Mirage 2000 I'm guessing? They haven't got any Rafale yet right and F-16 is probably also out of question.

Secrecy around this thing must be tight. Zero photo/video/reporting on this after the initial disclosure.
 
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