PLA Air Force news, pics and videos

ACuriousPLAFan

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A recent satellite imagery of the Gaobeidian RCS test site in Hubei, showing an unknown aircraft (possibly UAV) model on a test stand. Posted by @nuwangzi on Twitter.

HCTLtztW4AAnHos.jpg

The unknown aircraft model is said to be larger than the ones seen in 2023, shown below (likely GJ-11/21):

Fod73r7XoAAK5BL.jpg

My very crude measurement attempts on Copernicus yield ~20-30 meters in length and ~30-40 meters in wingspan. HD satellite imagery on the site will be required to accurately measure the unknown aircraft model.
 
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siegecrossbow

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Decent enough overview of the state of the PLAAF and AVIC's production capacities, as well as some space stuff:
【【察话会Au】260226 美国怎么看中国空军军演?以“红旗”度“红剑”罢了-哔哩哔哩】
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Latest Guancha talkshow talks about this video. TL: DW version here

1) Information in the video are purely from OSINT so there are limitations like mistaking one of the birds for KJ-200, which is no longer used.
2) Analysis directly assumes that Red Sword is Chinese version of Red Flag which is not entirely true.
3) Much clowning about recent Red Flag exercise where they used F-35B to simulate J-20/J-35. Not only was letting stealth asset coming within 100KM of your AWAC ridiculous but very few AWACs and force multipliers were used in general. Felt like a step down from previous Red Flags.
4) Compares exercises around Taiwan (Justice Mission) and Red Sword. Agrees with foreign analysis that China can’t muster large sorties over long periods of time is cope since China evidently could do it deep inland. Exercises around Dingxin are a lot more complex than aerial component of AR since there is a lot more room to hide and maneuver air defense (Taiwan almost never move them, lazy bastards). Place is so large that they can simulate high end versions of similar SEAD missions from Ukraine War there and see which approaches work. Jokes that they got Xinjiang Zelensky running the AD operations out of a Naan pit.
5) Agrees with foreign assessment that with AVIC’s massive aircraft production capacity, previous claims of only top PLAAF pilots go to Red Sword is plain and simple cope. China could easily sustain 200+ aircraft exercise in Dingxin while simultaneously keeping up pressure in three theater commands. NAFO strategy of wiping out “elite” PLAAF pilots so operations can get easier is just cope.
6) Raises suspicion about USAF maintenance due to the fiasco with Super Bowl F-22. Praises Australians on high readiness but could just be newness of their F-35s.
7) PLAAF is fan of Gulf War era USAF and strives to be a new generation of that ideal Air Force. Commanders and pilots eagerly await US performance in upcoming war against Iran to see if they still “got it” so to speak from not just combat point of view but how logistics, strategy, prep work for contingencies click into place.
8) Reiterates that invading Iran is a decision with major strategic ramifications. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Depleting weapons capacity during the Operation Epstein Fury will drastically impact readiness in West PAC. They compared it to a hypothetical Ming Emperor who decides to attack Myanmar right before Sarhu.
 
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Blitzo

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【【察话会Au】260226 美国怎么看中国空军军演?以“红旗”度“红剑”罢了-哔哩哔哩】
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


Latest Guancha talkshow talks about this video. TL: DW version here

1) Information in the video are purely from OSINT so there are limitations like mistaking one of the birds for KJ-200, which is no longer used.
2) Analysis directly assumes that Red Sword is Chinese version of Red Flag which is not entirely true.
3) Much clowning about recent Red Flag exercise where they used F-35B to simulate J-20/J-35. Not only was letting stealth asset coming within 100KM of your AWAC ridiculous but very few AWACs and force multipliers were used in general. Felt like a step down from previous Red Flags.
4) Compares exercises around Taiwan (Justice Mission) and Red Sword. Agrees with foreign analysis that China can’t muster large sorties over long periods of time is cope since China evidently could do it deep inland. Exercises around Dingxin are a lot more complex than aerial component of AR since there is a lot more room to hide and maneuver air defense (Taiwan almost never move them, lazy bastards). Place is so large that they can simulate high end versions of similar SEAD missions from Ukraine War there and see which approaches work. Jokes that they got Xinjiang Zelensky running the AD operations out of a Naan pit.
5) Agrees with foreign assessment that with AVIC’s massive aircraft production capacity, previous claims of only top PLAAF pilots go to Red Sword is plain and simple cope. China could easily sustain 200+ aircraft exercise in Dingxin while simultaneously keeping up pressure in three theater commands. NAFO strategy of wiping out “elite” PLAAF pilots so operations can get easier is just cope.
6) Raises suspicion about USAF maintenance due to the fiasco with Super Bowl F-22. Praises Australians on high readiness but could just be newness of their F-35s.
7) PLAAF is fan of Gulf War era USAF and strives to be a new generation of that ideal Air Force. Commanders and pilots eagerly await US performance in upcoming war against Iran to see if they still “got it” so to speak from not just combat point of view but how logistics, strategy, prep work for contingencies click into place.
8) Reiterates that invading Iran is a decision with major strategic ramifications. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Depleting weapons capacity during the Operation Epstein Fury will drastically impact readiness in West PAC. They compared it to a hypothetical Ming Emperor who decides to attack Myanmar right before Sarhu.

Thanks for the summary.
These videos are always so low in signal to noise ratio, that the effort to listen and summarize is greatly appreciated.

It's not a huge surprise that what they presumably are referring to as Y-9LG would be mistaken as KJ-200. We did so for a little while, as well to be fair.
 

Deino

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I must say, these highly speculative extrapolations of potential production numbers based on assumptions "out of the blue" are getting on my nerves in the "PLA Air Force news, pics and videos" thread. And since we already have a much better one for this, I've decided to transfer all the recent discussions about how many 4th, 4.5th, and 5th generation fighters might be built, and whatever else, into this one even more so, especially since the original thread is a "news" thread!

Therefore, all of you who want to continue speculating... here's your playground!

 

siegecrossbow

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Thanks for the summary.
These videos are always so low in signal to noise ratio, that the effort to listen and summarize is greatly appreciated.

It's not a huge surprise that what they presumably are referring to as Y-9LG would be mistaken as KJ-200. We did so for a little while, as well to be fair.
These talkshows are meant to be entertainment above all else (军事相声). Some people actually use it as a form of ASMR too.
 

Blitzo

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These talkshows are meant to be entertainment above all else (军事相声). Some people actually use it as a form of ASMR too.

To be honest I understand the rationale behind it (though I can't for the life of me see how anyone could use it as any form of ASMR), and I could see it as a way of deliberately putting up a barrier to entry for certain information as well.

But I would say that I'd be much more willing to pay a subscription if the salient points could be distilled into like a 5 minute version, even though they of course do not actively plan all of the talking points before a video I imagine.

I digress.
 

tphuang

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So today I decided to do some updated Check on the size PLAAF and used Kimi to go through scramble ORBAT to summarize. what it's seeing and the results were actually quite surprising to me at least since I haven't been following things closely.

Here are the fighter jets. The J-10A/B part really surprised me and I double checked on Scramble to verify and it seems to check out. It seems like a chunk of J-10A brigades have been retired (I would have expected something like 8-10 brigades bw J-10A/B if there had been no retirement) and 1 unit even got assigned to 2nd training brigade. Even the size of J-10C contingent wasn't that large. Also, J-11A looks to be completely gone. But J-11B is still all there, it looks like.

At this pace, all the J-10A brigades are going to leave active combat unit by end of next year.

Screenshot 2026-03-17 at 12.25.16 PM.png

I also took a look at H-6 bomber units.
It seems to have gotten something mixed up here because there are 2 regiments each with 8th and 10th division + the one in 36th division.
And there is also the H-6N regiment
and now 2 from H-6J
If we use 24 per regiment for H-6K and 20 per H-6J/N. That's 180 H-6K/J/N in total. I maybe overestimating things a little here.
screenshot-2026-03-17-at-12-25-30%E2%80%AFpm-png.171773
its
 

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00CuriousObserver

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Top nuclear weapons, radar and missile experts vanish from Chinese Academy of Engineering site

Zhao Xiangeng, 72, was a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), the nation’s highest academic body for engineering science and technology, but his profile page has disappeared from the CAE’s site.

Similar online references to other CAE academicians, radar specialist Wu Manqing, 60, and missile designer Wei Yiyin, 63, have been removed, according to the reports.
 
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