Fighter pilots show their right stuff in PLA air force drills
Month-long training session in northwestern desert focuses on improving navigation and combat skills
Xu Liqiang said he encountered a strong competitor – a fellow pilot in his early 30s from the Jinan military zone – during the largest air force drill in the history of the People’s Liberation Army earlier this month in a northwestern desert.
“My rival is capable. I can tell that he and his teammate cooperated well, and his operations on the plane were in the exact place,” Xu, who is a vice brigade commander in the Shenyang military zone, told CCTV.
The pair were among the pilots representing all the country’s military zones taking part in the drill, which is expected to last a month and focus on improving navigation and fighting skills
Fights are being carried out between either single planes or plane teams, and each confrontation lasts 40 minutes, CCTV reported.
The weapons on the planes of both parties in a fight are similar, and the pilots don’t know who their rivals will be until they board their planes.
All the moves the pilots and planes make are seen simultaneously through a signal transporting system in a command hall where radar, missile and air fight specialists gather to make assessments.