China’s air force spreads its wings in 70th anniversary video
- Footage of recent operations, including a joint exercise with Russian fighter planes, features in Armed Forces Day release
China’s air force has marked its 70th anniversary with a video highlighting the expansion of its mission to defend the country’s interests well beyond Chinese airspace.
The promotional video, released on Thursday as part of China’s Armed Forces Day celebrations, includes footage of the PLA Air Force’s recent joint operation with its Russian counterpart, in a further indication of deepening military cooperation between the two countries.
“Wherever the national interest expands to, our air and space force follows,” according to the introduction for the video, which includes patrols of the East China Sea, “guarding the South China Sea, advancing to the West Pacific, and encircling the island of Taiwan”.
The PLA Air Force, the introduction continued, not only had the “capability of flying far” but also the “determination to fly out”.
The two-minute long video features China’s newest aircraft, including the stealth fighter J-20 and strategic bomber H-6K, taking part in recent trainings and drills. Other PLA Air Force warplanes, such as the J-16, J-11, J-10B/C, Su-35 and Su-27, also make an appearance.
Footage of China’s H-6K bomber flying with a Russian Tu-95 bomber was probably filmed during last month’s joint training exercise between the two air forces, which flew through the air defence identification zones (ADIZs) of Japan and South Korea over the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan – also known as the East Sea.