China replacing old J-7 ‘Flying Leopards’ with J-16 multirole jets as challenges from US, allies grow: analysts
- First batch of J-16s already deployed to the PLA’s Western Theatre Command, CCTV reports
- Military experts say the planes have joined all five PLA theatre commands, amid increasing provocations from the US and its allies in the South and East China seas
State broadcaster CCTV confirmed earlier this week that the first batch of J-16s had been deployed to the People’s Liberation Army’s Western Theatre Command, which includes the Xinjiang and Tibet military districts, and is responsible for border security along the contested Himalayan frontier with India.
But defence experts said the J-16 had now been deployed to all five PLA theatre commands, noting that the new generation aircraft was going to replace the ageing J-7, or JH-7 “Flying Leopard” fighter bomber, which had served the armed forces for three decades.
“Chinese old generation military aircraft like the J-7 and J-8 are not enough to deal with the increasing security challenges around its periphery,” Fu Qianshao, a retired PLA Air Force equipment specialist, said.
“Aircraft replacement is not taking place just in the western border, as China needs more long-range advanced warplanes to deal with increasing provocations from the United States and its allies in the South and East China seas, where the PLA’s key strategic focuses are.”
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A military source told the Post that the production of J-16 jets could be boosted by the home-grown WS-10 engine, which could be fitted for several aircraft like the J-16, J-11, J-10 and J-20.
According to Chinese military magazine Ordnance Industry Science Technology, China started developing the multi-role J-16 fighter bomber in 2008. It was the PLA’s answer to the US air force’s upgrade of its F-15C/D Eagle – then a key rival of China’s fourth generation J-11B heavyweight fighter.
The upgrade equipped the US F-15C with a computer-controlled active electronically scanned array (Aesa), turning it into today’s F-15EX/Eagle 2.
The Aesa technology, which features high jamming resistance to allow ships and aircraft to radiate powerful radar signals, doubled the vision and strike range of the Eagle, while retaining its stealth capability.
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The J-16, meanwhile, made its first secret test flight in October 2011 and was formally put into service in 2016. It was designed to be one of two strategic partners of the PLA’s most advanced J-20 “Mighty Dragon” stealth fighter jet after the J-10C.
The J-16 model, with a 12-tonne payload – almost the same as the US F-22, based on a number of earlier jets, including the Russian Su-27 and Su-30, as well as China’s indigenous fourth generation J-11B.
As a key partner of the J-20, the J-16 fighter bomber’s larger payload could boost air strike capacity and let the inferior J-10C take care of land attacks, according to Zhou Chenming, a researcher from the Beijing-based Yuan Wang military science and technology think tank.
“China expects the US to deploy at least 300 advanced aircraft to the Asia-Pacific, including the F-22 and F-35s to the Asia-Pacific, with 200 of them belonging to American allies, so the PLA needs to be armed with a certain number of J-20 and J-16,” Zhou explained.
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The following January, two J-16Ds along with nine other PLA aircraft were spotted by the Taiwanese military as entering the island’s southwestern air defence identification zone (ADIZ). This indicated Beijing had deployed the advanced aircraft to the Eastern Theatre Command overseeing the Taiwan Strait.
Macau-based military expert Antony Wong Dong said the J-16 was specifically designed for a possible Taiwan attack, but needed to operate alongside the J-20 stealth fighter and the J-10C lightweight fighter jet to demonstrate each others’ strengths.
