By IANS,
Beijing: Advanced fighters, which will also be China’s new acrobatic aircraft, were unveiled by the air force of the country’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) during an air demonstration held Sunday.
Four J-10 multi-role jet fighters painted in steel gray rolled, flipped and twisted above hundreds of spectators during the demonstration held to celebrate the 60th founding anniversary of the PLA Air Force.
These jets, with their featured pair of canards and delta wings, are the first supersonic third-generation fighters designed and manufactured using China’s indigenous technologies, Xinhua reported.
The fighter jet became the backbone for low and middle altitude combats since its active status was officially disclosed towards the end of 2006.
Sunday’s air demonstration was also the last show of J-7GB supersonic jet fighters in the PLA Air Force’s acrobatics team formed Aug 1. These planes will be replaced by the new J-10s.
Six J-7GBs, painted in blue-and-white strips, presented a series of acrobatic manoeuvers during the show to give a farewell performance of the acrobatic team’s aircraft.
The J-7GB is the air force’s second-generation jet fighter modified from the Soviet-made MiG-21.
During the National Day parade held to celebrate the 60th founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, six J-7GBs convoyed China’s first Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEWC) aircraft Kongjing-2000 to fly past the Tiananmen rostrum.
“In terms of aerobatic performance, the potentials of J-7GB have almost been used up by the Aug 1 team,” said Yan Feng, an aerobatic pilot who was flying a J-10 during the show.
It commonly takes about an year and half to manage a series of acrobatic performances for a team by flying a new type of aircraft.
“We have prepared for less than four months to be capable of performing the air demonstration in J-10,” said Yan, who has a flying record of more than 3,000 hours.
“It’s a great pleasure to pilot the air force’s new fighter in aerobatic demonstration for the J-10 has excellent agility and flexibility,” he said. “We are ready for international competition with foreign aerobatic teams.”