Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-16 18:17:40|Editor: ZX

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File photo shows a J-10C fighter jet in a training. China's new multi-role fighter jet J-10C began combat duty Monday, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force announced. It is China's third-generation supersonic fighter and made its debut when the PLA marked its 90th anniversary in July 2017 at Zhurihe military training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Equipped with an advanced avionics system and various airborne weapons, the domestically-developed fighter has airstrike capabilities within medium and close range and is capable of precisely striking land and maritime targets. (Xinhua/Xi Bobo)

BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- China's new multi-role fighter jet J-10C began combat duty Monday, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force announced.

Equipped with an advanced avionics system and various airborne weapons, the domestically-developed fighter has airstrike capabilities within medium and close range and is capable of precisely striking land and maritime targets, the air force said in a statement.

It is China's third-generation supersonic fighter and made its debut when the PLA marked its 90th anniversary in July 2017 at Zhurihe military training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The fighter will enrich the air force's offensive and defensive system and improve its capability to fulfill duties and missions, according to the statement.

Shen Jinke, a spokesperson for the PLA air force, said that the air force will advance training and war readiness, and sharpen its striking, defensive, and air delivery capabilities.

It will also firmly safeguard China's airspace security and national strategic interests in the new era, Shen said.

The new jet is modified from the J-10 fighter jet and will help improve the air force's fighting and war-readiness capabilities, said Wang Mingzhi, a military expert.

The air force is gradually building a combat system adapted to the need of informationized air warfare, comprised of heavy air superiority fighters such as J-11 series, multi-role fighters such as J-10 series and J-16, new-generation stealth fighters such as J-20, and medium and long-range bombers such as H-6K, Wang said.</s>China’s new indigenously developed multi-role stealth fighter jet J-10C, capable of striking precisely both land and maritime targets, were put into active combat duty today, the military said.

The third-generation supersonic fighter jets are equipped with an advanced avionics system and multiple advanced armament, making it capable of precisely striking both land and maritime targets within medium and close range, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) said in a statement.

China had in February commissioned its the latest J-20 stealth fighter into its air force’s combat service. The J-20 is China’s fourth-generation medium and long-range fighter jet.

The Chinese supersonic fighter jet had made its debut in July last year, when the PLA marked its 90th anniversary, at Zhurihe military training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The fighter will enrich the air force’s offensive and defensive system and improve its capability to fulfil duties and missions, the statement said.

Shen Jinke, a spokesperson for the PLAAF, said that the air force will advance training and war readiness, and sharpen its striking, defensive, and air delivery capabilities.

It will also firmly safeguard China’s airspace security and national strategic interests in the new era, Shen was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Taiwan’s state-owned news agency the Central News Agency (CNA) had earlier reported that the J-10C is more streamlined than the J-10 B to reduce drag.

Hong Kong military analyst Leung Kwok-leung said that the J-10C has stealth capabilities entirely different from existing stealth warplanes.

The J-10C fuselage absorbs radar waves and weakens its signals, as a result, the waves do not bounce back to the radar, making the plane stealth, the state-run Global Times said quoting the CNA report today.

It is a brand new stealth technology, it said.

The news of induction of the new warplane came at a time when Chinese military held its biggest ever military exercises and parade in the disputed South China Sea last week.

The naval hardware seen at the parade, inspected by Chinese President Xi Jinping, showcased achievements made by the People’s Liberation Army Navy, including nuclear submarines in its modernisation drive, military observers said.

A researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, Senior Captain Cao Weidong said that the Navy received a large number of new weapons with advanced capabilities over the past five years and new hardware features a higher information capability and optimised joint operation system and thus can better carry out sophisticated joint operations.

Cui Yiliang, editor-in-chief of Modern Ships magazine, said the Navy showed almost all of its new hardware delivered during the past 10 years. It is now capable of conducting every naval operation, from strategic strike to amphibious assault, he said.

“The nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines involved in the parade are of the latest generation and have many improvements compared with their predecessors. The new nuclear-powered attack submarines are reportedly capable of launching cruise missiles,” he said.

Wu Peixin, a defence industry analyst in Beijing, said the PLA Navy has been steadily and rapidly catching up with the US Navy in terms of technological and operational capabilities of its hardware.</s>China's new J-10C fighter jets have been put into service, which marks an improvement in the combat capabilities and defense of the Air Force of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Air Force announced in a statement on Monday.

The J-10C is a third generation home-made fighter with multiple functions and is equipped with an avionics system. It is also equipped with multiple advanced armament and be effective in land or sea combat, said the statement released on the official Weibo account of the PLA Air Force.

The fighter jet was first revealed to the public at the military parade marking the 90th founding anniversary of the PLA in July 2017 and has attracted wide attention.

Taiwan's CNA reported in November 2016 that the J-10C is more streamlined than the J-10B to reduce drag. Moreover, Hong Kong military analyst Leung Kwok-leung says that the J-10C has stealth capabilities entirely different from existing stealth warplanes.

The report says that because the J-10C absorbs radar waves into its fuselage, thus weakening its signals, so that the radar waves will not bounce back to the radar. This is a brand new stealth technology.

The Air Force said on Monday that J-10C fighters have been involved in actual combat training and played great role in two combat maneuvers - "Red Sword 2016" and "Red Sword 2017", which lays the foundation for the combat capability of the PLA Air Force.

The PLA Air Force has quickly developed and has become a main influence in controlling disputes and crises, stopping a war and winning any battle, according to the PLA Air Force.

Shen Jinke, PLA Air Force spokesperson, was quoted in the statement as saying that China's opening-up and reform cannot succeed without a peaceful environment.

The Air Force has made all efforts to train soldiers and prepare for actual battle, and to enhance their defense capabilities and strategic projection capability to protect China's airspace and national interests, Shen said.</s>Equipped with an advanced avionics system and various airborne weapons, the domestically-developed fighter has airstrike capabilities within medium and close range and is capable of precisely striking land and maritime targets, the air force said in a statement.

It is China's third-generation supersonic fighter and made its debut when the PLA marked its 90th anniversary in July 2017 at Zhurihe military training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The fighter will enrich the air force's offensive and defensive system and improve its capability to fulfill duties and missions, according to the statement.

Shen Jinke, a spokesperson for the PLA air force, said that the air force will advance training and war readiness, and sharpen its striking, defensive, and air delivery capabilities.

It will also firmly safeguard China's airspace security and national strategic interests in the new era, Shen said.</s>The Indian Air Force has said that in case of a battle with Pakistan, India has the capability of deploying double the number of fighter jets than the neighboring country.

This statement comes amid the ongoing Gagan Shakti 2018 exercise. Fighters of the IAF have participated in 5,000 successful sorties in the exercise so far, said The Indian Express report.

According to an officer, the Gagan Shakti is the "biggest such exercise in terms of scale since Operation Brasstacks in 1986-1987, or Operation Parakram in 2001-2002 when India nearly went to war with Pakistan after the terror attack on Parliament," reported The Times of India.

The achievement is indeed commendable especially at a time when India is said to have only 31 squadrons of fighter jets, whereas 42 are required to tackle the Pakistan-China threat. India is indeed pushing its limits in the ongoing exercise.

"Full credit goes to our engineers that we have built up the serviceability of fighter aircraft to 80 percent, compared to a target of 75 percent and a dispatch reliability of more than 95 percent during Gagan Shakti exercise," air chief marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa told IE.

These numbers are also significant as they demonstrate IAF's capability to "overwhelm the Pakistan Air Force by bringing double their number of fighter aircraft in combat, and that too with significantly higher throw weight," sources in the IAF added.

It is estimated that in case of a crisis, Pakistan will be able to deploy approximately 260 jets. It has 371 fighter aircraft.

However, in case of China, the IE report said that sources have admitted that the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has an overwhelming superiority in the number of fighter aircraft and its ability to employ them is constrained only by the geography of Tibet.

After testing its operational preparedness, reach and capabilities in the western front, India has now switched its forces for the Gagan Shakti 2018 exercise to the northern borders with China from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.</s>Fighter jets were seen taking off from a British Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Cyprus early on Saturday morning. (April 13)</s>File photo of J-10C (Official blog of PLA Air Force)

Equipped with an advanced avionics system and various airborne weapons, the domestically-developed fighter has airstrike capabilities within medium and close range and is capable of precisely striking land and maritime targets.
China's People's Liberation Army says the nation's J-10C fighter jets have entered combat service.