Amid numerous new revelations at one of the crucial anticipated Chinese language navy occasions, the 2022 Zhuhai Air Present, one of the crucial notable which surfaced on November 5 has been the presence of a J-16 heavyweight fighter with development quantity 1105. The plane, which seems to be absolutely operational with the Chinese language Folks’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Power, comes from the eleventh manufacturing batch offering the primary indication that a part of this batch, and probably all of it, has been accomplished. The J-16 is estimated to have first entered service round 2014-2015, and is a heavyweight twin engine fighter derived from the Soviet Flanker design – which was broadly thought-about the world’s high air superiority fighter throughout the Chilly Struggle. Though numerous superior Flanker derivatives have been developed overseas by Russia, and the delicate Su-30MKI was collectively developed by Russia and India, the J-16 alongside the service primarily based J-15B are thought-about by far probably the most succesful reflecting China’s primacy in key areas excessive tech, and its capacity to use this to bettering its plane.
With J-16 batches numbering 24-30 fighters every, the manufacturing of no less than 11 batches in service signifies a fleet dimension of roughly 300 fighters. This makes the J-16 probably the most broadly fielded heavyweight fighter class on the planet by a single nation, and signifies a fee of manufacturing far better than that of every other heavyweight on the planet. Its manufacturing fee is probably going slightly over double that of Russia’s personal fashionable Flanker variants the Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35 which just like the J-16 all additionally started to enter service within the mid 2010s. Apart from Russia, the one different nation to supply fighters from an analogous excessive weight vary is the US, which has been manufacturing the F-15s for over 50 years – the oldest fighter nonetheless in manufacturing worldwide – and produces the newest variants the F-15QA and F-15EX at a fee of below 10 per yr. The Flanker has lengthy been thought-about a extra succesful fighter than the F-15, not solely on account of its a lot better vary and radar dimension, but additionally its fight capabilities. This was confirmed by U.S. Navy assessments after the Chilly Struggle’s finish when Su-27s have been obtained by Belarus, and after U.S. Air Power F-15s have been examined in pink on blue workout routines with Russian Su-27s and Indian Su-30s within the Nineteen Nineties and 2000s.
The J-16 at the moment represents the epitome of the Flanker design, and whereas missing highly effective engines similar to the Russian Su-35’s AL-41, or the Russia’ jet’s triple radars, it’s extra succesful in all different areas. This consists of its a lot larger use of superior composite supplies, its integration of an AESA radar, its entry to the PL-15 and PL-10 lengthy and quick ranged air to air missiles which have few rivals worldwide in efficiency, and its compatibility with the world’s longest ranged air to air missile the PL-XX designed to neutralise bombers and assist plane as much as 500km away. The plane additionally advantages from restricted purposes of stealth applied sciences leveraging China’s very appreciable analysis and improvement into radar absorbent coatings, and inherits the excessive manoeuvrability, velocity and altitude ceiling of the Flanker. Its community centric warfare capabilities and talent to seamlessly share knowledge with a broader community of belongings is on par with China’s J-20 fifth era fighter.
A fleet dimension of 300 J-16s means China has many extra heavyweight fighters in service than every other nation – nearly as many as Russia and the US mixed. This has notably vital implications because of the plane’s central function in all main theatres the place Chinese language air energy is concerned, starting from the South and East China Seas to the Taiwan Strait, with the J-16 being comfortably extra succesful than the big majority of fighter courses fielded by China’s potential adversaries in any of those areas. The way forward for the J-16 program, and the way lengthy the category will stay in manufacturing as extra funding goes into the extra succesful J-20 and FC-31, stays unsure. Whereas a brand new digital assault variant the J-16D was confirmed to have entered service in 2021, and the chance stays that additional new variants may emerge, the J-16 might be the final plane of its era to be produced at over 300 airframes in China because the PLA locations a better emphasis on its fifth and sixth era packages.
Notice: heavyweight fighter numbers might be visualised on the newly up to date Navy Watch Power Index.
