China To Debut Two New Fighter Aircraft At Zhuhai Air Show?

China may debut two new models of domestically-made fighters at the 10th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition, according to Zhou Lewei, head of the Zhuhai Conference and Exhibition Bureau. 

The most possible models may be two of the J-10B, J-15 or J-16, according to Zhou Lewei. 

According to China Military Online, J-10B is a reasonable guess, because it is said to have entered mass production and made frequent appearance. It has been coded to 130, so it is mostly likely to show at the exhibition. The aircraft adopts updated airborne devices, including AESA, HMDS, IRST, etc. After more advanced power systems are mounted, the fighter will become one of the most advanced warplanes in the world. 

And the J-15, nicknamed “Fei Sha” (Flying Shark) in Chinese, is improved from the 4th-generation fighter. Although it hasn’t made an official debut, it has been made public for multiple times and there is no surprise for it to show at the Zhuhai exhibition. 

The aircraft, with foldable wings, looks very similar to that of Russia-made Su-33. J-15 integrates the technology of J-11B. It is equipped with two high-power engines and foldable wings. It has newly-designed high-lift devices, landing gears and arrester hooks, which help the warplane to land on carriers while maintaining outstanding operational performance. 

J-16, a new model of 3.5th-generation multi-functional dual-seat warplane evolved from J-11, uses Russian Su-30 fighter for reference. J-16 is equipped with AESA and can attack multiple targets at the same time and recognize the information about the targets, the report added.

The biggest feature of J-16 is its long-range and Beyond Visual Range (BVR) strike capability and its strong air-to-ground and air-to-sea strike capability. 

In May 2014, the new batch of J-16 fighters was delivered to the Air Force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLAAF) and it is well-reasoned for it to show up in Zhuhai, it said.