According to Thailand media report on August 19, the Sino-Thai Air Force “Eagle Strike-2019” joint training officially opened on August 18th. This is the fourth joint training of “Eagle Strike” between the two countries. And the Thailand part is still the 7th Wing, which has JAS39C/D Gripen fighters and Saab 340 AWACS, and for the China part, a brigade from the southern war zone is very worth seeing. The brigade has just got J-10C fighter in 2018, and this will be the first time that J-10C fighters confront the new Western fighters.
In the first joint training of “Eagle Strike” drill by China and Thailand held in 2015, China sent 2 J-11A and 2 Su-27UBK fighters, which were both equipped with old-fashioned N001 radar, and their avionics performance was far behind Gripen C/D.
Although the two sides had both wins and losses in other subjects, beyond visual range air combat resulted in 0:4. This confrontation also reflects that although the J-11A and Su-27 are excellent in maneuverability and bomb load, the avionics performance has not adapted to the modern battlefield, but since the main force of the Chinese Air Force at that time was already J-10 and J-11B, Su-27 fighters to be retired allowed Chinese pilots to understand the performance of Western fighters in detail while ensuring that the new fighters did not leak.
In the two eagle-attack confrontation exercises in 2017 and 2018, China sent better aeronautical-electric J-10A fighters. J-10A and JAS39C/D Gripen fighters were both canard aircrafts using mechanical scanning pulses. And their maneuverability and avionics performance are also comparable, and the results of mutual wins and losses truly reflect that the performance of the two fighters are almost the same.
J-10C fighter, which participated in the confrontation this time, was equipped with a new active phased array radar and IRST optoelectronic equipment. Its battlefield sensing capability was greatly improved. The performance of J-10C fighter has no doubt exceeded JAS39C/D Gripen fighters, and has reached the latest Gripen E/F level, but as Thailand Air Force is not equipped with Gripen E/F, the odds of J-10C are very good, and it could be counted as a revenge for Su-27 in 2015.
Moreover, J-10C fighter can also use the PL-15 long-range air-to-air missile. The missile has a much longer range than the existing air-to-air missile of JAS-39 fighters. If the two sides again carry out beyond visual range air combat, this situation will be completely reversed from the 2015 confrontation. J-10C’s active phased array radar is far ahead in detection range and anti-interference ability, and JAS-39 C/D is in a passive situation.
Of course, the purpose of the Chinese Air Force’s participation in joint training is not simply to compete for victory. The pilots of the 7th Wing have been rigorously trained by Western instructors. The tactics and equipment of the team have all been westernized. Therefore, such trainings could familiarize Chinese pilots with Western Air Force tactics.
If new fighters like J-16 and J-10C are dispatched at the beginning to “snap” the opponents, the pilots will not be able to obtain effective tempering. And such transition from the old fighters to the new fighters can inspire the pilots and test their new equipment.