Test Flight of Newest Version of China’s J-16 Fighter/Bomber

Test flight of newest version of J-16 fighter/bomber Photo: lt.cjdby.net/uid:917197

Upon the disclosure of photos of the test flight of China’s newest J-16 fighter/bomber, people.com.cn interviewed military expert Wang Mingliang. According to Wang, J-16 is similar to US F-15E but has more ammunition and better fire control system.

J-16 conducted its maiden test flight on October 17, 2011. The one tested now is its newest version.

Some people regard J-16 as a clone of Russian Su-30, Wang says that J-16 is similar to Su-30 as they have both been developed on the basis of Su-27, but J-16 has better weapons and fire control system.

J-16 is a good supplement to J-20 in conducting large-scale attack when J-20 has obtained air supremacy. It has satisfactory attack and defense capabilities, which are both required for a good fighter as combat situation is always changing. An attack operation may become a defense one and vice versa.

Wang says that as J-20 is very expensive and has not been tested in real war, China needs some best third-generation fighter jets like J-16 to supplement its fourth generation fighter jets J-20 and J-31.

Source: people.com.cn “Expert: J-16 will be main-force fighter jets of air force to effectively supplement J-20” (summary by Chan Kai Yee based on the report in Chinese)

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