Stealth fighter jets and attack drones took center stage at Tuesday’s official opening of China’s largest air show, an opportunity for Beijing to showcase its growing military might to potential customers and customers. rivals.

China has devoted resources to modernizing and expanding its air capabilities as it battles the United States and other countries around regional hotspots like Taiwan.

A record number of Chinese warplanes have been sent around the self-governing democratic island, which Beijing claims as its territory, in recent years.

The star of the China Air Show, which showcases Beijing’s civil and military aerospace sector every two years in the southern city of Zhuhai, is the new J-35A stealth fighter.

Its inclusion in the airshow suggests it is almost ready for operation, which would make China the only country other than the United States to have two stealth fighters in action, experts said.

The J-35A is lighter than the existing Chinese model, the J20, and is more similar in design to an American F-35.

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A group of J20s conducted a demonstration flight Tuesday morning, flying in a diamond formation against gray skies.

The official Xinhua News Agency cited military expert Wang Mingzhi as saying that the combination of the two models significantly improves the “ability of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) to conduct offensive operations in high-threat and contested environments.”

Attack drones

The air show will feature a dedicated area for drones for the first time, reflecting their growing importance in war zones, including Ukraine.

The SS-UAV – a massive mothership capable of quickly dropping swarms of smaller drones for intelligence gathering, as well as strikes – will be on display in Zhuhai, according to the South China Morning Post.

In October, the United States unveiled sanctions targeting China-based companies linked to the production of drones deployed by Russia in Ukraine.

Moscow and Beijing have deepened military and defense ties since Russia invaded their neighbor three years ago, and Secretary of State Security Advisor Sergei Shoigu will travel to Zhuhai.

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This year’s show focuses directly on the military sector, as it coincides with the 75th anniversary of the PLAAF, but China’s booming space industry will also showcase its developments.

A locally produced reusable space shuttle model will debut at the show, Xinhua reported Monday.

Named Haoloong, the shuttle is designed to be launched on a commercial rocket and then docked with China’s Tiangong space station.

“It can re-enter the atmosphere, fly and land horizontally at a designated airport, allowing its recovery and reuse,” Xinhua said.

Beijing has invested enormous resources in its space program over the past decade in an effort to catch up with traditional space powers the United States and Russia.

Source: AFP