China's J-10C fighter jet, which has received considerable attention since May due to its export variant's good performance in actual combat, is capable of defeating stealth fighters thanks to its networking capability and support from other platforms.
The information, which means the low-profile member in China's growing family of fighters is more powerful than expected, is included in a five-episode documentary named Gong Jian, or Forging Ahead, which began to broadcast on China Central Television's prime channel on Friday to mark the 98th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army.
In a succession of scenes about a combat exercise of multiple types of fighters and their support aircraft, Major Xiao Nan, a J-10C pilot with the PLA Air Force, recalled that neither his jet nor his wingmen's could detect "hostile planes" on their own when they were sent to intercept "incoming threats" during the exercise.
Xiao concluded that the "opponents" were stealth jets and then fired an air-to-air missile carrying a dummy warhead. However, the pilot soon found that the missile had lost its target.
Thanks to the J-10C's networking capability, Xiao got support from other J-10Cs that used their radars to scan the airspace that might contain the target to help guide the flying missile. He also received assistance from early-warning and control planes.
The result of the mock skirmish was satisfactory: the missile successfully locked on the "stealth jet" and war-game judges decided that it managed to "hit down" the target.
"This has become the first time for us, the J-10C pilots, to defeat a stealth jet in an exercise. We have found that, with the support of a comprehensive support system, the J-10C still has a lot of potential that we can tap," the major said.
Developed and built by State-owned aircraft giant Aviation Industry Corp of China, J-10C is a supersonic, multirole fighter jet capable of maintaining short and medium-range air supremacy and striking ground or sea targets, according to its designers.
As the youngest type in the J-10 family, the J-10C was first shown to the public at a massive parade in July 2017 in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Its export version, the J-10CE, has been deployed by the Pakistan Air Force.
Gong Jian features stories and the spirit of PLA members in their efforts to fulfill the tasks given to them by the Party and the people.
