J-20, J-10CE, Xiaolong, H-6K... the "phalanx" of domestically produced aircraft unveiled at the Paris Air Show

Recently, at the 54th Paris Air Show, the "Chinese phalanx" made a collective appearance, including the J-20, J-10CE, and Xiaolong... Let us "close up" to appreciate the style of the country's heavy weapons>>>

Written by reporter Duan Ran, Photo and text editor Chen Yongjie

On June 25, 2023, the 54th Paris Le Bourget International Air Show ("Paris Air Show") came to a successful conclusion. This air show was originally scheduled to be held in the summer of 2021, but due to multiple force majeure factors such as the raging epidemic in Europe, it was not held until June 19 this year.

As the world's most prestigious aerospace exhibition, the Paris Air Show's first show after the epidemic was unprecedented in scale, with more than 2,400 aerospace technology companies from more than 50 countries around the world coming to participate in the event, and many dignitaries including the French President attended. The exhibition hall and flight display area were crowded. The six-day air show once again ignited people's enthusiasm for the blue sky and iron wings.

▲The 54th Paris Air Show opened grandly at the Le Bourget Exhibition and Convention Center in Paris, France on June 19 (Photo source: Official website of the 54th Paris Air Show)

As a frequent visitor to the air show, China has participated in the Paris Air Show for 19 consecutive years, and each appearance has attracted a large number of international media attention. At this year's air show, the "China Square" brought together more than 20 Chinese aerospace technology companies represented by AVIC, displaying the latest and most hardcore product models under the spotlight.

Among them, the AVIC booth with an area of ​​more than 300 square meters showed for the first time a full spectrum of military and civilian products, which were publicly displayed in four components: "air attack and defense system", "aviation emergency rescue system", "modern civil aviation industry system" and "aviation brand culture". The large scale of products, advanced technology and complete and rich categories even overshadowed the exhibition area of ​​the host country, France.

Next, let’s take a closer look at the national treasures behind these star products.

▲Scale models of J-20, J-10CE, Xiaolong and other fighter jets displayed in the "Air Attack and Defense System" section (Photo source: Aviation Week)

"Weilong" is in charge, the pride and confidence of the country's heavy weapon

The most eye-catching thing about the AVIC booth at this year's air show was the huge array of combat aircraft in the "Air Attack and Defense System" section. The J-20 fighter took the lead, with the J-35, J-10CE, and Xiaolong on the wings, the L-15A and FTC-2000C trainers, Z-10ME, and Z-19E in the middle, and the Attack-11 UAV, the Wing Loong series UAV, and the H-6K bomber following closely behind.

This model array, which brings together the essence of AVIC's products, is like an air combat system solution covering multiple fields including strategic and tactical reconnaissance, air control operations, firepower delivery, and pilot training.

▲AVIC exhibited a scale model of the J-20 fighter jet for the first time at this year's Paris Air Show (Photo source: Official website of the 54th Paris Air Show)

The J-20 is already a household name both at home and abroad. As the world's top fifth-generation fighter, the J-20 has been a star combat aircraft that has attracted attention from the international aviation community since its debut in 2011.

At present, the J-20 has been equipped in batches, and its overall technical level and the localization rate of key components are constantly improving. With the F-22 in the United States having been discontinued and the Su-57 project in Russia progressing slowly, the J-20 has become the most active fifth-generation fighter in the world. Although the J-20 was only unveiled in the form of a scale model at this Paris Air Show, it was still shocking enough.

Looking back at China's participation in the Paris Air Show, the last time China brought its main fighter jets to the air show for public display was 34 years ago at the 38th Paris Air Show, when China's latest domestically produced J-8II fighter jet was exhibited in real form. Although it attracted widespread attention and heated discussions, the J-8II, a typical third-generation fighter jet, was somewhat dwarfed by the fourth-generation fighter jets that were everywhere at the air show.

Now, the J-20 has come to Paris to "take charge". Looking around the other products competing with it in and out of the exhibition hall, whether it is the "Rafale" of France's Dassault, the "Typhoon" of the European Fighter Company, or other top European combat aircraft, it is difficult to match it. This fully demonstrates the strong confidence and confidence of AVIC in the field of combat aircraft development.

▲The J-10CE fighter jet on display at the Paris Air Show (Photo source: Xinhuanet)

▲A scale model of the fully loaded Wing Loong X drone on public display at the air show (Photo source: Aviation Week)

The scale model of the J-10 fighter jet on the side of the J-20 is also exhibited for the first time. This all-weather single-seat, single-engine fourth-generation fighter developed by AVIC has excellent air superiority and ground precision strike capabilities.

The "C" in the name of the J-10CE stands for the fourth derivative model of the J-10 since its launch (the first three models were A, S and B), which is also the latest model, while the "E" stands for the export model (i.e. "Export"). It can be seen that unlike the hard-core equipment such as the J-20 that is used to show off its muscles, the J-10CE is more for expanding the foreign trade sales of domestic fighter jets.

In the first half of last year, the J-10CE successfully completed its first international order delivery mission - the first batch of 6 J-10CEs officially entered service with the Pakistan Air Force. The Pakistani military also held a grand refitting ceremony for the arrival of this batch of aircraft, which undoubtedly made a highly influential advertisement for the J-10CE, a cutting-edge product. At this air show, the J-10CE was exhibited together with the "Fierce Dragon" and L-15A, the flagship products of AVIC, and also took advantage of the long-standing platform of the Paris Air Show to further promote the new generation of domestically produced foreign trade aviation main combat equipment.

"God of War" leads the way, the old but still strong breakthrough pioneer

At the back of the "Air Attack and Defense System" section, the H-6K "Ares" bomber suddenly appeared. Although as my country's main strategic bomber, the H-6K has been frequently seen in China recently, it is the first time that it has been publicly exhibited at an international mainstream air show. In fact, the attention the H-6K attracted at the Paris Air Show was no less than that of the J-20.

In 2017, a retired Soviet Air Force officer in his 90s visited a base of the Chinese Air Force. He had come to China as an instructor decades ago to train Chinese bomber pilots. While talking with our officers and soldiers, he asked: "You don't use the Tu-16 anymore, do you?"

▲The scale model of the H-6K exhibited at the Paris Air Show, with CM401 and Eagle Strike-12 anti-ship missiles mounted under the wings (Photo source: Dian News)

In the late 1950s, the Soviet Union officially authorized China to produce the Tu-16 medium bomber, which was the earliest origin of the H-6. For the nascent Chinese aviation industry, it was difficult to imitate the Tu-16, which was one of the best jet bombers in the world at that time. In 1959, a full set of technical drawings and two actual aircraft were handed over to China. After nearly 10 years of hard exploration, the Xi'an Aircraft Manufacturing Plant at that time sent the first domestically produced Tu-16 into the sky.

In the following decades, the H-6 has been my country's main strategic bomber and an important part of my country's nuclear triad strike force (i.e., the ability to launch three nuclear weapons, namely, intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and strategic bombers). Perhaps it is because the H-6 series has been in service for more than half a century and has played a leading role for a long time that the former Soviet instructor asked such a question.

▲The H-6K bomber on public display during the 2022 Zhuhai Air Show, with Eagle Strike 12 and Eagle Strike 21 supersonic anti-ship missiles mounted under its wings (Photo source: Aviation New Vision)

Although the code name shows that the H-6K on display is just an improved model of the H-6, it is no longer comparable to the previous models of the H-6. The body of the H-6K has been redesigned, and the characteristic transparent pilot cabin of the old H-6 nose has been replaced by a modern large radar cover nose. The aircraft cockpit has been "glassed", and the ergonomics has been greatly improved. At the same time, the engine air intake has also been redesigned, the air intake volume has been increased, and a new turbofan engine has been installed, which greatly enhances the thrust.

In addition, the most obvious difference compared to the old H-6 is that the new H-6K replaces the traditional internal bomb bay with a fuel tank, and all weapons are changed to external hanging mode. There are 4-6 external hanging racks under the wings.

Judging from the model displayed this time, the main combat weapon of the H-6K is anti-ship cruise missiles, and it is equipped with two supersonic anti-ship missiles, CM-401 (export version of Eagle Strike-21) and Eagle Strike-12. The former has a maximum range of 290 kilometers, and the latter can reach 500 kilometers at high altitude. These two aerial swords have separated the H-6K from the traditional land and sea bombing missions, and truly possessed a formidable far sea penetration combat capability.

Whether in terms of overall design, technical level or combat mission, the H-6K has far surpassed the traditional H-6 and Tu-16, and has become the backbone of our army's long-range strategic strikes under the new combat situation.

Fruitful achievements in the civilian field

Compared with the dazzling array of combat aircraft in the "Air Attack and Defense System" section, the "Aviation Emergency Rescue System" and "Modern Civil Aviation Industry System" sections in the AVIC exhibition area are slightly dull. However, their appearance truly supports the full spectrum of Chinese aviation products at the air show, and realizes the full coverage of Chinese aviation products of different models and uses. Among them, the appearance of the AG600M (also known as "Kunlong") amphibious model at the air show promoted the Chinese solution of "aviation emergency rescue" overseas.

▲During the air show, AVIC also exhibited the AG600M amphibious aircraft (Photo source: Flight Global)

As early as 2017, the AG600 made its maiden flight. From the perspective of the fuselage structure, this is a typical hull-type seaplane (also known as a "flying boat"). Its fuselage has the characteristics of a hull design, and it takes off and lands on the water by generating buoyancy through the fuselage. Compared with float planes, this design has better water surface stability and is commonly used in large seaplanes.

The biggest use of this type of aircraft in maritime operations is rescue. During World War II, the famous PBY "Katrina" amphibious aircraft of the US military often shuttled through the enemy's ship fire, saving the lives of countless carrier-based aircraft pilots and sailors who fell into the water. In addition, in terms of civilian uses such as extinguishing forest fires, amphibious aircraft also have incomparable advantages (they can directly land on the water to draw water).

▲The third AG600M prototype completed its maiden flight in December 2022 (Photo source: Global Times)

In the 1970s, Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Plant developed the large amphibious aircraft H-5 based on the Soviet-made Be-6 aircraft, which to some extent filled the gap in my country's maritime rescue. However, due to many defects in the aircraft design and the overall performance that could not meet the requirements, the H-5 was hastily discontinued after only five aircraft were mass-produced.

Until the AG600 appeared. This new amphibious aircraft is equipped with four turboprop-6 propeller engines and has a maximum take-off weight of 49 tons. It is definitely a big one among the mainstream seaplanes in the world. With a range of more than 4,500 kilometers and a rescue radius of 1,600 kilometers, the aircraft has the ability to patrol far seas and conduct anti-submarine operations in addition to maritime rescue.

In addition to its military uses, the AG600 is also versatile in the civilian field and is an expert in responding to forest fires and delivering supplies to disaster areas.

▲The scale model of the MA60 regional jetliner exhibited at the Paris Air Show (Photo source: AVIC official Weibo)

In addition to the main star products of the above sectors, a number of civil main foreign trade aviation products such as the MA60, general aircraft Y-12F, medium multi-purpose helicopter AC352, etc. constitute the "modern civil aviation industry system". Among them, the Y-12 series and MA60 have long been regular visitors to the Paris Air Show and have created impressive foreign trade results.

Throughout this Paris Air Show, AVIC, with its full spectrum of aviation products, fully demonstrated China's strong and profound independent aviation research and development capabilities in front of domestic and foreign media cameras, and also showed that China's aviation industry has firmly established a leading position in technological innovation.