Monday, July 10, 2017
Saturday, July 08, 2017
Professional research report of the day: Overview of People's Liberation Army Air Force "Elite Pilots"
http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1400/RR1416/RAND_RR1416.pdf
Research Questions
What can Chinese primary sources tell us about how the PLAAF selects and trains what it regards as its elite fighter pilots?
What makes elite fighter pilots different than other pilots in the PLAAF?
How does the PLAAF use domestic competitions (such as the Golden Helmet and Golden Dart) and international competition (such as the Aviadarts in Russia) to showcase the PLAAF's desire to project a more open and confident image at home and abroad?
This report uses Chinese primary sources to provide an overview of how the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) selects and trains what it calls its elite fighter pilots. The PLAAF identifies three groups of pilots as elite pilots. The first comprises 33 pilots who have won the annual Golden Helmet competition at the Dingxin Test and Training Base in Gansu province since 2011; the Golden Helmet is "the supreme contest among Chinese fighter pilots." The second group comprises pilots who belong to the PLAAF's Bayi Aerobatics Team, created in 1962. The third comprises six Su-30 attack pilots, including one Golden Helmet winner, who competed in Russia's Aviadarts 2014 competition for the first time. While each of the three groups competes using existing flight procedures, the lessons learned are reviewed extensively for ways to change existing tactics and combat methods. For example, one of the most important lessons learned has been the PLAAF's desire to move toward less scripted training, which Chinese sources typically refer to as "unrestricted air combat" or "free air combat" training. Official Chinese media reports on the PLAAF's Golden Helmet competition, its participation in the Russian Aviadarts competition, and the Bayi Aerobatics Team's participation in air shows in Russia in 2013 and Malaysia in 2015 appear to reflect a desire on the part of the PLAAF to project a more open and confident image at home and abroad. In 2014, the PLAAF implemented a Golden Dart competition to identify elite ground attack and bomber crews.
Key Findings
Elite Pilots Consist of Three Groups of Pilots in the PLAAF
The first group comprises winners of the annual Golden Helmet competition, which began in 2011.
The second group comprises pilots who participated in the Aviadarts international military aviation competition in 2014.
The third group comprises pilots who are members of the PLAAF's Bayi Aerobatics Team.
The PLAAF's emphasis on the development of fighter "tactics" and "combat methods" and its approach to developing these three groups of elite pilots signifies its determination to pursue further professionalization and enhance the competence of its pilots.
This professionalization and enhancement of competence is no less important to the PLAAF than the modernization of its aircraft, weapons, and equipment.
Recommendation
Future research should continue to trace the PLAAF's refinement of its "tactics" and "combat methods" and how China plans to continue to cultivate its elite pilots.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Introduction
Chapter Two
The PLAAF's Cangzhou and Dingxin Test and Training Bases
Chapter Three
The PLAAF's Golden Helmet Competition
Chapter Four
The PLAAF Participation in Aviadarts and Bayi Aerobatics Team Participation in International Air Shows
Chapter Five
Conclusion and Questions for Future Research
The competition will be held from July 29 to August 12 this year in China, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.
Research Questions
What can Chinese primary sources tell us about how the PLAAF selects and trains what it regards as its elite fighter pilots?
What makes elite fighter pilots different than other pilots in the PLAAF?
How does the PLAAF use domestic competitions (such as the Golden Helmet and Golden Dart) and international competition (such as the Aviadarts in Russia) to showcase the PLAAF's desire to project a more open and confident image at home and abroad?
This report uses Chinese primary sources to provide an overview of how the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) selects and trains what it calls its elite fighter pilots. The PLAAF identifies three groups of pilots as elite pilots. The first comprises 33 pilots who have won the annual Golden Helmet competition at the Dingxin Test and Training Base in Gansu province since 2011; the Golden Helmet is "the supreme contest among Chinese fighter pilots." The second group comprises pilots who belong to the PLAAF's Bayi Aerobatics Team, created in 1962. The third comprises six Su-30 attack pilots, including one Golden Helmet winner, who competed in Russia's Aviadarts 2014 competition for the first time. While each of the three groups competes using existing flight procedures, the lessons learned are reviewed extensively for ways to change existing tactics and combat methods. For example, one of the most important lessons learned has been the PLAAF's desire to move toward less scripted training, which Chinese sources typically refer to as "unrestricted air combat" or "free air combat" training. Official Chinese media reports on the PLAAF's Golden Helmet competition, its participation in the Russian Aviadarts competition, and the Bayi Aerobatics Team's participation in air shows in Russia in 2013 and Malaysia in 2015 appear to reflect a desire on the part of the PLAAF to project a more open and confident image at home and abroad. In 2014, the PLAAF implemented a Golden Dart competition to identify elite ground attack and bomber crews.
Key Findings
Elite Pilots Consist of Three Groups of Pilots in the PLAAF
The first group comprises winners of the annual Golden Helmet competition, which began in 2011.
The second group comprises pilots who participated in the Aviadarts international military aviation competition in 2014.
The third group comprises pilots who are members of the PLAAF's Bayi Aerobatics Team.
The PLAAF's emphasis on the development of fighter "tactics" and "combat methods" and its approach to developing these three groups of elite pilots signifies its determination to pursue further professionalization and enhance the competence of its pilots.
This professionalization and enhancement of competence is no less important to the PLAAF than the modernization of its aircraft, weapons, and equipment.
Recommendation
Future research should continue to trace the PLAAF's refinement of its "tactics" and "combat methods" and how China plans to continue to cultivate its elite pilots.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Introduction
Chapter Two
The PLAAF's Cangzhou and Dingxin Test and Training Bases
Chapter Three
The PLAAF's Golden Helmet Competition
Chapter Four
The PLAAF Participation in Aviadarts and Bayi Aerobatics Team Participation in International Air Shows
Chapter Five
Conclusion and Questions for Future Research
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Photos of the day: J-10B preparing for the "Aviadarts 2017" military competition
YJ-91 Anti-radiation missile
Just in case you are wondering, that is a YJ-91 Ramjet Anti-radiation missile mounting on a J-10A as featured in the movie "Sky Hunter"
YJ-91 is based on the Russian Kh-31, capable of Mach 4.5, tailored for the Chinese "Wild Weasel" A.K.A "Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses", or SEAD missions.
YJ-91 is based on the Russian Kh-31, capable of Mach 4.5, tailored for the Chinese "Wild Weasel" A.K.A "Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses", or SEAD missions.
Here are two YJ-91 on a non-movie JH-7A fighter bomber.
Communist propaganda of the day: "Sky Hunter" China's latest dog-fight acrobatics flick
Starting Fan Bingbing, you know that Transformer and X-men girl.
Friday, July 07, 2017
Baby sister needs attention too!!
People all over the internet are drooling over "Sixteen Candles" starting Molly Ringwald in Hong Kong. Hey now, her baby sister, miss seventeen, needs attention too!! Come on people!
Miss seventeen in Qingdao, 7/7/2017
Miss seventeen in Qingdao, 7/7/2017
Professional PLA article of the day: Recent Developments in the Chinese Army’s Helicopter Force
Recent Developments in the Chinese Army’s Helicopter Force
Publication: China Brief Volume: 17 Issue: 8
By: Dennis J. Blasko
Dennis J. Blasko, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired), is a former U.S. army attaché to Beijing and Hong Kong and author of The Chinese Army Today (Routledge, 2006).
June 9, 2017 09:43 AM
https://jamestown.org/program/recent-developments-chinese-armys-helicopter-force/
In November 2016, Chinese internet sources showed photos of a
ceremony in the (former) 13th Group Army of the People’s Liberation Army
(PLA) Army accepting the 1,000th helicopter into the force (NetEase,
May 23). This nice round number demonstrates the growth of the Army
Aviation Corps over the past decade. Along with Special Operations
Forces (SOF), Army Aviation is one of the “new-type combat forces” given
priority for development. The increase in the number of Army
helicopters accompanies the expansion of the force in the latest round
of reforms. [1] In roughly a month’s time, half of all
Army Aviation units have experienced some sort of organizational change.
However, even as the numbers of helicopters rise, the size of the Army
Aviation force is still small for a ground force that will probably
number around a million personnel by 2020. [2] The
recent changes are an attempt to improve and expand a force that
underpins a number of important capabilities from tactical mobility and
special operations to logistics support.
For rest of the article, please visit Jamestown (here)
Publication: China Brief Volume: 17 Issue: 8
By: Dennis J. Blasko
Dennis J. Blasko, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired), is a former U.S. army attaché to Beijing and Hong Kong and author of The Chinese Army Today (Routledge, 2006).
June 9, 2017 09:43 AM
https://jamestown.org/program/recent-developments-chinese-armys-helicopter-force/
Update: Since the publication of this article, Chinese reporting
on the Army Aviation brigades in the new 74th and 75th Group Armies
indicates that the 74th GA has been formed around units primarily from
the former 42nd GA, not the 41st as previously reported, and the 75th GA
has taken over units from the former 41st GA, instead of the 42nd.
For rest of the article, please visit Jamestown (here)
Photos of the day: The chopper unit "formerly known as" the 7th LH Brigade, 26th Group Army
Soldiers assigned to an army aviation brigade of the PLA 80th Group Army conduct pre-flight inspections on the Z-10 attack helicopters prior to the flight training at a military airfield in east China's Shandong Province on July 2, 2017. (eng.chinamil. Com.cn/Photo by Li Qiguang and Shi Shuailei)
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