Back in Aug 20th 2024, the PLA Daily Chinese Edition published (link) a rather plain, run-of-the-mill article with nothing specific about an Aviation Brigade, North Theater Command conducting drills under summer heat. And I translate:
"In midsummer, an aviation brigade of the Air Force in the Northern Theater Command conducted multiple batches of high-intensity flight training around simulated confrontation, live-fire shooting and other subjects.
After the tower issued the order, several fighter planes slid out, roared into the sky, and flew to the training airspace.
Above the clouds, the red and blue sides formed attack formations to conduct air combat training. The blue pilot was the first to spot the target, adjust his attitude and prepare to attack. The red pilots evaded urgently and got out of the predicament... locked, escaped, and counterattacked. After several transitions between offense and defense, the red wingman pilots seized the opponent's tactical loopholes and decisively carried out simulated strikes"
After further digging, the unit mentioned in the article is identified as the 3rd Aviation Brigade, North Theater Command. A proud PLAAF unit whose roots may be traced back to the PLAAF's founding and saw actions during the Korea War as elements of the "1st Division" then became 3rd Regiment, 1st Fighter Aviation Division, in May 1970. The 3rd Regiment was outfitted with J-8II fighters in the 1980s; however, in contrast to her sister regiment, the 1st, the 3rd was never given the Su-27 or J-11 as an intermediate. In September 2018 (link), the 3rd swapped its J-8II to the J-16, thus skipping a generation.
Beginning in early 2010 and ending around 2018, the 3rd Regiment, 1st Fighter Aviation Division was upgraded as the 3rd Aviation Brigade, organic to the North Theater Command. "The 1st Fighter Division HQ is dead, long live the 1st Fighter Division HQ"
Photos copied from the PLA Daily article (here)
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