The PLAAF/PLANAF do, of course, use Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) pods. It is the same real‑time telemetry and simulated‑weapons pods every modern air force relies on to make air‑combat training measurable instead of anecdotal. They track positional data, maneuver geometry, missile shots, gun envelopes, and feed it all back for real‑time kill calls and post‑sortie reconstruction.
What’s been missing in the open source world is a clean, unambiguous photo of a PLAAF/PLANAF ACMI pod in service. Those have been notoriously hard to find until now. Below is one of the first clear public images/screen captures of a PLAAF ACMI pod mounted on two naval J-11BSH, the familiar missile‑shaped training round that bolts onto a standard hardpoint with no aircraft mods required. It’s a small piece of hardware, but a critical one: no modern air force trains seriously without it.
For readers who want to go deeper than hardware spotting and into how the PLAAF actually trains, organizes, and evaluates its aviators, there’s no better guide than Kenneth W. Allen. He remains the most meticulous Western researcher on PLAAF organization, personnel systems, training institutions, and the grade structure that quietly governs everything the PLAAF does. If you want to understand PLAAF training as an institution rather than a collection of aircraft, Allen is the starting point. Some of his works are found here (link)
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