Chinese Naval Air Force Conducts Live Fire Drill over South China Sea

An air force division under the South China Sea Fleet of the Chinese PLA Navy has conducted live-fire combat drills on waters and isles in the South China Sea from Tuesday through Thursday.

The division has flown scores of sorties by the latest model of fighter jets which combine to have fired hundreds of missiles and bombs on targets in water and on land.

The aerial drill is held against the backdrop of at-sea battle between the Red and Blue Corners. Air support is called in from the Red Corner to get the air domination and support the Red Corner surface warships by launching attacks from air.

After taking off from a Hainan airport, the fighter jets fly very low maneuvers and in radio silence for long distance until dashing into firing range with enemy warships.

Faced with strong electromagnetic jamming and interference from the enemy quarter, the Red Corner fighter jets have changed their in-flight mode and their radar frequency to search for and lock on enemy targets.

With the backup from their wingman jets, the lead fighter jets have charged from high altitude to launch attack against enemy surface warships. During the entire attack mission, the Red Corner fighter jets have to use various means like twisting sharp-angle roll-overs and releasing decoy flares to dodge and foil enemy missile counter-attacks. When Blue Corner interceptors are also in the sky, the Red Corner fighter jets climb to above the clouds before launching precision attacks against enemy planes and their overland commands.

[brettconv]

The Chinese fighters are nothing but big targets for an F22 or F16