The most advanced Chinese fighter plane to date made its public debut at the biennial China Air Show here this week, and it was an impressive sight. The pilot wowed onlookers with a series of maneuvers reminiscent of "Top Gun," including sharp turns, a near-vertical climb and a 360-degree rotation. The plane, dubbed the J-10, is the centerpiece of Beijing's military aerospace program. The message is clear: China's military is arriving, and fast.
The biennial air show in this southern city is unique because it's the closest glimpse most people can get of China's secretive aerospace aspirations. Even then, it's an imperfect window. Some of the models displayed might be more aspirational than practical, and there's a strong likelihood the military holds back especially interesting material. U.S.-based defense analyst Richard D. Fisher likens the Zhuhai event to a "clear view through a key hole."
Still, it's instructive. More technology is on display this year than ever before. The J-10 -- China's answer to the F-16 -- is the star. The Pentagon notes the J-10's utility in "anti-access/area-denial," or keeping the enemy out of a particular patch of land, sea or air. Its body is modeled on Israel's Lavi fighter program of the 1980s (the similarities are obvious, though both sides deny it) and it has, for now at least, a Russian engine. The Chinese are developing their own Taihang turbofan engine for the J-10, and after more than a decade of trials, a model of the Taihang is also on display in Zhuhai this week.
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