The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Many of the older generation were extremely excited at this moment.

They recalled their youth, from the 1950s to the 1980s, when the Chinese Air Force's equipment was relatively backward.

In fact, it was not that bad in the 1950s and the gap was not that big, because the Soviet Union provided jet fighters that were no worse than those of the United States.

But later on, they could only rely on their own research and development, but the aviation industry at that time was too weak!
At that time, the J-7 and J-8 fighters were considered the most advanced domestic fighter jets, but compared with military powers, they were far behind, at least more than years later.

Main battle tanks, fighter jets, bombers, warships and other advanced weapons and equipment have never been available for purchase whenever you want.

At that time, there was no company like Panshan Group that dared to sell as long as money was paid.

It was not until later, with the birth of the J-10 and J-11 fighter jets, that China caught up with the world's advanced level in fighter jets. From then on, it meant that China had advanced domestically produced fighter jets that could defend China's airspace.

It is also thanks to the rapid development of China's aviation industry that it has the advanced performance of the Eagle advanced trainer aircraft and the J-7 and J-8 modified aircraft, which have reached the second-generation and a half level.

As of now, China no longer has any fighter jets produced before 1995. As for the J-5 and J-6, they have long been retired from service, and there are only a few left in the entire China.

Even the second-generation and a half J-7 and J-8 modifications, as long as they are not the latest modifications, are produced mainly for export.

After entering the millennium, the Chinese Air Force has been an air force with third-generation fighter jets as its main force. The third-generation fighter jets defend China's airspace in the air.

As for the original J-5, J-6, J-7, J-8 and other aircraft, they were exported in large quantities to many Asian, African and Latin American countries.

Now, the J-20 fighter jet is one of the world's most advanced fourth-generation fighter jets, and its performance even exceeds that of the F22 fighter jet that is about to be put into service in the United States.

No wonder this fighter jet was named "Weilong", which means the mighty dragon!
Liu Tao, Yang Wei and others cut the ribbon for the J-20 fighter jet, and then everyone came to the front of the J-20 fighter jet and took a group photo.

As can be seen from the photos, the J-20 fighter jet is huge, majestic and powerful.

In fact, the size of the J-20 fighter is similar to that of the J-11 fighter. It is equipped with more advanced aviation engines and more advanced radar systems, but its weight is nearly 11 kilograms lighter than the J-500 fighter.

Liu Tao was in the middle of the front row, and Yang Wei was standing next to him.

Next, everyone entered the cockpit of the J-20 fighter jet to learn about the avionics system of this advanced domestically-produced stealth fighter, which is indeed very advanced.

After the J-20 fighter jet rolling off the production line ceremony, except for a few people who left for personal matters, more people stayed in Guizhou Aircraft Industry Group to visit the 011 Aviation Base and also to participate in the first flight of the J-20 fighter jet three days later.

Yes, the J-20 fighter jet is about to make its maiden flight just after it rolled off the production line. This is because Guizhou Aircraft Industry Group has strong confidence and dares to do so.

The first test pilot, Li Hua, is very young, only 30 years old this year, but he is already an excellent test pilot. He has flown more than 7 aircrafts, including the J-8 modified, J-10 modified, J-11 series fighters, J-20 series fighters, etc. He is also a member of the J-20 fighter development team. He only has two days to get familiar with the J-20 fighter prototype. In three days, he will fly the J- fighter prototype to perform the first flight mission.

Liu Tao and others came to a production workshop where the KJ-2000 prototype was being produced and built.

At present, China's domestically produced early warning aircraft include KJ-200, KJ-500, KJ-600 and KJ-2000.

KJ-200 is an AWACS aircraft independently developed by China with independent intellectual property rights. The aircraft has undergone rigorous testing, testing, flight trials and trials. It is technologically advanced, safe and reliable, can be used in all weather conditions and in all areas, can take off and land on rough and soft field airports or ground, and has a wide range of applications; it has a large fuel capacity, low hourly fuel consumption rate, and strong endurance; it has high efficiency, clear and understandable flight information; it has a high level of flight automation, low control force, low crew workload, and a cabin environment suitable for personnel work, with high ergonomics.

空警200的平台乃是运9，雷达的方位扫描角度为300度，有源相控阵加多普勒雷达制式，有对海和对空搜索模式。S波段最大探测距离450公里，对5平方米的空中目标（F15和苏27）最大探测距离为280公里。对海搜索距离为300公里，巡航高度为8000米。

The aircraft's maximum flight altitude is 2 meters, the data update rate is 10 seconds, the maximum range is 5500 kilometers, and the hovering time is 8 hours.

China is equipped with one KJ-1, and the others are mainly exported, such as to South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America.

KJ-500 is a new, medium-sized, all-weather, multi-sensor airborne early warning and command and control aircraft, mainly responsible for air patrol and command and control tasks. It is also based on the Y-9 and uses the world's leading digital phased array radar technology. Compared with the current large early warning radars, it has greatly reduced its weight and radar antenna caliber, but has achieved a significant improvement in intelligence processing and anti-interference capabilities.

The Air Force is currently equipped with four KJ-500s, and will mainly focus on export in the future.

KJ-600 is an early warning aircraft developed by China specifically for aircraft carriers. It is currently China's most advanced carrier-based early warning aircraft.

KJ-2000 is a large early warning aircraft independently developed by China. It is based on the Il-76 and is equipped with a new phased array radar, a dish antenna, a supercomputer, a console and software. The aircraft can achieve 360-degree all-round coverage and is particularly good at detecting high-speed air or sea targets. It can track 300 targets at the same time, with a detection range of 800 kilometers, a high-altitude detection range of 1650 kilometers, and a speed of 850 kilometers per hour.

The one in front of you is the first modified KJ-2000.

As for the more advanced airborne early warning aircraft, we will have to wait until the Y-20 strategic transport aircraft is put into service before we can start developing it.

Prior to this, China's large airborne early warning aircraft were mainly Soviet-made early warning aircraft purchased in the 90s. However, even the A50 early warning aircraft could not meet the needs of the Air Force. This was because the Soviet Union was relatively backward in the development of electronics.

Panshan Group is responsible for upgrading and modifying the A50 airborne early warning aircraft, as well as developing the KJ-76 airborne early warning aircraft based on the Il-2000 transport aircraft.

In this regard, Panshan Group also spent a lot of effort to complete the upgrade and transformation of the A50 airborne early warning aircraft and develop the KJ-2000.

As a multiplier of the Air Force, this large airborne early warning aircraft can bring amazing improvements to the combat effectiveness of the Air Force.

The air force of a major country cannot be without large airborne early warning aircraft.

A KJ-2000 like this one would cost almost 10 billion RMB, which is very expensive. (End of this chapter)