Starting in the 1970s, our country began to prepare to order a batch of advanced fighter aircraft to drive the advancement of domestic fighter aircraft and increase the upper limit of the development of the air force. . Because the Mirage 3 fighter jets achieved very impressive results in the Middle East war . Therefore, what I initially focused on was the French Mirage 3 fighter.
But after arriving in France, I discovered the more advanced Mirage 2000 fighter jet. In the early 1980s, a Chinese delegation went to France to test the performance of Mirage 2000 fighter jets. Throughout the test flight process, the excellent performance of the Mirage 2000 brought great shock to our country's test pilots.
However, in the last negotiation, it was found that the French's asking price was very high. A Mirage 2000 fighter jet costs US$20 million. At that time, our country needed 200 new fighter jets, which would cost US$6 billion in procurement costs. Moreover, the maintenance costs of French fighter jets are relatively high because of low production and shortage of spare parts.
Subsequently, our country looked at the second choice, the F-16 fighter jet recommended by the Americans. On September 24, 1987, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds aerobatic team visited China with U.S. Air Force Secretary Aldridge, specifically to promote the F-16 fighter aircraft to us. At that time, when we saw it, we immediately fell in love with this very beautiful and powerful light fighter.
And in the 1980s, the F-15 and F-16 fighters of the Israeli Air Force achieved a god-level record of 0:87 in the Bekaa Valley. Therefore, tests of F-16 fighter jets were quickly organized.
However, in the end, the United States could only provide the monkey version of the F-16 fighter equipped with the J79 engine. All of a sudden, the F-16 fighter's maneuverability, range and air-staying capabilities will be significantly reduced. It can only focus on trans/subsonic air combat mobility, almost giving up the performance requirements for supersonic air combat and interception, and basically does not have the ability to intercept Soviet high-speed bombers.
Until 1990, the Soviet delegation came. The Soviets wanted to promote Su-25 attack aircraft , Su-24 fighter-bombers, MiG-29 fighters and An-72 short-distance take-off and landing transport aircraft, etc., which were relatively advanced at the time. airplane.
At that time, -6 were flying all over the sky, -7 was considered high-end, -8 was the national treasure, and MiG-29 could kill any of our fighter planes. The MiG-29 fighter jet is already a very high-end choice. It is a cheap and advanced front-line fighter. India finally chose the MiG-29 fighter because of these two advantages.
The MiG-29 is not outstanding at all. In addition to its short range, the effective air-to-air range used in the 1990s was only 10 kilometers. At the same time, the prototype of the American F-22 stealth fighter made its first flight in 1990, the F-117 was in service and participated in actual combat, and the MiG-29 was weak against the F-4F, let alone the more advanced F-16 fighter. That’s why people like India spend a lot of money to order.
Finally, when our military delegation inspected the Soviet Union, they discovered the Su-27 fighter jet. At that time, there were only three heavy-duty fighters in the world, the F-14, F-15 and Su-27 fighters. Although our army has never been equipped with heavy fighters, it is equipped with light fighters such as , J5, J6 and J7.
However, we also know that heavy fighters are a good thing, especially since our country has a vast territory, heavy fighters are a necessity. If the area that 200 Su-27 fighters can cover is covered by short-legged MiG-29 fighters, it will take several times the number to fill it. Moreover, the Su-27 has a long range and a large bomb load, and can perform cover missions for the navy.
Moreover, the air defense identification zone depends on the range of the fighter . If it relies on the MiG-29 fighter, it will be an airport defender. Therefore, our army finally determined the Su-27 fighter, and then introduced the Su-27 production line, which gave rise to the J-11 fighter. Now, our country already has the largest flanker family in the world.
In fact, when the Soviet Union sold weapons at that time, they all sold monkey version . There will be as many pitfalls as there are pitfalls. However, what our country bought was actually taken directly from the active military. Because the Soviet Union's economy was already failing at that time, after the establishment of Russia, Yeltsin simply sold all the production lines to us.
The most interesting thing is that our country also used the engine of the Su-27 fighter to finally solve the problem of the long-term lack of suitable engines for the J-10 fighter. The aerodynamic shape of the J-10 was also modified for this purpose. Since then, our country has also had an advanced medium-sized fighter, the J-10 fighter.
