China In Arms BOOKSTORE and GIFT SHOP!
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6 October 2024 (Sunday)
Zhuhai 2024 Begins in November
15th Airshow China (12-17 November)
By Wendell Minnick (Whiskey Mike) 顏文德
TAIPEI - China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) will unveil a new fighter aircraft at this year’s show. The type is a mystery, but the J-20 was unveiled at the show in 2016 and the J-31 showed up at the 2014 show.
Lieutenant General Yu Qingjiang (俞庆江), PLAAF Deputy Commander, made the announcement in September. Whether it will be a static display or a fly-over is uncertain. It could very well be a large model, which the PLAAF has done before with both the J-20 and J-31.
China military watchers expect the unveiling of the next-generation stealth H-20 bomber in the near future, but Yu said the aircraft was not ready for debut.
In September, the new fighter, quoting Yu, is based on the FC-31. The state-controlled Global Times stated that it could be the carrier-based variant of the stealth next-generation J-31, dubbed the J-35.
I believe it could actually be the J-26 Vertical and/or Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL) fighter that China In Arms wrote about at this Link. But I like to challenge the obvious…as it will probably be the carrier-borne J-35.
But, for the sake of argument in favor of the J-26, for fun, consult this Youtube exploratory video:
Though I will not be able to attend this year, I have the honor of having one of the highest records of show attendance for Zhuhai amongst my defense journalist peers.
There are only a couple of peers that have been more times. My record of attendance: 2006, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 (x5), reflects a miscalculation in not going to the 2018 by a hair (short a US $1,000 to make the trip), and the rest were knocked out by Covid.
Why so few? It is not easy to get into China as a foreign journalist, particularly ones who rub shoulders with spooks, arms dealers, and Pentagon types. The J-Visa application is easy to fill out, but the arduous part is the wait while they convince themselves you are not a threat.
From 2006 to 2016 it went from a one-day show, basically a lemonade stand, to the largest airshow in Asia; even the awesome Singapore Airshow is a weak competitor to the awesome firepower on display at Zhuhai
But Airshow China is a tough show to attend. You are not considered, necessarily, a journalist, but a potential spy. So scrutiny is intense and when I attended in the past I found myself photographed to the point of annoyance by a two-man surveillance team.
ABOVE/BELOW: Note that a surveillance team often wear the same shoes, watches, etc. This is true all over the world, even in Taiwan, so they are easily identified. Photographs by Wendell Minnick, Airshow China 2016.
Though the 2024 show will still struggle to reflect the grand days of pre-Covid, the show has grown from an airshow to a tri-defense expo that now includes the army and navy, not to forget an abundance of unmanned aerial vehicles.
FYI to my subscribers, please consider these publications on China’s military:
Chinese Air-Launched Weapons & Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting Pods (2019)
Chinese Army Vehicles: Armored Personnel Vehicles, Trucks and Logistics Support Vehicles (2019)
Chinese C4I/EW (Vol. 1) (2022) Volume 1.
Chinese C4I/EW (Vol. 2) (2022) Volume 2.
Chinese Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (2016) Note this is Volume 1.
Chinese Rocket Systems: Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (2016)
Chinese Rotary/VTOL Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (2016) Volume 1.
Chinese Seaplanes, Amphibious Aircraft and Aerostats/Airships (2016)
More Chinese Fixed Wing UAVs (2019) Volume 2.
More Chinese Rotary & VTOL UAVs (2019) Volume 2.
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