Time： 2024-08-18
韦克威科技
The J-10C defeated the J-16 and won the "Golden Helmet", but the heavy twin engine fighter plane couldn't beat the medium single engine fighter!
The results of the "Golden Helmet" award in the annual flight skills competition of the Chinese Air Force have been announced, and it was won by the J-10C of the Southern Theater Command's "Big Red Eagle" unit. This result is quite unexpected, as the J-10C won the simulated confrontation competition against the J-16!According to the generational division of Chinese fighter jets, both the J-10C and J-16 are three and a half generations. The former is a medium single engine, while the latter is a heavy twin engine. From a common sense perspective, it is quite rare for heavy aircraft to lose to medium-sized aircraft, which also provides new materials for military enthusiasts to discuss the PK of different aircraft models.The "Golden Helmet" award is a competitive assessment award established by the Chinese Air Force. For Air Force fighter pilots, the "Golden Helmet" is considered the highest honor and a prize for the winner of the competition - a pilot helmet made of gold, red, and blue.
The battle for the "Golden Helmet" originated from the training concept of "free air combat". This training mode aims to achieve true "aerial assassination" through technical means without script or rehearsal, in order to enhance the pilot's aerial combat ability. Both the United States and Russia have similar air combat training, among which the US military's "Red Flag Exercise" and its "Red Flag Squadron" are well-known.In 2011, the Chinese Air Force organized a competitive assessment of aerial combat, with over 100 pilots from more than 10 aviation regiments competing fiercely. Eventually, 5 pilots were awarded the "Golden Helmets". From then on, the honor of the Chinese Air Force's "Golden Helmet" began to enter people's sight.In 2018, the J-16 and J-10C participated in the Golden Helmet competition for the first time. This competition is divided into two major groups: the third and a half generation group and the third generation group. The J-16 and J-10C fighter jets are designated as the third and a half generation fighter jets, and this is also the first time that the confrontation between the three and a half generation fighter jets has appeared in the "Golden Helmet" competition. In the end, the J-16 won the championship in the third and a half generation, while the J-11B won the championship in the third generation.At the age of only 27, Gu Chenyu, a pilot from a certain brigade of the Eastern Theater Command Air Force Air Force, piloted the J-16 and won the victory, becoming the youngest Golden Helmet winner and regarded as an outstanding young pilot. His girlfriend is a maintenance engineer for the J-16, as shown in the picture above. Their love story is widely circulated.Three years later, the J-10C won over the J-16, with the winner coming from the Southern Theater Command's Red Eagle unit. This aviation brigade was nicknamed the "Red Eagle" brigade due to the Chinese character "131" painted on its fuselage.The "Great Red Eagle" Brigade is undoubtedly the "J-10 First Brigade", and its equipment replacement history is the development history of the J-10 series fighter jets.In 2004, the Air Force entrusted the task of retrofitting the J-10 fighter jet to the "Big Red Eagle". In 2009, an upgraded version of this fighter jet was installed again. In 2016, we embarked on a new starting point and began mass retrofitting the third-generation and semi J-10C fighter jets.The Dahongying Brigade has pioneered the first sea breakthrough, first ultra-low altitude assault, first aerial refueling, first high-altitude night training, and first long sea endurance exploration and practical training of the J-10 series fighter jets. They have researched and innovated a large number of new training and combat methods, filling over a hundred gaps in the combat training field of this type of fighter jet.It can be said that no one is more skilled in piloting the J-10 than the pilots of the Great Red Eagle Brigade.J-10C painted with "Big Red Eagle" livery
The official has released the key details of this confrontation:Firstly, the J-16 fighter jet utilizes the aircraft's climbing advantage to raise altitude in advance, taking advantage of the larger nose diameter, larger radar aperture, longer detection range, and stronger acceleration capability of the aircraft to launch missiles in advance. This is also the biggest advantage of the aircraft.But the J-10C received a missile warning and made timely evasion, causing the opponent's Thunderbolt 15 missile to fail.In the second attack, both sides engaged in close range air combat, even reaching the non escape zone of the Thunderbolt 15 missile. However, after some fighting, the J-10C successfully suppressed the enemy using its mobility advantage and simulated shooting down the opponent.Both are advanced main fighter jets of the Chinese Air Force, and the performance and data of the J-16 and J-10C have been repeatedly compared.The biggest advantage of the J-16 compared to the J-10C is its two engines, which naturally provide much more power than the J-10C. This also allows the J-16 to have a longer range than the J-10C, and represents that the J-16 can carry more ammunition.However, as a heavy fighter jet, the J-16's size makes it less agile than the J-10C. If the J-16 and J-10C engage in close range aerial combat, the J-10C, with its flexibility in size, is likely to surpass the J-16 by half.Once it enters beyond visual range flight, the J-16 will have a clear advantage, which is also related to its size.Because in beyond visual range flight, both sides engage in aerial combat, and whoever can detect the other side first is the key to determining victory or defeat. Due to its larger size, the J-16 has a radar diameter of 1 meter, while the J-10C has a radar diameter of only 0.65 meters. The radar diameter is related to the power of the radar, and the larger the diameter, the greater the power. This also allows the J-16 to detect the enemy first, seize the opportunity, and launch attacks first during beyond visual range flight.In addition, the avionics system of the J-16 is slightly stronger than that of the J-10C, because when the J-16 was developed, its avionics system had already integrated the essence of stealth fighters, while the J-10C seemed to have little intention in this regard.So, apart from close combat, the performance of the J-16 is slightly stronger than that of the J-10C in other aspects.And in this Golden Helmet competition, the J-10C ultimately won in close combat.The biggest highlight of the J-10 fighter jet is its powerful hovering, turning, and rolling accuracy. Close combat is very terrifying, but if the first one is not won, it is easy to fall into passive energy and the possibility of failure is high.Taking into account these advantages and disadvantages, in actual combat, opponents definitely do not want to play close range with the J-10C, and have a better chance of winning by long-range mid-range harassment.In addition, the J-10C's attack on the J-16 is a "civil war" where both sides' electronic warning systems will obtain real-time key information about the opponent, as well as missile attack warnings. These information will appear in real time without false alarms, which is a fully open map gameplay with insufficient authenticity. This is enough to offset the missile range advantage of the J-16.Moreover, both pilots have a clear understanding of the hit characteristics and how to avoid them for the Thunderbolt 15 or Thunderbolt 10 missiles. There is a relatively fixed timing pattern from the moment the other side locks in the launch, which is also a major drawback. If fighting against a foreign country, it is completely different.Chinese Air Force Three Musketeers: J-10C, J-16, J-20There is a clear comparison between these two types of fighter jets: price.According to foreign media analysis, the cost of a J-16 ranges from $80 million to $85 million, while the export version of the J-10C was priced at $40 million at the Dubai Airshow, with supporting equipment costing around $50 million.Since the price of J-16 is almost twice that of J-10C, this question is often raised: can one J-16 deal with two J-10C? Military enthusiasts generally believe that two J-10C fighter jets combined cannot defeat one J-16 fighter jet.So the result of the Golden Helmet this time is surprising. Although it is a rare event in extreme situations, it also shows that the combat effectiveness of weapons is not simply a pile of paper data. Improving the pilot's technical and tactical level, utilizing the fighter's performance to the extreme, can also have a surprising effect.Source: Military Black Technology
