The latest promotional video of the Chinese Air Force, 'Above the Sky', has everything you want to watch!

On November 9th, the PLA Integrated Media Center released a promotional video titled "Above the Sky" to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the establishment of the Air Force. The film showcases the first flight times of various combat aircraft models of the Chinese Air Force, starting from the J-5 in 1956, covering multiple models such as the J-6, J-7, H-6, J-20, and Y-20. And in the 30th second, a scene appeared in which a little girl was about to send a package to her father, who was a fighter pilot, on Double Eleven. As soon as the package was opened, the little girl found a unique stealth aircraft model with the emblem of the Chinese Air Force printed on it. The model looked very much like the long-awaited H-20. Is the legendary H-20 really coming?

On November 11, 1949, the Air Force Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was established in Beijing, which also announced that the People's Army has since had the air force, a high-tech service. The People's Air Force not only has many powerful units such as aviation, ground to air missile, anti-aircraft artillery, radar, and airborne troops, but also includes advanced equipment such as fighter jets, bombers, transport planes, drones, and various types of air defense missiles in its combat system. Fighter jets are undoubtedly one of the earliest aerial main combat equipment platforms possessed by the Chinese Air Force.

From imitation to self-developed

In 1953, the People's Republic of China began implementing its first five-year plan, during which the Chinese aviation industry was required to develop and produce China's first jet fighter. This move also marked the shift of the Chinese aviation industry, which had previously focused on repairing Soviet fighter jets, towards the responsibility of developing and manufacturing domestically produced fighter jets. Later, after more than a year of trial production work for the localization of the MiG-15, due to the advice of Soviet experts that we should imitate the more advanced MiG-17F fighter jet, we changed the imitation object of the first generation domestic jet fighter jet to the MiG-17F fighter jet after obtaining the drawings and corresponding production lines and process equipment provided by the Soviet Union. On July 19, 1956, the prototype of China's first jet fighter, which was imitated and produced by Factory 112, successfully flew in Shenyang Hongtun Airport, which also marked that the Chinese people began to have the ability to produce domestic jet fighters. At that time, this aircraft was called the "56" fighter, and it was changed to the name of the J-5 fighter in 1964.

Of course, the J-5 series fighter jets only belonged to the category of the first generation subsonic jet fighters in terms of technology. At that time, advanced fighter jets from countries such as the United States had already entered the supersonic era. On October 15, 1957, China and the former Soviet Union signed a corresponding agreement, in which the former Soviet Union provided China with a complete set of production technology for the MiG-19C fighter jet capable of supersonic flight. Subsequently, the Chinese aviation industry began to replicate and produce the MiG-19C fighter jet. However, due to the aviation industry's pursuit of speed in the replication and production of the MiG-19C fighter jet at that time, many objective scientific aspects of technology were ignored, resulting in the initial imitations of the "Dongfeng-103" and "Dongfeng-103" and "Dongfeng-100". Both aircraft have many technical flaws and drawbacks, Even after being delivered to the troops, there were cases of returning to the factory for repairs. Therefore, on December 21, 1960, Marshal He Long, then Vice Premier of the State Council, decided to shut down and rectify the 112 Factory that produced the MiG-19C fighter jet, and put forward the requirements of "cutting off everything and completely revolutionizing" and "being honest and meticulous", allowing the 112 Factory to reproduce and produce the MiG-19C fighter jet. On September 23, 1963, after several years of preparation, the first prototype of the domestically produced supersonic fighter based on the MiG-19C fighter jet successfully made its maiden flight. On December 5 of the same year, the fighter jet, known as the J-6, was officially finalized and began to be equipped with the Chinese Air Force combat units in 1964.

After entering the new century, the fighter jets of world powers such as the United States began to enter the era of the fourth generation stealth fighter jets. In such a realistic context, the Chinese Air Force keenly feels that in order to remain invincible in future air battles, we must also have our own fourth generation fighter jets. Therefore, starting from this demand, China's aviation industry has also begun the process of developing the fourth generation stealth fighter. On January 11, 2011, the prototype of China's fourth generation stealth fighter J-20, codenamed "718" project, successfully made its maiden flight, and its overall development unit is still under the responsibility of Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group Corporation. On March 9, 2017, CCTV reported that the J-20 fighter jet had officially entered the Chinese Air Force's sequence. Since then, the J-20 has become the first fourth generation stealth fighter jet equipped by the Chinese Air Force, and has also ushered the Chinese Air Force into the era of fourth generation stealth heavy fighters after the 2010s. At the same time, the emergence and equipment of the J-20 have made China the second country in the world to officially equip a fourth generation stealth heavy fighter jet and have the capability to develop such a fighter jet.

2021 is the first year for the Chinese Air Force to enter the strategic air force. In August of this year, Colonel Shen Jinke, spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army Air Force, stated that the Chinese Air Force has historically crossed the threshold of a strategic air force. Prior to this, only the United States and Russia had recognized strategic level air forces in the world, indicating the high threshold of this "threshold".

Yang Yujie, a researcher at the Air Force Research Institute, once stated that the threshold for a strategic air force is not simply determined by which type of fighter jet or weapon system it is. It is the common result of the air force possessing strategic attributes in terms of mission, capability, and effectiveness. Generally speaking, equipment is the foundation, but more importantly, capability. The Chinese Air Force has been established for 72 years, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and has been committed to the four dimensions of unity, system, capability, and foundation, achieving qualitative improvement. In recent years, with the support of the "20" series, the Air Force's leap forward is evident to all.

Entering the threshold "means that the Air Force has the ability to carry out strategic deterrence, air and space defense, long-range strikes, seize control of air power, strategic delivery, and support for land and sea operations, fully assuming the strategic tasks assigned by the country. In terms of equipment system, combat capability, logistics support, personnel quality, etc., it has taken on the preliminary form of a" space and air integrated, offensive and defensive "strategic Air Force.

And November 11th is the 72nd anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Air Force. In fact, the US media paid special attention to this day and expressed that China may have new equipment unveiled on this day as a tribute to the 72nd anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Air Force. Previously, the Pentagon claimed that over the past 20 years, the United States has consistently underestimated China's ability to rapidly deploy new aircraft. And it stated that the Pentagon is closely monitoring China's development of a new medium to long range stealth bomber for striking regional and global targets.

If the H-20 can make its debut this time, the members of the Chinese Air Force's 20 family will be complete, and we will become the third strategic bomber with long-range strike capability after the United States and Russia. In one more day, the answer to this mystery will be revealed. I'm afraid that by then, if China's H-20 really shows up, the United States will once again say that China is a "threat". Perhaps in the eyes of the United States, the H-20 is indeed a 'threat'. However, for us, the H-20 is a significant deterrent to all ambitious countries.

Source: Military Black Technology