Of all the warplanes in China’s rapidly growing air arsenal, it was an older model that sent shock waves across the region earlier this month.
A rare stand-off between Chinese and Japanese fighter jets took place near the Miyako Strait northeast of Taiwan. The incident brought the Shenyang J-15 carrier-based fighter jet, which has been in service for more than a decade, back into the spotlight.
Japan said J-15 fighter jets, launched from the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning, twice engaged their fire control radars to lock on to its F-15 fighter jets on December 6, the second time for about half an hour. The move is considered a tactical precursor to missile engagement.
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It was the first time that Japan had publicly accused Chinese military aircraft of using fire control radar to lock onto its targets, indicating a possible weapons lock-on. In 2016, Japanese fighter jets reportedly locked onto Chinese aircraft they had encountered.
In this month’s incident, Beijing said Japanese fighter jets had flown too close to the PLA’s aircraft carrier fleet, disturbing Chinese military naval exercises.
Each country accused the other of provocation, and in the aftermath, it was the mainstay Chinese carrier-based fighter jet that again attracted attention.
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