Stealth fighters steal the show
Print Edition
TWO of China’s J-20 stealth fighters yesterday swept over a gasping crowd at the Zhuhai air show.
The fighters appeared in the sky just after a colorful aerobatics show by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.
With no fanfare but an abrupt announcement by the master of ceremonies, the jets flew side by side over the sun-baked spectators. Two minutes later one blasted vertically into the sky and the jets were gone.
This year’s Zhuhai exhibition, the largest yet in the city in south China’s Guangdong Province, features an array of made-in-China military technology including assault vehicles, anti-aircraft missile systems, drones and fighter jets.
Two huge exhibition rooms showcased the latest sea, land, and drone-based defense systems on giant screens, with enemy ships and aircraft as targets. Tourists posed next to missile launchers and atomic clocks used to control the country’s Beidou satellite navigation system.
China’s only international aerospace expo, the Zhuhai event has become a key platform for top global aerospace firms to hawk their wares for a share of the booming aircraft market in the world’s second-largest economy.
China is projected to become the world’s largest aviation market by 2024, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Boeing and Airbus are in competition to win Chinese customers for their aircraft, while homegrown national champions COMAC and AVIC aim to capture market share for Chinese firms.
President Xi Jinping has declared aerospace one of the target industries for his “Made in China 2025” plan to make the country’s firms capable of dethroning foreign competitors.
On Monday the president of state aerospace company AVIC — maker of the J-20 — said the firm had annual overseas earnings exceeding 80 billion yuan (US$11.8 billion) and declared its “sacred mission” to serve the country, carry out the strategic plan of the Communist Party, and “closely unite around the core leadership of Comrade Xi Jinping.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
