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In the past two days, photos of the China-UAE joint air force exercise were exposed. The UAE came to China to participate in the exercise with the French Mirage 2000-9 fighter jets. The Chinese Air Force dispatched the J-10C and J-16. Some people say that the UAE's deployment of the Mirage 2000-9 is equivalent to serving as a sparring partner for the PLA, which can help us accumulate more experience to deal with similar Taiwanese and Indian forces.fighterIn fact, from a technical point of view, the J-10C and J-16 are half a generation ahead of the Mirage-2000-9. Such joint training can only enhance the military exchanges and mutual trust between the two sides and provide opportunities for China to promote its military to the UAE.Stealth FighterLay the foundation. Because the PLA no longer has any pressure to deal with Mirage-2000-9, and does not need any experience.

The Eagle series of air force exercises held by the Chinese and Pakistani air forces are not only a reflection of the strategic mutual trust between the two militaries, but have also been considered an important reason why Pakistan finally purchased the J-10CE. Therefore, many military fans also want to see if there will be any interesting things happening in the fighter jet transaction level after the "Falcon Shield-2024" air exercise held by the UAE Air Force and the Chinese Air Force in Xinjiang.

Currently, the UAE Air Force has a total of 59 new and old Mirage 2000s and 78 F-16E/Fs. Due to the age of the equipment, it needs to be replaced with new fighter jets. The UAE itself is a fairly wealthy country, so it once applied to the United States to purchase F-35 fighter jets, and was approved when Trump was in power. After Biden came to power, Washington used security reasons as an excuse to ask the UAE to cancel the 5G communication network construction contract signed with China, and eventually the two sides broke down in the F-35 deal negotiations. The UAE soon signed a contract with France to purchase 80 Rafales, but deliveries have not yet begun. However, everyone can see that the UAE wants to become the first Arab country in the Middle East to own a stealth fighter, and this wish is still difficult to achieve, or in other words, there is almost no other choice but to purchase stealth fighters from China. After the UAE purchased the L-15 advanced combat trainer from China, the outside world speculated that the country would purchase China's FC-31, and some foreign media even speculated that it would buyJ-20。

From another perspective, the UAE needs to equip about 60 stealth fighters after 2030 to form a high-low air combat system with the Rafale, helping the country to compete for leadership among Arab countries.

In fact, the exchanges between the Chinese and UAE air forces will help China to increase its understanding of Western fighter jets, and more importantly, let the UAE feel the power of China's new generation combat system. So, what kind of gap can the UAE feel from the Chinese air force?

1. The suppression of non-stealth fighters by semi-stealth fighters. The J-10C with its clamshell air intake is a typical semi-stealth fighter. In addition, it is equipped with an active phased array radar, which can give it a crushing technical advantage over the Mirage 2000 in beyond-visual-range air combat.

2. Gallium Nitride in the J-16radarThis can prove the decisive role of radar in air combat. Another major factor affecting fighter air combat is the capability of radar. The J-16 not only has radar technology two generations ahead of the Mirage-2000, but also has a larger nose diameter, and its advantage in situational awareness is very obvious. It can be said that as long as there are a few battles, the UAE people will feel the strength of China's electronic industry, and this is not bragging.

3. The range advantage of China's air-to-air missiles. The Mirage-2000-9 is equipped with the Mica air-to-air missile, which is completely crushed by the PL-15. In addition, the combination of the PL-10 and the helmet display has a great off-axis launch capability in close combat, which the Mirage-2000-9 does not have.

Fourth, A-shooting and B-guiding under data link guidance will be something new that the UAE Air Force has never seen. The cooperation between the fighter jets of the Chinese Air Force is now often played with A-shooting and B-guiding. For example, the J-10C uses its stealth advantage to launch missiles, and then the J-16 acts as a wingman to guide the air-to-air missiles to hit the target, giving full play to the range advantage of the missiles to achieve an asymmetric first-fire and zero-loss engagement situation.

5. If the Chinese Air Force is deployedAWACS, which can better reflect the systematic combat style of future air combat, and the PLA has an absolute advantage in this regard. China has the world's most advanced KJ-500, while the UAE only has the "Global Eye" early warning aircraft imported from Sweden. This gap is also very obvious.

In general, the establishment of a deeper strategic mutual trust between the Chinese and UAE air forces will create favorable conditions for the export of FC-31. Of course, whether the UAE will introduce FC-31 is still not certain in the short term, after all, the Chinese Air Force has not yet equipped FC-31.