China’s Changchun Air Show 2023 opened on July 26th. A post on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force official WeChat account read that the Air Force arranged six aerobatic shows with 288 sorties. And as many as 657,000 people participated in the Changchun Air Show. 24 photos were chosen for the public to be downloaded as wallpapers and changed on a monthly basis as everyone looks forward to the next Changchun Air Show two years later. Judging from the post, future air shows in China will be held in Zhuhai in even years and in Changchun in odd years.
1. Highlights of the event
The Changchun Air Show 2023 featured four themes: fifteen aerobatic shows, static displays, seven themed exhibition halls and three related activities. The August First Skydiving Team started the aerobatic shows with a warm-up performance. Team members successively carried the party flag, national flag, August First military flag and PLA Air Force flag to perform pinpoint landing.
The team for aerobatic shows encompassed the PLA Air Force Sky Wing and Red Eagle Air Demonstration Teams. Team members are instructors from the Air Force Aviation University in Changchun. The August First Aerobatic Team performed after the aerobatic team and flied the J-5, Jianjiao-5 (JJ-5) trainer, J-6, J-7EB, J-7GB, J-10 and J-10C. The August First Aerobatic Team has more overseas experience. It performed at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition in May.
2. Features of the Changchun Air Show 2023
In terms of aerobatic shows, some performances stood out compared with previous Changchun Air Shows, including the performance of one JJ-5 trainer, simulated air flight with two aircraft, performance of two J-16 jets and deploying flares at low altitude by Yunyou-20 (YY-20). The YY-20 also amazed the crowd with simulating refueling of two J-16 and J-20 jets.
Static displays included 137 weapons and equipment in 96 categories, a modest amount compared with ordinary western air shows. Equipment in active service worth mentioning included WZ-10, Z-20, KJ-500A and J-16. Indoor exhibition halls featured the PLA Air Force, including the Air Force Hall, Aviation Industry Hall and Popular Science Hall, etc. Simulated scenarios and interactive displays with VR and AR technology were used to give the public a clearer understanding of the Air Force to enhance military recruitment.
This year’s Changchun Air Show was free to the public and thus attracted 657,000 people. A lot of new equipment first appeared in the Changchun Air Show, including H-6K in 2016. Dogfight between J-16 and J-19 was presented in the 2019 air show, while dogfight between different aircraft (Z-20, J-10 and J-16) appeared in 2023. All these features appeared before the Zhuhai Air Show or would not be demonstrated there. The Changchun Air Show has become a national defense education open to the public. This ultimately confirms the exhibition structure of the Zhuhai Air Show in the south and the Changchun Air Show in the north.
Shenyang Aircraft Corporation is the development and research center of China’s fighter jets, ranging from J-5, J-8, J-11, J-15, J-16 to FC-31. However, J-11 and J-15 have never appeared at the Zhuhai Air Show. J-16 was not presented there until 2022. In contrast, J-20 manufactured by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group has made frequent appearance in the Zhuhai Air Show. This shows an obvious differentiated display of southern and northern industry group products.
There is another deeper reason why Shenyang Aircraft Corporation’s fighter jets rarely participate in the Zhuhai Air Show. The PLA Air Force’s Su-27SK, J-11, J-11B and J-16 are viewed by the outside world as originating from Russian-made models no matter whether they were introduced into China, reverse-engineered or knockoffs. If the aforementioned aircraft receive wide acclaim in the Zhuhai Air Show, it will be advertising for Russia, an undesirable outcome for the PLA Air Force. However, if the fighter jets perform poorly in the air show, they would be criticized as mediocre knockoffs.
Carrier-based fighter J-15 also never appeared in the Zhuhai Air Show as the Air Force is the sole focus of an air show, and there is no need for the Navy to play a supporting role. The Red Eagle Aerobatic Team only appeared in the Zhuhai Air Show for a limited number of times. The main reason is that the team will definitely steal the spotlight from the August First Aerobatic Team if it gives a stunning performance. The scale of the Changchun Air Show is not as big as its European or U.S. counterparts. Nevertheless, it provides an opportunity to witness the new advancement of the PLA Air Force and makes the world look forward to the air show in 2025.
（Kuo-ming Chen, Senior Editor of the Defense International magazine）
(Translated to English by Cindy Li)
