Page 4 - LIMA 2023 - DAY 1 | DAILY NEWS

PLAAF AUGUST

ST
1 DISPLAY TEAM

DEBUTS WITH

NEW J-10C

RMAF AW
139S COMPLETE

A YEAR OF
OPERATIONS

The RMAF recently celebrated the first
anniversary of operations with its new
Leonardo AW 139 helicopters. The new
helicopters are operated by the RMAF’s
No 3 Squadron from Butterworth Air
Base. The RMAF inducted the new heli-
copters into service in April 2022 with
the first batch of two AW139s formally
delivered to No 3 Squadron in December
2021. The RMAF is operating the new
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Industry Corp of China and was first shown AW139s on lease from the Malaysian
company Westar Aviation Services Sdn.
Air Force’s (PLAAF) August 1st aerobat- in public in July 2017 and entered combat Bhd.
ics team is returning to Langkawi with patrol duty with the PLAAF in April 2018.
indigenously developed J-10C fighter jets. The supersonic, multipurpose fighter is The RMAF acquired the AW139 to
The display team is performing formation capable of maintaining short- and medi- replace its decommissioned Sikorsky
displays with eight aircraft at the ongoing um-range air supremacy, and can strike S-61A-4 Nuri helicopters which had
airshow. According to PLAAF spokesper- both ground and sea targets. The new served for over 50 years. The decom-
son Xie Peng, this is the aerobatic team’s aircraft has an upgraded Chinese active missioning of the Nuri helicopters had
first performance outside China since it has phased array radar with better detection resulted in extended operations for the
converted to the J-10C. and multitargeting capability. The aircraft air arm’s fleet of 12 Airbus Helicopters
also has a smaller radar signature than the EC725AP helicopters, whose primary
J-10A or J-10B and uses a more powerful
The August 1st aerobatics team earlier flew engine. Operational J-10C’s with the PLAAF role is Combat Search and Rescue
the J-10A and J-10S, which is the twin-seat are also armed with China’s newest air-to- (CSAR) as well as undertaking tactical
trainer version of the J-10A. These aircraft air missiles, which can engage targets at airlift and utility missions.
were in service with the display team longer ranges.
since 2009. The new J-10Cs are easier to No 3 Squadron has the motto “Anywhere
maintain and operate than the August 1st The PLAAF’s August 1st team was founded and Anything” and has used its new
aerobatics team’s earlier J-10As. The induc- in 1962 as the Chinese military’s first aerial AW139s for missions such as air logis-
tion of the J-10C also allows the PLAAF to display team and was named after the tic support and resupply flight, military
rotate pilots from its operational squadrons People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) founding and civil communication flight, medical
with the type for tours with the August 1st date. Since 1962, the display team has per- evacuation (MEDEVAC), casualty evac-
aerobatics team. formed at over 700 air shows, showcasing uation (CASEVAC), body evacuation
their manoeuvres to over 700 delegations (BODEVAC) ) and humanitarian and
disaster relief (HADR).
The J-10C is manufactured by the Aviation from more than 170 countries and regions.
4 MAY-23-2023 WWW.GBP.COM.SG/DAILY NEWS