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52 Chinese fighter jets entered the Taiwanese air traffic control zone

4th October, 2021

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The Chinese air force carried out an unprecedented show of force between October 1 and 2 on the country's national holiday near the island of Taiwan, causing several take-offs of Taiwanese fighter jets, and a vigorous protest from the Taipei authorities. On October 1, a first formation of 18 J-16 fighter bombers accompanied by 4 Su-30 fighter bombers, as well as two H-6 bombers and a Y-8 Maritime patrol aircraft carried out a first exercise south of the Taiwanese air control zone. A few hours later, on the night of October 1 to 2, a new formation of 10 J-16s, two H-6 bombers and a KJ-500 advanced aerial surveillance aircraft carried out an operation by passing the island by the south to go up several hundred nautical miles to the northeast in a bypass maneuver, setting a new record of 38 aircraft in two missions for the single day of October 1. This record did not last long, since the next day, again in two consecutive flights, 39 Chinese aircraft flew near Taiwan and in its air traffic control zone. A first formation composed of 12 J-16, 6 Su-30 and a KJ-500 carried out a mission in the south-west of the island. Later, it was 14 J-16s accompanied by 4 Su-30s and 2 Y-8 maritime patrol planes which carried out a substantially similar mission.

However, these force deployments will only have been warm-ups for the Chinese air forces, which carried out this Monday, October 4, a mission counting no less than 52 Chinese fighter planes in the Taiwanese control zone, in the south-west of the island. Thus, it was no less than 34 J-16 fighter bombers, 2 su-30s, 2 Y-8 maritime patrol planes, 2 KJ-500 aerial watch planes and above all 12 H-6 long-range bombers that jointly led a flight in the form of a run in a south-easterly direction, without however carrying out as the 2 of missions bypassing the island. It is, without a doubt, the most important operational training implemented by the Chinese air forces outside its borders since the Korean War. The Taiwanese forces, in response, deployed their own fighter jets, and put the country's anti-aircraft defense systems on alert.