Aerial refueling is crucial to conducting continuous and long-range missions.
Recently, a unit assigned to the air force under Chinese PLA Eastern Theater Command organized high-intensity aerial refueling training, incorporating realistic combat scenarios including long-endurance flight with complex electromagnetic interference and multiple interception missions.
J-16 fighter jets roared into the sky, heading to the designated airspace to conduct aerial refueling operations with YY-20 tanker aircraft.
Aerial refueling is often likened to threading a needle in the sky. During the refueling process, both the tanker and receiver aircraft move at high speeds, with highly unstable surrounding airflow.
Pilots must operate the aircraft well by manipulating the throttle and control stick to maintain precise relative positioning with the tanker aircraft while accurately controlling the refueling probe. This is a task that can thoroughly test the pilots' tactical skills and psychological composure.
From day into night, the training continued without pause. One after another, J-16 fighter jets took off into the darkness.
Pilots overcame the effects of turbulent air currents, relying on instrument data and faint light to gauge the distance from the drogue and continuously adjusting speed and altitude while correcting flight attitude, thus completing their refueling missions successfully.
(Video Editor: Yang Xueqing)