"Sky and Space Sword" Showcases the Joint Winning Power of the Air Force

【Global Times Report by Reporter Fan Wei】On the occasion of the 99th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army of China, multiple departments jointly launched a multimedia piece titled "Winning." The fourth episode, "Sky and Space Sword," officially aired on the evening of August 2. Reporters from the Global Times noted that this episode no longer focuses on the capabilities of a specific type of equipment, but instead highlights the systematic combat capabilities of the new era People's Air Force, which integrates air and space operations and combines offense and defense. Among them, the successful application of new tactics and technologies such as independent command and control of early warning aircraft and intelligent strike planning systems reflects the powerful capabilities of the strategic air force system to achieve decisive victories and joint success.

At the beginning of this episode, the "Blue Army" provided a "surprise." In a realistic air force confrontation exercise, a high-threat and a low-threat aircraft from the "Blue Army" advanced in a dual formation. After comprehensive assessment, the "Red Army" discovered that the high-threat target made a suspicious turning motion. Faced with the remaining low-threat target, the "Red Army" aircraft advanced to intercept. However, a high-threat signal suddenly appeared near the low-threat target, at which point the "Red Army" ordered an immediate evasion, but it was too late.

In a major exercise task for the air force, a system completely commanded and controlled by early warning aircraft faced a confrontation assessment. Confronted with a mix of real and false low-altitude targets and intermittent strong electromagnetic interference, Wang Weihong from a certain air force aviation unit initially did not detect the "Blue Force" aircraft. Later, sitting in the back cabin of the early warning aircraft, Wang Weihong captured the aircraft from a weak signal, grasped the blue side's offensive intentions, and guided his own aircraft to strike the opponent's command node, delivering a fatal blow and securing victory.

The "battle example" publicly disclosed in "Sky and Space Sword" highlights the important role of early warning aircraft as command and control platforms and comprehensive information nodes. In modern warfare, information dominance has become the key to victory—whether it is "taking out" early warning aircraft or utilizing them.

Military expert Song Zhongping stated in an interview with the Global Times on August 3 that early warning aircraft must not only perform early warning functions but also command and allocate their own resources, conduct firepower allocation, and implement battlefield control to achieve preemptive strikes. Additionally, they can aggregate more battlefield information to the ground control command system, which can then reallocate resources and command firepower units to strike relevant military targets.

How to effectively utilize national heavy equipment is also reflected in "Sky and Space Sword." Wang Li, commander of an air force aviation unit that has won one "Golden Helmet" and two "Golden Dart" awards, believes that stealth aircraft like the J-20 should play the role of "assassins" rather than becoming "gladiators." In a certain red-blue confrontation exercise, as a participant on the "Blue Side," Wang Li proposed his goal, "which is to train young pilots into excellent new-generation pilots, especially transitioning from previous combatants to commanders."

"Whether it is the J-20, J-35, or J-16 and other new-generation aircraft, they can all become comprehensive combat platforms, capable of attacking targets according to commands, as well as utilizing their strong situational awareness capabilities to discover more hidden targets and relay that information back to the command system," Song Zhongping believes. This makes the aircraft itself an important node in the entire combat system. Aircraft are not only objects of command but also commanders, coordinating other firepower units to jointly participate in target strikes, thus achieving shared firepower units.

Furthermore, "Sky and Space Sword" also showcases the application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in air force missions. In recent years, the air force has undergone a large-scale transformation and upgrade in training and exercises, with large formations and all-element operations becoming the norm. However, new problems have arisen, such as how to filter hundreds of targets and dozens of formations, how to allocate firepower, and how to coordinate waves. Traditional calculation methods are simply too slow, while the intelligent planning strike system developed by a team led by Deng Jianping at a certain air force base provides a solution. Currently, this system has been deployed in multiple air force missions.

Song Zhongping believes that modern warfare increasingly demands rapid mobility, rapid response, and rapid decision-making capabilities, and AI technology can enhance these capabilities, helping to solve battlefield control issues. By employing AI technology, the recognition of friend or foe in complex scenarios will be significantly improved, including the allocation of strike targets, which will greatly enhance efficiency. AI technology is expected to become a force multiplier on the battlefield in the future.