Deeply Advancing Combat-Realistic Military Training | War Eagles Sustain Flight Above the Clouds
"Take off!" With the command issued from the control tower, the aircraft rose into the sky in sequence, and a cross-day-and-night aerial refueling training exercise commenced. Inside the cockpit, pilots fixed their eyes on the instruments, continuously correcting flight attitude and calibrating heading as the aircraft formation maneuvered at high speed toward the designated refueling airspace.
In the target airspace, turbulent air currents surged, and the drogue at the end of the tanker's hose swayed continuously, adding considerable difficulty to the mid-air link-up. The receiver aircraft pilots calmly assessed the changing air currents and, guided by ground command elements, steadily maneuvered their aircraft into the refueling position.
"Maintain speed differential," "correct flight attitude," "prepare to dock" … instructions came over the radio one after another. The receiver aircraft pilots controlled their aircraft to maintain optimal altitude and airspeed, gradually closing the distance to the tanker. A faint contact sound rang out, and the refueling probe successfully docked with the drogue, whereupon the refueling operation commenced. After completing the first round of refueling, the pilots quickly disengaged and flew to another airspace to conduct adversarial exercises.
"Modern aerial combat moves at a fast pace, and aerial refueling is an important means of extending aircraft combat endurance and sustaining long-range offensive and defensive operations," a unit leader explained. To improve training quality and effectiveness, they have routinely embedded aerial refueling training into combat-realistic training subjects such as formation air combat and low-altitude penetration, using high-intensity combat drills to enhance pilots' warfighting capabilities.
In the lead-up period, the unit convened multiple mission coordination meetings and technical seminars to refine training procedures and improve contingency response plans. At the same time, they explored and implemented a formation-led flight model, selecting senior flight cadre to form a teaching and problem-solving group that provides one-on-one instruction to young pilots, helping them master docking techniques under different environmental conditions and with different aircraft type pairings, and tempering their capacity for continuous cross-day-and-night combat operations.
As night fell, intense action continued in the adversarial airspace. The formation successively completed subjects including electromagnetic countermeasures and multi-target interception, consuming large quantities of aviation fuel, and multiple aircraft once again transferred to the refueling airspace for a second round of refueling.
By this point, the night was as dark as ink. The tanker's hose appeared and disappeared in the darkness. One young pilot exerted every effort to overcome the interference of crosswinds and turbulence, continuously correcting flight parameters with small-amplitude, high-frequency inputs and maneuvering the aircraft gradually closer to the tanker. Three meters, two meters, one meter … as the refueling probe precisely docked with the drogue, aviation fuel flowed into the aircraft's fuel tanks, and the aircraft rapidly replenished its endurance.
When training concluded, the aircraft returned to base one after another. The moment they stepped out of their cockpits, the pilots went straight to the debrief room, where they analyzed flight parameter data item by item, reviewed the details of each maneuver, identified capability shortfalls, and conducted in-depth discussion of the various problems exposed during training.
Early the next morning, the airfield was once again a scene of busy activity. Into the rising sun, a new group of aircraft roared into the sky, surging straight toward the clouds …