J-10 Thread IV

caohailiang

Junior Member
Registered Member
The fact that they are using is causing a huge debate on CJDBY. Some ultranationalists are upset about them using the “enemy’s” language. Just goes to show that there are dumb people everywhere.
Reminds me of a recent event where Biden got criticized for quoting Mao when he was talking about female rights, I am wondering if a political figure in China would get criticized these days for the mere fact of quoting Lincoln or Franklin.
But back to the topic, could it be just because PLAAF find the English combat commands used in USAF very efficient so they decide to reuse them rather than reinvent the wheel. That seems to be very pragmatic and open-minded to me.
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
The three most populous languages are Mandarin by population of China, Spanish and English. English is generally considered the universal language of Aviation.
in the function of their duties The PLAAF like any other air force are not limited to Kill kill kill. They have to interact with other aviators from across the world. When doing interceptions of American, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Malaysian, Pilipino, Pakistani, Hindu... or any other nationality. They need to be able to Warn off, Threaten, cajol, plead, Aid, address, command whatever the situation demands. To do that you need both sides to have a common frame of reference. The ability to exchange numbers and technical terminology in order to plot course redirect or escort. As such English is the universal language. A pilot must be able to speak it and navigate with it. As simply shouting into the mic in Mandarin won’t help if the guy on the receiver doesn’t understand a word of it. And speaking High school grade French doesn’t do a lick of good if the conversation is of a technical matter.
If the PLAAF wants to intercept a Boeing 737 pilot simply trying to communicate with close flybys and sharp maneuvers doesn’t help anything it simply makes them look like daredevils or worse like they intend to kill the bird.
Being able to at least make claim over the radio in a common language can keep it from being misconstrued as overtly hostile.
 

Blitzo

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
PLAAF pilots are probably all doing their training in English, which makes a lot of sense if you think about where China learned its pilot training programs from. They also have to be able to communicate with different air forces (like Pakistan) in international training exercises too. If that’s what they’re habituated for in these exercises I don’t see why that should be a large cognitive burden. It’s not like people in China aren’t used to using English situationally in highly technical environments, so I’m not sure why pilots using short bits of English should be so unusual?

Doing some training in English wouldn't be abnormal. Whether it's training to enable international exercises, or dact exercises etc, that would make sense.
What would be strange is if their training (including the specific type depicted in the video clips) were conducted in English.


I'm pretty sure in past years we've seen enough videos PLAAF combat aircraft exercises to know that they speak mandarin during them, so I suspect this is more of a unique case than an example of standard practice.
 

localizer

Colonel
Registered Member
The fact that they are using is causing a huge debate on CJDBY. Some ultranationalists are upset about them using the “enemy’s” language. Just goes to show that there are dumb people everywhere.


Knowing English also helps getting pilot job in airline industry.

Maybe during actually war they can speak Chinese?
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Doing some training in English wouldn't be abnormal. Whether it's training to enable international exercises, or dact exercises etc, that would make sense.
What would be strange is if their training (including the specific type depicted in the video clips) were conducted in English.


I'm pretty sure in past years we've seen enough videos PLAAF combat aircraft exercises to know that they speak mandarin during them, so I suspect this is more of a unique case than an example of standard practice.
Not so sure about that being strange.
Remember that in the interdiction role they would Need to be able to direct an interdicted aircraft or ship. That means having the fluency to speak English Step by step in a directed manor or being able to communicate with potential allies or adversaries. This may have been a specific exorcise intended to prove that they could do that.
 

ZeEa5KPul

Colonel
Registered Member
Not so sure about that being strange.
Remember that in the interdiction role they would Need to be able to direct an interdicted aircraft or ship. That means having the fluency to speak English Step by step in a directed manor or being able to communicate with potential allies or adversaries. This may have been a specific exorcise intended to prove that they could do that.
I buy this argument. It behooves PLA pilots to learn the proper pronunciation of useful English phrases like "leave immediately or you will be destroyed."
 

Maxef208

New Member
Registered Member
I buy this argument. It behooves PLA pilots to learn the proper pronunciation of useful English phrases like "leave immediately or you will be destroyed."
Yup, certainly helps to also keep anybody invading your airspace from giving you the "language barrier" excuse. I personally think the PLAAF does trains in mandarin and english, and this video was made for public consumption and using english would be unexpected for an audience. Maybe meant to make the rounds of western social media too?
 

Blitzo

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
Not so sure about that being strange.
Remember that in the interdiction role they would Need to be able to direct an interdicted aircraft or ship. That means having the fluency to speak English Step by step in a directed manor or being able to communicate with potential allies or adversaries. This may have been a specific exorcise intended to prove that they could do that.

Sorry, when I said "their training" I meant -- "all their training".

Training for certain scenarios with English obviously is fine and should be done, but if all of their DACT or BCM training is done with only English, that would be weird.
 
Top