China's air defence at play near LAC

New Delhi: With India and China engaged in a military standoff for more than a year now, the Chinese Air Force recently carried out a big aerial exercise from its airbases opposite Eastern Ladakh which was watched closely by the Indian side.

"Around 21-22 of Chinese fighter aircraft mainly including the J-11s which are the Chinese copy of the Su-27 fighters and a few J-16 fighters held an exercise opposite the Indian territory in Eastern Ladakh," defence sources said.

The Chinese fighter aircraft activities took place from its bases including the Hotan, Gar Gunsa and Kashgar airfields which have been upgraded recently to enable operations by all types of fighters along with concrete structures to hide away the presence of the number of fighters present at its different airbases, the sources said.

The sources said the Chinese aircraft remained well within their territory during the aerial drills.

The Indian fighter aircraft activity in the Ladakh area has gone up significantly since last year.