J-10 fighter jets perform aerobatic manuevers during the air show [Photo by ZHANG WEI/CHINA DAILY]

Greater agility

Wang Ya'nan, editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said thrust-vectoring capability allows aviators to guide their planes to perform exceptionally agile maneuvers that conventional jets cannot perform, providing more opportunities to overcome opponents and survive.

Gao Zhuo, a military observer in Shanghai who has followed China's aviation industry for many years, said the development of the thrust-vectoring J-10B was intended to explore the adoption of thrust-vectoring capability by the J-20.

The test bed's appearance indicates that not only has China's thrust vector control technology become mature and reliable, but also that the nation's aviation industry has developed state-of-the-art flight-control systems, which are essential for sophisticated maneuvers.

He noted that the country's developments in this sphere came much faster than observers anticipated.