Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force unveiled its new acrobatic aircraft J-10 fighters on an air demonstration held on Sunday.

Against a clear blue sky, four J-10 multi-role jet fighters painted in steel gray rolled, flipped and twisted above hundreds of spectators at the demonstration held to celebrate the 60th founding anniversary of the PLA Air Force.

The J-10, with its featured pair of canards and delta wing, is the first supersonic third-generation fighter designed and manufactured by Chinese indigenous technologies.

The fighter has become a backbone combat aircraft in low and middle altitudes of the PLA Air Force since its active duty status was officially disclosed at the end of 2006.

Sunday's air demonstration was also the last show of J-7GB supersonic jet fighters in the PLA Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team. The planes will be replaced by the new J-10s.

Six J-7GBs, painted in blue-and-white strips, presented a series of aerobatic maneuvers at the demonstration to give a farewell performance as the aerobatic team's aircraft.

The J-7GB is the Air Force's second-generation jet fighter modified from the Soviet-made MiG-21.

On the National Day parade held to celebrate the 60th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China, six J-7GBs convoyed China's first Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEWC) aircraft Kongjing-2000 to fly past the Tian'anmen Rostrum.

"In terms of aerobatic performance, the potentials of J-7GB have almost been used up by the August 1st team," said Yan Feng, an aerobatic pilot who was flying a J-10 at the demonstration.

It commonly takes about one year and a half to manage a series of aerobatic performance for a aerobatics team by flying a new type of aircraft.

"We have prepared for less than four months to be capable of performing the air demonstration in J-10," Yan, who has a flying record of more than 3,000 hours, said.

"It's a great pleasure to pilot the Air Force's new fighter in aerobatic demonstration for the J-10 has excellent agility and flexibility," he said. "We are ready for international competition with foreign aerobatic teams."

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