New round of 'Gold Helmet' air battle contest of PLAAF kicks off

The new round of competitive appraisal on confrontation air battles among fighter aviation troop units of the Air Force of the People's Liberation Army (PLAAF) was kicked off in early September 2014. 170 fighter pilots from 19 aviation brigades (regiments) of the air force under 7 military area commands of the PLA compete against each other on the vast Gobi Desert in northwest China for 5 "Outstanding Unit Prizes" and 5 "Gold Helmets".

The "Gold Helmet" battle represents the top level of the air combat training of the PLAAF, and has been held four times since 2011.

"It is the first time for us to employ a 'two-plane formation' confrontation mode right from the preliminary contest, to require the number of new contestants to be not less than 50 percent, and to reduce the rate of winning the 'Gold Helmet' award to be 1/34." said Yu Hejie, deputy director of the Military Training Department of the PLAAF.

He said that this contest focuses more on the collaborative winning of teams and the roles played by new contestants, highlights the comprehensive test on the "formation air combat" capability, and emphasizes the tempering and cultivation of young pilots.

Compared with last year, the number of participating pilots rises from 128 to 170, but the number of "Gold Helmet" prizes is reduced from 9 to 5, according to sources.