Su-35 jets deployed in joint combat patrol

The Chinese Air Force sent its Su-35 fighter jets to take part in a joint combat patrol taking place recently over the South China Sea, the People's Liberation Army Air Force said in a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon.

This is the first time the PLA Air Force made public a deployment of its Su-35s, built by Russia's Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association and introduced to China in late 2016. It did not disclose when the patrol took place.

The statement said the multirole fighter jet's participation in combat exercises will help to strengthen the Air Force's long-range operational capability.