The 3rd Fighter Aviation Division was a formation of the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

(PLAAF). Initially established in 1950. PLAAF fighter divisions generally consist of about 17,000 personnel and 70-120 aircraft. The division is currently headquartered in Wuhu Air Base,

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

. The 3rd Division is considered the most elite division in the PLAAF. Until 2017, the 9th Brigade was known as the 1st Flying Brigade of the 9th Regiment of the 3rd Fighter Aviation Division, at which time the division was abolished and the surviving 7th,

8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

, and 9th regiments beneath it were reorganized into independent fighter brigades. Thus the

9th Fighter Brigade The 9th Fighter Brigade (9th BDE, ), sometimes called the 9th Air Brigade is a Fighter aircraft, fighter brigade of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) based at Wuhu Wanli Airport, Wuhu Air Base in Wuhu, Anhui province. Called "t ...

was established.

Notable members

Wang Hai Wang Hai (; 19 January 1926 – 2 August 2020) was a Chinese fighter pilot and general. A flying ace of the Korean War, he served as commander of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) from 1985 to 1992. He was awarded the rank of gener ...

Fan Wanzhang Fan Wanzhang (, 1927 in Qixia, Shandong - August 8, 1952) was a MiG-15 pilot of the People's Republic of China. He was a flying ace during the Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean ...

* Sun Shenglu * Zhao Baotong * Liu Yudi *

Zhang Jianping Zhang Jianping (; born April 1956) is a lieutenant general (''zhong jiang'') of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) of China. He has been deputy commander of the PLAAF since 2013, and previously served as commander of the Jinan Milit ...

Notable members

References

See also