PLA warplanes hold drills despite sandstorm, showing combat readiness Liu Xuanzun Published: Mar 17, 2021 07:23 PM A fighter jet attached to an aviation brigade of the air force under the PLA Western Theater Command takes off from the runway for a real-combat flight training exercise. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Zhang Weiwei)Warplanes of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force recently conducted flight exercises despite a severe sandstorm, a move military experts said on Wednesday was challenging and demonstrated the service's all-weather combat readiness. During the exercises, an aviation regiment attached to the PLA Air Force based in a desert met an unexpected sandstorm, PLA Air Force Online, an official Sina Weibo account of the PLA Air Force, posted on Tuesday.