Harrison Kass
Paired with ground-based missile forces, naval aviation, and electronic warfare units, the PLAAF fields a dense web of capabilities designed to complicate US intervention in the Indo-Pacific.
China’s revisionist ambitions, paired with increasingly dominant economic capabilities, have manifested in a military that is rapidly improving in both qualitative and quantitative terms. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) is no exception—having transformed in the past two decades from a defensive, territorial force into one of the world’s most modern and capable air arms.
Through the Cold War, China, still a middling power, was deeply reliant on outdated Soviet aircraft, forcing a strategic focus limited to the defense of Chinese airspace. Since the beginning of the 21st century, however, China has enacted widespread reform and modernization, catalyzing a strategic shift towards power projection.
China Now Makes Its Own Aircraft
Enabling the PLAAF’s newer strategy of power projection is an increasingly modern and diverse fleet of domestically-produced combat aircraft. No longer so reliant on Soviet models, the PLAAF has benefited from platforms like the Chengdu J-10 multirole fighter and the Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter, which demonstrate China’s ability to produce advanced platforms at scale. The J-20 in particular shows that China is capable of developing a fifth-generation fighter—which puts China in exclusive company, along with only the United States and Russia. Aside from demonstrating technological prowess, the J-20 is significant for its strategic implications; the plane can potentially counter US fifth-generation fighters like the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, but also impose a cost on US and allied forces operating in the Indo-Pacific—a new capability. Supplementing its indigenous platforms, China still fields upgraded versions of Russian-origin aircraft like the Sukhoi Su-30 and Sukhoi Su-35, creating a force structure much like America’s—blending cutting-edge 4.5- and fifth-generation fighters with legacy workhorses.
China’s Aerial Infrastructure Is Second to None
No comments:
Post a Comment