Saturday, March 2, 2013

The Rise Of China's Air Force Is Raising Concerns Across Asia



China Is No Paper Tiger -- Strategy Page

March 1, 2013: American air power planners (air force and navy) are scrambling to adapt to the fact that China is creating a Western style air force, not just with modern aircraft but with modern training methods and tactics as well. While China has only about 500 modern aircraft (comparable to the American F-15/16/18/22), it’s their improved training that is most worrisome. The U.S., Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea have over five times as many such aircraft and well trained pilots. China, however, is rapidly closing the gap. In another decade or so, China will have at least two thousand modern warplanes and, if they keep at it, pilots close to the capability of their Western counterparts.

China is also devoting a lot of effort to developing modern electronics for their fighters. This is one area where their massive Internet based espionage effort may have given their air force an edge. The exact operating characteristics of military electronics are kept secret, because if the enemy has this data they can better develop countermeasures and other unpleasant surprises for the first weeks of combat. No one wants to talk about this, the better to keep the enemy guessing. When the shooting starts the guessing stops and it’s feared that China may have more of those deadly surprises.

Read more ....

My Comment:
The Chinese have made their intentions very clear .... their goal in the next few decades is is to have a military capability that is #1 in Asia .... Air Force included.

Update: The Chinese are certainly spending the money on their military.

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