At present, the Chinese Air Force, numbering 350,000, is in third place in the world in terms of the number of combat aircraft, second only to the United States and Russia. From the latest published statistics, it is known that their arsenal includes 4,500 military aircraft and 350 auxiliary. In addition, China has about 150 helicopters and a significant amount of air defense equipment in service.
The birth of Chinese military aviation
In 1949, after victoriously ending the civil war, the new leadership of China decided to create an Air Force in the country. The date of signing the government decree, November 11, is considered the birthday of Chinese military aviation. The Soviet Union rendered great help to the war industry, which had just begun its development, and had organized the production of its own aircraft at Chinese enterprises since the mid-fifties.
However, the subsequent cultural revolution and, as a consequence, the international isolation provoked by it, significantly impeded the development of the country's industry. This caused great damage to the Chinese Air Force. But, despite all the difficulties, in the sixties their military engineers developed a number of domestic combat vehicles that met all the technical requirements of those years.
The nineties saw a period of active modernization of the Chinese armed forces. During these years, Russia supplied its eastern neighbor with a large batch of Su-30 multi-functional fighters, as well as a license for the production of Su-27. Having studied in detail the design of these combat vehicles, they developed and launched the production of their own aircraft for the Chinese Air Force on their basis (a photo of the original model can be seen at the beginning of the article).
Experience gained in the war with Japan and in subsequent years
The armed conflict between China and Japan, which began in 1931 and subsequently escalated into a full-scale war, became part of the tragedy of the 20th century. The Chinese Air Force in World War II, according to various estimates, deployed about a hundred aircraft and could not constitute any serious military force. However, their contribution to the defeat of militaristic Japan and the return of Manchuria, Taiwan and the Pescador Islands cannot be denied.
Over the period since its foundation, the Chinese Air Force has gained some experience in warfare. In particular, they took part in the Korean War of 1950-1953, fighting side by side with the air units of North Korea and forming a combined air army with them.
When several American unmanned reconnaissance planes invaded their airspace during the Vietnam War, they were immediately shot down. This clearly demonstrated a fairly high level of combat readiness of Chinese pilots. However, for a number of reasons, aviation was practically not involved in a military conflict with Vietnam in 1979.
Military Aviation Units
The composition of the Chinese Air Force is not much different from the air forces of other modern developed states. They include all traditional units, such as bomber aircraft, assault, fighter, reconnaissance and military transport. In addition, they include air defense units, radio-technical and airborne troops.
The supreme command of all the Armed forces of China is carried out by the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army. It includes the headquarters of the Air Force, headed by the commander in chief. Since October 2012, this post has been held by Ma Xiaotian. An important role in command is also given to the commissar. Currently, it is the Tien Syus.
The territory of modern China is divided into seven military districts. Each of them includes a group of air forces, whose commander is directly subordinate to the district headquarters. Such units consist of aviation divisions, separate regiments and academies, which train flight personnel and technical personnel.
Air divisions are large tactical formations, which include several aviation regiments, divided into squadrons, each of which consists of three separate units. In bomber aviation, the link is represented, as a rule, by three aircraft. In the assault and fighter their number increases to four. In addition to military vehicles, each regiment has several training aircraft of various classes. In general, the regiment can have 20-40 units of flying equipment.
Currently, more than four hundred airfields have been built in China, of which three hundred and fifty have high-tech hard coating. This reserve is enough to accommodate nine thousand units of aircraft, which is three times higher than the entire state aviation fleet.
The role of aviation in the "nuclear triad"
The main component of the Armed Forces of modern powers is atomic weapons, which in its structure can be divided into three main components, which received the name of “nuclear triad” from military strategists. They primarily include land-based missile systems - both stationary mine and mobile mobile.
In addition, these are cruise and ballistic missiles launched from submarines. And finally, strategic aviation, capable of delivering aeroballistic or cruise missiles to the indicated area, plays the most important role. In the aggregate of all these factors making up the strategic nuclear potential of the state, international analysts call China the third superpower.
The need to develop strategic aviation
All three components of the above triad are in service with the PRC, however, the level of strategic aviation in the country leaves much to be desired. It should be noted that while in such European countries as Great Britain and France, the insufficient development of this type of air force is not a serious problem (due to their relatively small territory), then in China the picture is completely different.
Celestial is a huge state, constantly surrounded by potential opponents. Even such a friendly neighbor as Russia cannot provide the Chinese with border security, since it itself has a fairly large number of dangerous strategic directions. In this regard, China has created conditions under which capital investments in the development of strategic aviation have acquired particular importance.
Potential adversary of China
It so happened that in the future, the Chinese leadership considers America to be one of its most likely enemies. It is from her that they are afraid of a possible blow. In this regard, considerable efforts are being made to create new and modernize the anti-ballistic and air defense systems already in service, as well as the Chinese Air Force.
The fifth generation fighter, capable of being invisible to enemy radars, was one of these developments. Also, the result of such efforts was the creation of a large fleet of aircraft carriers, whose task is to contain the attack of potential enemies from the Pacific and Indian Oceans. On them are placed carrier-based fighter aircraft of China. Home ports for newly built ships were modernized and expanded accordingly.
Work on the creation of new technology
In recent years, information has appeared in the media that Chinese designers are developing promising new strategic bomber capable of delivering nuclear charges at a distance of seven thousand kilometers. This flight range is especially important due to the fact that it allows you to reach the United States. At the same time, as competent sources indicate, the new model will be very similar to the American B-2 Spirit bomber , which will greatly complicate its detection.
Special requirements are imposed on strategic aviation in China, since its use is fraught with a number of difficulties due to the geographical position of the country. The fact is that all possible targets are at a very significant distance. To Alaska, for example, five thousand kilometers, and to the US coast - eight. To achieve it, the Chinese Air Force aircraft must cross the Pacific Ocean, in which American aircraft carriers equipped with a powerful arsenal are on alert. In recent years, space-based warfare facilities have been added to them.
Experts have calculated that if the war starts, the Chinese air forces will not be able to enter the area of missile launches across America, as the US naval forces will be able to destroy them using the latest Aegis air defense system. In addition, they will be opposed by powerful carrier-based aircraft. In this regard, the only opportunity for the Chinese Air Force to cope with American air defense is the development and creation of new aircraft, with a fantastic, in our time, radius of action - from ten to twelve thousand kilometers. No military in the world has such combat vehicles yet.
Separate weapons of the Chinese Air Force
Military analysts also make a number of assumptions about the possible development of a medium-range bomber in China. In 2013, they were prompted by the refusal to purchase thirty-six Russian Tu-22 M3 aircraft intended for the delivery of missile and bomb weapons over relatively short distances. Currently, it is known that the Chinese Air Force includes about one hundred and twenty combat vehicles of this class, and the need for them is quite obvious.
Today, China's aircraft fleet includes a number of modern aircraft. Speaking about them, it is worth highlighting several of the most interesting models. First of all, it is a medium-range bomber N-6K. It is a completely modern machine, which is an example of advanced engineering. It cannot be assigned to strategic launch vehicles just because of some speed limitation.
Soviet-made aircraft
Another combat vehicle in service with the Chinese Air Force is the Tu-16. This is a plane built on the basis of a license agreement with Russia. Especially for him, Chinese designers have developed a new improved engine equipped with economical turbofan. Thanks to him, airplanes are capable of developing significantly greater speed (up to 1060 km per hour) and reach heights of thirteen thousand meters. This development made it possible to equip the Chinese Air Force aircraft with new CI-10A missiles having a flight range of five and a half to six thousand kilometers. Of course, this will open before them new, previously unused opportunities.
Military experts agree that at present, the Chinese Air Force strategic bombers are very limited in their geography of use. Only the shores of Australia, Alaska, and also part of the territory of Asia and Europe are accessible for them, while their main potential opponents, the Americans, are still out of reach. The latest Chinese development of the bomber, code-named N-20, should solve this problem.
Armed fighters of China
Speaking of the air forces of the Celestial Empire, one cannot help but stop at its fighter aircraft. Despite the fact that its fleet has received a large number of military vehicles of the J-10 and J-11 brands in recent years, it is believed that the J-7 is the main fighter of the Chinese Air Force. According to analysts, the number of these aircraft is about four hundred units, plus about forty training created on their basis. The history of their appearance in the Armed Forces of the country is very remarkable.
It is known that at the very beginning of the sixties the Soviet Union and China were on friendly terms, and cooperation was established between them in many areas of the national economy, as well as in the military industry. In 1961, the Soviet side transferred a license to China for the production of the latest, at that time, MiG-21 fighter and all its configuration. However, a year later, the well-known cultural revolution began, which served as the reason for the international isolation of China and the severance of its relations with the Soviet Union.
As a result, the government of the USSR canceled the already issued license and withdrew all of its specialists involved in its implementation from the country. A year later, realizing that the Soviet Union could not be dispensed with, Mao Zedong went closer to our country, as a result of which cooperation was again restored for a while.
N. S. Khrushchev agreed to continue work on introducing a licensed MiG-21 aircraft into production for the Chinese Air Force. In January 1966, tests of the first fully assembled J-7 fighter in China, created under the license of the Soviet MiG-21 fighter, took place. Despite the fact that almost half a century has passed, this aircraft is still not removed from the arsenal of the Chinese Air Force. A photo of him is presented below.
The relationship between countries at the present stage
At present, despite the apparently regulated relations between Russia and China, many analysts are inclined to see a potential threat in our eastern neighbor. The fact is that the territory of the Celestial Empire is extremely overpopulated, which means that it is possible that with an ever-increasing number of inhabitants and rapidly developing industry, neighbors may well be tempted to solve their problems due to the expansion of the Asian part of Russia. In this regard, the Armed Forces of both states, including the air forces of China and Russia, are in constant combat readiness. Unfortunately, this form of “armed friendship” is an objective reality in the modern world.