China's Air Force Wants to Make Sure It Can Beat America in a War: Study

A new study could help US military planners understand the vulnerabilities of US forces in a war with China, as well as China's perceptions of its own weaknesses.

The Chinese Air Force wants to make sure it can defeat the United States in a war: study

The Chinese Air Force is not only trying to compete with the US Air Force. UU., But also defeat it. All in search of a purely Chinese strategy. To do this, the Beijing office buys technology where it can, steals or copies where it should, and breaks new ground in new technology where there is nothing more to buy or steal.

This is the conclusion of a new study conducted by Scott Harold, an analyst with the RAND expert group based in California.

Harold's study could help US military planners understand the vulnerabilities of US forces in a war with China, as well as China's perceptions of its own weaknesses.

"The People's Liberation Army seeks to compete with the US military, not as an objective in itself, but as a means to achieve the political objectives that the Chinese Communist Party has established for the PLA: objectives defined by the perception of the threat from the Communist Party of China, the CCP and political ambitions, "Harold writes in" Overcoming, not just rivaling: China's perspective on its military aerospace objectives and requirements compared to the United States. "

Harold lists the strategic objectives of Chinese aviation as: the defense of its airspace, the continuation of a conflict over Taiwan and the projection of power in the South and East China seas within the first chain to demand the claims of disputed lands. Maritime areas.

To achieve these goals, Beijing's air weapons are based on new and old technologies: some that the Chinese government has acquired or developed legally, others that it has copied or stolen.

"China's aerospace military power is a combination of capabilities inherited from the Cold War era, equipment purchased from Russia and Ukraine, copies and imitations of Russian aircraft structures produced by equipment or reverse engineering." A small but growing number of - Generation bombers "It seems they have developed, based in part on stolen designs for American aircraft, advanced but unhealthy ballistic and cruise missiles, and a growing portfolio of space and antispacity capabilities," writes Harold.

For example, Chinese aerospace companies bought and copied Su-27 fighter aircraft to Russia. "After receiving such technologies, sometimes in limited quantities, China has often tried to use them to produce them internally, a process that Chinese analysts today describe as" IDAR "or" introduce, digest, absorb and reinvent. "

"When shopping abroad is not an option," he continues, "China has generally tried to steal foreign technologies or observe foreign practices in order to copy them and adapt them to the needs of foreigners.

Perhaps more particularly, Chinese hackers stole data from the US F-35 poaching program. This information could have influenced the development of stealth fighters J-20 and J-31 in China.

Copy and fly are records. "When buying or stealing / copying is impossible, China has sought innovative solutions to its military problems," says Harold.

China, for example, is a world leader in hypersonic technology. And for good reason. The Chinese leadership has decided that high-speed ammunition is a valuable asset for the country's defensive strategy against access, which aims to prevent US forces from operating close to China to help defend Taiwan against Chinese attacks. No other country, not even the United States, invests in hypersonic to the extent that China does.

Similarly, the Chinese Air Force is essentially unaware of complete technologies that it says are not suitable for its main missions. "China has not opted to invest in space satellites for early warning of ballistic missiles [like the United States]," said an expert quoted by Harold.

Understanding the technological approach of the Chinese Air Force can help the US Air Force. UU To plan their own way to defeat the Chinese Air Force in combat, says Harold. "A deeper understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of China's military aerospace industry can help drive the USAF away from areas where China has strong capabilities and areas where its weaknesses could be better exploited."

For example, the Chinese Air Force more directly copies the US Air Force. UU In terms of fighters and hunting operations. The US Air Force UU It uses a "high-low" combination of many versatile F-16s and F-15s and, nowadays, a little less specialized of sneaky fighters F-22 and F-35.

In the same way, China is deploying a large number of conventional J-10 fighters, according to some analysts, based on Israeli technology in Beijing, along with some stealth J-20s.

The United States Air Force insists on realistic training in war conditions. Chinese aviation has begun to organize its own training in the same direction. The implication is that China intends to conduct a campaign of air superiority in a manner very similar to that of the United States, and plans to defeat the US Air Force. UU In their own conditions. is.

On the other hand, in space, the Chinese seem content to allow Americans to deploy more and better surveillance satellites. Instead of competing in the United States in space, China creates obstacles for the solo race of the United States, in the form of weapons against satellites for which the United States Air Force has no problems. 'equivalent. If China really uses these weapons, they could disperse the debris in a low orbit, thus preventing all countries, including itself, from gaining easy access to space.

The implication is clear. "In the near future, China will not need space like the United States," an expert told Harold.

But China's options could offer opportunities to US forces. By choosing not to develop a space-based surveillance system, China has no choice if the strength of the United States. UU It manages to neutralize the sensors of air, earth or sea through destruction, interference or stealth.

When opting in time of war to face the fighter squadrons of the US Air Force. UU In direct fights with planes and similar training, the Chinese Air Force is betting that it can develop better fighters and pilots faster and in greater quantity than the Americans.

But despite the explosive growth of the Chinese aerospace industry since the late 1990s, US companies continue to produce more and more types of combat aircraft in 2018.

The Chinese group Chengdu Aircraft Industries has produced about 20 stealth fighters J-20 since the first flight in 2011. Only the US Air Force. UU It has about 180 furtive fighters F-22 and 200 F-35 and continues acquiring a new F-35 at a rate of about 40 per year. The Air Force plans to increase production of F-35 to 60 units per year from 2024.