How the U.S. can counter China’s size and other advantages. Decades of force cuts and deferred modernization have left the U.S. Air Force unable to simultaneously deter nuclear attacks, defend the U.S. homeland, and defeat Chinese aggression at acceptable levels...
PLAAF
The proliferation of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has shaken up the military world, fueling concern that UAVs could revolutionize airpower concepts and even negate the need for air superiority as a fundamental objective of airpower strategy. These perspectives suffer from a collective airpower amnesia ...
New Chinese Combat Aircraft By John A. Tirpak Imagery of two new, tailless Chinese military aircraft disseminated on social media in December likely reveals a prototype stealth medium bomber and a new lambda-winged technology demonstrator, aerospace experts and former Air...
Pouring concrete to make hardened shelters for aircraft on the ground may not be as sexy as building next-generation fighter jets, but it may be just as important for the U.S. in a potential conflict with China, according to airpower scholars.
The appearance of new Chinese combat aircraft in recent weeks—potentially a new bomber and medium bomber, a smaller, fighter-size aircraft, and a new AWACS platform, among others—didn’t influence current Air Force leadership’s recent decisions on the Next-Generation Air Dominance program or the service’s broader strategic ...
China may be flying its new H-20 stealth bomber, possibly seen in new imagery circulating on Chinese social media. If the imagery is authentic, the aircraft is not the expected flying wing but has large tail control surfaces.
Two new Chinese military aircraft flights revealed on the internet suggest China has a new medium bomber in development, as well as a smaller, fighter-class aircraft that could be a technology demonstrator or even an uncrewed combat aircraft, according to industry experts.
China's air force is advancing quickly, and while it has not yet pulled even with the U.S. Air Force, it's moving in that direction, according to the Pentagon's annual China military power report.
The People’s Republic of China has improved its ability to project power globally despite corruption purges and a shrinking economy, the Pentagon’s annual report card on the Chinese military says. That includes a growing nuclear arsenal that added 100 new warheads in the last year.
The People’s Republic of China is expanding the range of its missiles and aircraft farther and farther beyond its shores, causing the U.S. Air Force to double down on its commitment to agile combat employment and focus on the complex logistics of a potential Indo-Pacific ...
The Chinese air force is accelerating some of its fighter pilot training but likely won't fully modernize until 2030. Tradition and the tempo of graduating aviation academy classes constrains pilot production.
When China’s air force and coast guard engaged recently in apparently provocative actions in the East and South China Seas, most Western media framed the events as evidence of Beijing’s aggressive and potentially destabilizing behavior. While aggressive is often an apt term for People’s Liberation ...
