Currently, the Chinese Air Force, which numbers 350,000 people, 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 ones. In addition, the Celestial Empire is armed with about 150 helicopters and a significant amount of air defense equipment.
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 provided great assistance to the military industry, which was just beginning to develop, by organizing the production of its own aircraft at Chinese enterprises from the mid-fifties.
However, the ensuing Cultural Revolution and, as a consequence, the international isolation provoked by it, significantly slowed down the development of the country's industry. This caused a bigdamage and 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 are 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 multifunctional 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, involved about a hundred aircraft and could not represent any serious military force. However, one cannot deny their contribution to the defeat of militaristic Japan and the return of Manchuria, Taiwan and the Pescador Islands.
During the period since its founding, the Chinese Air Force has accumulated a certain amount of experience in combat operations. In particular, they took part in the Korean War of 1950-1953, fighting side by side with the aviation units of North Korea and forming a joint air army with them.
When several American reconnaissance drones invaded their airspace during the Vietnam War, theywere immediately shot down. This clearly demonstrated the rather high level of combat readiness of Chinese pilots. However, for a number of reasons, aviation was practically not involved in the military conflict with Vietnam in 1979.
Military Aviation Units
In terms of its composition, the Chinese Air Force is not much different from the air forces of other modern developed countries. They include all traditional units, such as bomber, attack, fighter, reconnaissance and military transport. In addition, they include air defense units, radio technical and landing troops.
The supreme command of all the Chinese Armed Forces 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. The commissar also plays an important role in command. Currently, he is Tian Xiusi.
The territory of modern China is divided into seven military regions. Each of them includes an air force grouping, the commander of which is directly subordinate to the district headquarters. Such units consist of aviation divisions, individual regiments and academies that train flight crews and technical personnel.
Aviation divisions are large tactical formations, which include several aviation regiments, divided into squadrons, each of which consists of three separate units. ATBomber aviation link is represented, as a rule, by three aircraft. In assault and fighter, their number increases to four. In addition to combat vehicles, each regiment has several training aircraft of various classes. In general, the regiment can have 20-40 units of flight equipment.
Currently, more than four hundred airfields have been built in China, of which three hundred and fifty have high-tech hard surface. This reserve is enough to accommodate nine thousand units of aircraft, which is three times greater than the entire aviation fleet of the state.
The role of aviation in the "nuclear triad"
The main component of the Armed Forces of modern powers is atomic weapons, which in their structure can be conditionally divided into three main components, which received the name of the "nuclear triad" from military strategists. They primarily include land-based missile systems - both stationary silo and mobile mobile.
In addition, these are cruise and ballistic missiles launched from submarines. And finally, the most important role is assigned to strategic aviation, capable of delivering aeroballistic or cruise missiles to the specified area. Based on the combination of all these factors that make up the state's strategic nuclear potential, international analysts call China the third superpower.
The need to develop strategic aviation
All three components of the triad mentioned above are in service with the PRC, but the level of strategic aviationcountry leaves much to be desired. It should be noted that if 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.
The Celestial Empire 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 fear a possible blow. In this regard, significant efforts are being made to create new and modernize the anti-missile and air defense systems already in service, as well as the Chinese Air Force.
A fifth-generation fighter capable of being invisible to enemy radars was one of such 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. They are carrier-based fighters of the Chinese Air Force. Home ports for newly built ships have been upgraded and expanded accordingly.
Works to create a newtechnicians
In recent years, the media reported that Chinese designers are developing a promising new strategic bomber capable of delivering nuclear charges over a distance of seven thousand kilometers. This range is especially important because 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 should greatly complicate its detection.
Special requirements are imposed on strategic aviation in China, since due to the geographical position of the country, its use is associated with a number of difficulties. The fact is that all possible targets are at a very considerable distance. To Alaska, for example, five thousand kilometers, and to the coast of the United States - eight. To reach it, 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 warfare has been added to them.
Specialists calculated that in the event of a war, Chinese Air Force planes would not be able to enter the area of combat missile launches on American territory, since the US Navy would 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 fantastic,in our time, the range is from ten to twelve thousand kilometers. No army in the world has such combat vehicles yet.
Selected weapons of the Chinese Air Force
Military analysts are also speculating about China's possible development of a medium-range bomber. This idea was prompted in 2013 by the refusal to purchase thirty-six Russian Tu-22M3 aircraft designed to deliver missile and bomb weapons over relatively short distances. It is currently 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 aviation fleet includes a number of modern aircraft. Speaking of them, we should highlight some of the most interesting models. First of all, this is the H-6K medium-range bomber. A completely modern machine, which is an example of advanced engineering. It cannot be classified as a strategic launch vehicle only because of some limited speed.
Soviet-licensed aircraft
Another combat vehicle in service with the Chinese Air Force is the Tu-16. This is an aircraft built on the basis of a license agreement with Russia. Especially for him, Chinese designers have developed a new improved engine, equipped with economical turbofans. Thanks to him, aircraft are able to develop a much higher speed (up to 1060 km per hour) and reachheights of thirteen thousand meters. This development made it possible to arm Chinese Air Force aircraft with new CI-10A missiles with a range of five and a half to six thousand kilometers. Of course, this will open up new, previously unused opportunities for them.
Military experts agree that at present the strategic bombers of the Chinese Air Force are very limited by the geography of their application. Only the shores of Australia, Alaska, as well as part of the territory of Asia and Europe are accessible to them, while their main potential adversaries, the Americans, still remain out of reach. The latest Chinese development of a bomber, codenamed H-20, should solve this problem.
Fighters in service with China
Speaking of the air forces of the Celestial Empire, one cannot help but dwell on its fighter aircraft. Despite the fact that its fleet has received a large number of J-10 and J-11 combat vehicles 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 ones created on their basis. The story of their appearance in the Armed Forces of the country is quite 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 to China a license for the production of the latest, at that time, fighterMiG-21 and all its equipment. However, a year later, the well-known cultural revolution began, which caused the international isolation of China and the rupture of its relations with the Soviet Union.
As a result, the government of the USSR canceled the already issued license and withdrew from the country all its specialists involved in its implementation. A year later, realizing that it was impossible to do without the Soviet Union, Mao Zedong went for rapprochement with our country, as a result of which cooperation was restored for some time.
N. S. Khrushchev agreed to continue work on introducing the licensed MiG-21 aircraft into production for the Chinese Air Force. In January 1966, the first fully assembled in China fighter J-7, created under license from the Soviet MiG-21 fighter, was tested. Despite the fact that almost half a century has passed, this aircraft has not yet been withdrawn from service with the Chinese Air Force. His photo is presented below.
Relationship between countries at the present stage
At present, despite outwardly settled relations between Russia and China, many analysts tend to see our eastern neighbor as a potential threat. 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 a rapidly developing industry, neighbors may well be tempted to solve their problems through 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. ToUnfortunately, this form of "armed friendship" is an objective reality in the modern world.
