Title: Comprehensive Improvement: The Cross-Era Transformation of the Chinese Air ForceRecently, the U.S. military has compiled and analyzed a large amount of intelligence to predict the strength of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in various fields, among which the increase in the strength of the PLA Air Force has aroused widespread attention from the international community. This article will analyze the US military's report in depth, explore the development trend of the PLA fighter force, and reveal the possible problems behind it.
According to the latest report from the Pentagon, by the end of 2021, the Chinese Air Force and Naval Aviation were equipped with a total of 1,800 fighters, including about 800 fourth-generation aircraft. By the end of 2022, the total number of fighters increased to 1,900 units, and the number of fourth-generation aircraft soared to 1,300 units. This means that in the next few years, the PLA will mainly rely on fourth-generation aircraft, eliminating old second-generation aircraft such as the J-7. In addition to this, the report also mentions that the PLA is strengthening the construction and upgrading of the fifth-generation aircraft J-20, as well as the progress of the J-35 project.
However, data shows that in 2022 alone, the PLA replaced at least 500 fourth-generation aircraft, which is obviously an unusually large number. Considering that no country in the world is currently capable of producing hundreds of fighters in a year, there is reason to doubt the veracity of these data. In fact, due to a series of recent reforms in the PLA, a large number of fighters that originally belonged to the naval aviation were transferred to the Air Force, and the US military may double count these models when counting.
On the other hand, the PLA is accelerating the elimination of old J-7 fighters. Earlier this year, Chinese state media reported that the Chinese Air Force was speeding up the process of refitting the J-7. It is China's independent aviation industry that supports this speed of retooling, especially after the breakthrough in domestic engine technology, China no longer relies on Russian engines and can complete the production of fighters faster.
Nevertheless, the production and refitting of fifth-generation aircraft is not a one-time thing. Even the U.S. military, its F-35 is not refitting quickly, and there is also the problem of fleet reliability. Therefore, in the next few years, the PLA still needs to replace the fourth and fifth generation aircraft at a relatively fast speed at the same time, so as to improve the overall combat effectiveness.
Through this analysis, we can see that although there are certain problems with the data of the US military, their conclusion is correct: the PLA is indeed speeding up the refitting of fighter units and working to improve air power. In the process, the PLA not only relied on its own strong aviation industry, but also demonstrated its ability to quickly adapt to and respond to changes in the international situation, further consolidating its position and influence in the Asia-Pacific region and even the world.