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The United States WDMMA website released the latest global air force ranking in October 2024, which has aroused widespread attention and discussion, and this ranking has surprised many people: the Chinese Air Force is ranked 7th, even worse than the India Air Force ranked 6th, this result made many Chinese netizens feel incredible, and some even questioned the fairness of this ranking.
In recent years, the development of the Chinese Air Force can be described as advancing by leaps and bounds, from the J-20 stealth fighter to the Y-20 large transport aircraft, and then to the H-6N long-range bomber, the equipment level of the Chinese Air Force has jumped to a new height, so why such a ranking result, and what kind of international situation and military pattern does this reflect?
November 11, 1949 was the day when the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force was formally established, and the Chinese Air Force at that time was poorly equipped and technologically backward, and it could be described as starting from scratch, but it was such a nascent force that dealt a heavy blow to the United States Air Force in the Korean War and created the miracle of "shooting down US planes with zero battle damage."
Since then, the Chinese Air Force has begun a long road of catching up, in the 50s of the 20th century, China began to introduce the Soviet Union's MiG-15, MiG-17 and other fighters, in the 60s China's self-developed J-6, H-6 and other aircraft have been put into service, and in the 80s J-7, J-8 and other more advanced fighters began to equip the troops.
In the 21st century, the development of the Chinese Air Force has entered the fast lane, in 2011, China's fourth-generation fighter J-20 made its first successful flight, marking China's entry into the world's advanced fighter club, in 2016, the Y-20 large transport aircraft was put into service, greatly improving the strategic projection capability of the Chinese Air Force, and in 2019, the H-6N long-range bomber appeared at the National Day parade, making China the third country with long-range strategic bombers after United States and Russia.
At the same time, the combat system of the Chinese Air Force is also constantly improving, and the development of support and support equipment such as early warning aircraft, air tankers, and electronic warfare aircraft has greatly enhanced the combat capability of the Chinese Air Force.
Since the Chinese Air Force is developing so rapidly, why it lags behind India in this ranking, it is necessary to mention the situation of the India Air Force.
The India Air Force was founded in 1932, 17 years earlier than the Chinese Air Force, and for a long time after independence, the India Air Force has maintained a relatively leading position, especially in the 70s to 90s of the 20th century, the India Air Force is equipped with a large number of Soviet-made advanced fighters, such as MiG-29, Su-30, etc., which is second to none in Asia.
However, after entering the 21st century, the development of the India Air Force has encountered a bottleneck; on the one hand, India is heavily dependent on imported weapons and equipment, and its independent research and development capabilities are insufficient; on the other hand, although India's defense budget has increased year by year, due to corruption and mismanagement, there is not much actual funds for equipment renewal.
Despite this, the India Air Force still maintains considerable strength, according to statistics, as of 2024, the India Air Force has about 2,000 aircraft of various types, including 272 Su-30MKI heavy fighters, 51 Rafale fighters and other advanced equipment, in addition to India is also actively developing its own research and development of "Brilliant" fighters, and plans to introduce more advanced fighters.
So why does the United States WDMMA website give such a ranking? Here we need to understand the judging criteria of this ranking, WDMMA ranking not only considers the number and quality of aircraft, but also includes pilot training level, logistics support capabilities, combat experience and other aspects, in some aspects India may indeed have its advantages.
For example, the India Air Force has participated in many actual combat operations, including the Kargil War in 1999 and many air confrontations with Pakistan in recent years, and these actual combat experiences may have a certain weight in the score, and the India Air Force has close military cooperation with Western countries such as United States and France, and may have more advantages in joint exercises and training.
The development of the Chinese Air Force was not all smooth sailing, after the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations in the 60s of the 20th century, China lost the technical support of the Soviet Union and had to take the road of self-reliance.
In the early 80s, China began to implement the policy of reform and opening up, which not only promoted economic development, but also provided financial support for military modernization, during which China began to introduce advanced Western technology, such as Israel's "Baby Lion" fighter technology, which greatly promoted the development of Chinese fighters.
In the 90s, with the increase of national strength, China began to increase investment in the Air Force, and in 1997, China introduced the Su-27SK fighter from Russia and obtained a production license, which marked a major leap in the equipment level of the Chinese Air Force.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the Chinese Air Force began a new round of leapfrog development, in 2005 with independent intellectual property rights of the J-10 fighter officially put into service, in 2011 the fourth generation fighter J-20 made its first successful flight, in 2016 the large transport aircraft Y-20 into service, these achievements indicate that China has the ability to develop the world's advanced military aircraft.
However, we must also be soberly aware that the Chinese Air Force still has deficiencies in some areas, such as in terms of engine technology, China is still lagging behind Western countries, and the turbofan engine with a high thrust-to-weight ratio has always been the "neck" technology of China's aviation industry, although China has made some progress in this regard in recent years, such as the successful development of the turbofan-10 engine, but it will take time to really catch up with the world's advanced level.
In addition, there is still room for improvement in the construction of the air force's operational concept and system, and how to transform advanced equipment into actual combat effectiveness and how to give full play to the superiority of the air force in information-based warfare are all issues that need to be constantly explored and practiced.
Returning to the WDMMA rankings, we also need to consider an important factor: geopolitics, in the current international situation United States and its allies may deliberately downplay China's military power in order to reduce deterrence against other countries, while raising the military power of India and other countries, possibly to counterbalance China in the regional balance.
Such rankings tend to be highly subjective and politically biased, and the United States, as a Western country, may give a higher evaluation to India, which has a closer relationship with it, in its assessment, and because China's rise is seen as a challenge to United States' hegemony, the United States media may deliberately downplay China's military power in its reporting.
In fact, if we carefully compare the strength of the Chinese and India air forces, we will find that China has obvious advantages in many aspects, first of all, in the number of advanced fighters, China's J-20 stealth fighter has been mass-produced and in service, while India's fifth-generation fighter program is still in the research and development stage.
China is also far superior in the comprehensiveness of air power, China not only has various types of fighters, but also advanced bombers, large transport aircraft, early warning aircraft and air tankers, compared with the India Air Force has obvious shortcomings in strategic bombers and large transport aircraft.
Moreover, the independent research and development capability of the Chinese Air Force is far beyond that of India, from the J-20 to the Y-20 to the new generation of bombers being developed, China has basically formed a complete military aircraft research and development system, and although India is also trying to develop its own aviation industry, but the progress is slow, and it is still highly dependent on imports.
However, the India Air Force does have its unique advantages, such as the India Air Force has rich experience in plateau operations, thanks to its long-term confrontation with China and Pakistan in the Himalayas, and the India Air Force has a high degree of internationalization and often participates in multinational joint exercises, which to some extent compensates for its equipment disadvantages.
During World War II, the Germany Air Force once dominated the skies over Europe, but ultimately lost to the industrial strength of United States, and the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in air force equipment during the Cold War directly promoted the rapid development of aviation science and technology.
Nowadays, with the continuous improvement of China's comprehensive national strength, the development of the Chinese Air Force has also entered the fast lane, especially in the context of the "Belt and Road" initiative, the long-range delivery capability of the Chinese Air Force is particularly important, which is not only reflected in the military but also in humanitarian relief and other peace missions.
After the strong earthquake in Turkey in February 2023, the Chinese Air Force's Y-20 transport aircraft flew to the disaster area as soon as possible to transport relief materials and personnel, which not only demonstrated China's military strength, but also demonstrated China's image as a responsible major country.
However, the development of military strength is not for the purpose of dominating the world, but for the purpose of maintaining peace, and the development of China's air force is aimed at safeguarding national security and maintaining regional stability.
What do we think of this ranking in this context? First of all, we should not pay too much attention to this kind of subjective ranking, the real strength is not proved by the evaluation of others, but to be able to play a role at a critical moment, and secondly, we must also objectively look at our own shortcomings, despite the rapid development of the Chinese Air Force, but in some areas, such as engine technology, there is still a gap.
After all, the competition of military strength is a race in which there are no winners, and real strength is not only reflected in the military, but also in the economic, scientific, technological, cultural, and other all-round national strength; only by constantly advancing on the road of peaceful development can we truly achieve the country's long-term peace and stability.
A strong national defense is the guarantee of peace, but the concept of peaceful development is the foundation of the country's long-term peace and stability, let us hope that in the near future, the Chinese Air Force can become an important force in maintaining world peace and contribute to the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.
What do you think of this ranking of air forces released by the American media? Feel free to leave a message in the comment area.
Resources:
Kanwen's Ke Jing2024-10-14China is not comparable to India? The US media released the 2024 global air force ranking, and China actually ranked 7th
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