Air Force of the People's Republic of China
The Air Force of the People's Republic of China (Traditional Chinese: 中國人民解放軍 空軍; Simplified Chinese: 中国人民解放军 空军; Pinyin (syllables that show how to pronounce it): Zhōngguó Rénmín Jiěfàngjūn Kōngjūn ; English : People's Liberation Army Air Force , abk . : PLAAF ) are one of five branches of the People's Liberation Army . It has around 250,000 soldiers, including around 90,000 conscripts . The current (2014) commander is Ma Xiaotian.
structure
The Chinese Air Force is divided into 29 divisions : 21 fighter, three bomber, three fighter-bomber and two transport divisions. In addition, the People's Republic is regionally divided into seven military districts, each with a headquarters . In addition, there are two naval aviation fighter divisions in each of the three Chinese naval districts. The geographical division of the Air Force and Army is congruent if the headquarters are separate. Most fighter jets are based in the coastal military districts, with a clear focus on the coast opposite Taiwan . Another, locally narrowly limited, stationing focus extends around Beijing. The most powerful air defense units are also set up there.
equipment
The air force has around 1,800 combat aircraft and around 180 reconnaissance aircraft ( Mikojan-Gurevich MiG-19 , Mikojan-Gurevich MiG-21 , JZ-6, JZ-8), more than 300 transport and tanker aircraft and more than 500 training machines. The Chinese Air Force is currently being upgraded primarily with cruise missiles , tanker planes , flying radar systems , drones and modern location technology . The aircraft fleet still consists of older, short-range models.
Warplanes
The number of air combat aircraft in 2009 was estimated to be just under 1,200, including 100 Chengdu J-7 , 120 Shenyang J-8 and 130 Shenyang J-11 (five regiments each ). Modern combat aircraft such as the Sukhoi Su-27 (almost 80 pieces) and Sukhoi Su-30 (almost 100 pieces, four regiments, some in the MKK2 version optimized for sea combat) were bought by Russia. A licensed version of the Su-27 is produced in China under the name Shenyang J-11. In 2005, Russia allowed China to expand the Su-27 license to the modernized Su-27SMK. In addition, there is a new fighter aircraft developed in China under the name Chengdu J-10 . The model has been in series production since the end of 2004 and was probably delivered to the troops for the first time in 2003 for testing and in 2005 for active use. China presumably had three regiments with 90 of these machines. The JH-7 model is specially designed for combat against sea targets. 20 of these aircraft are said to have been in active service. China is expected to deliver an export version of the J-10 from 2009. The first customers will be Pakistan, which has ordered up to 40 machines. The fighter planes are mainly equipped with Chinese replicas of the Soviet R-3 rocket and the Israeli Python III .
At the beginning of 2019, Flug Revue counted a total of 1624 fighter jets of the types Sukhoi Su-27/30/33/35 (or Shenyang J-11, J-15 and J-16) (391 units), Harbin H-6 ( 150 pieces), Nanchang Q-5 (148 pieces), Shenyang J-8 (143 pieces) and Xian JH-7 (104 pieces). On March 17, 2017, China put its first stealth fighter, the Chengdu J-20, into service, which it also developed itself.
bomber
The approximately 550 fighter-bombers are mainly NAMC Q-5 machines . There are also smaller numbers of JH-7A (from the end of 2004) and Su-30MKK acquired by Russia . The fighter-bomber fleet is armed with Ch-29 , Ch-31 and Ch-59M missiles .
The strategic bomber fleet with around 80 machines is based primarily on the Xian H-6 model in various stages of modernization. 20 of the machines are said to be equipped for the use of atomic bombs.
A new Xian H-20 strategic stealth bomber is currently under development, and a first prototype is due to be unveiled to the public on the 70th anniversary of the Air Force's establishment. That would be November 11, 2019.
Drones
There are only two self-made drone types in use in China : the WZ-5, a replica of the American AQM-34, and the ASN-206, which is based on Israeli drone types. Several models of drones are under development. A reconnaissance drone called "Dufeng II", which is supposed to be started and operated by a single soldier, seems to have been developed relatively far.
Transportation and assistance
China did not begin building an air refueling fleet until around 2000 , which was first reported operational in 2005. However, only a few tanker planes are likely to be in use .
Air defense
China has 64 S-300P MU-1 air defense systems purchased from Russia . 32 successor models S-300PMU-2 were also purchased and are currently being issued to the troops. 32 S-300PS and the Chinese weapons HQ-9 (64 systems), KS-1 / HQ-12 (60) and HQ-6 (30) are still in use. The more recent in-house developments include the PGZ95 anti-aircraft tank and its successor, the PGZ09 .
Although the People's Republic has a modern air defense network, especially around Beijing, as well as a few ultra-modern systems in other parts of the country, most anti-aircraft weapons are still small, short-range systems that can be transported by individual soldiers and are operated by western observers under the acronym "CSA".
Systems in development
The FB-7, a medium-range fighter-bomber with naval aiming, the FBC-1, a long-range fighter, and the modern H6 version HK-6, the to be equipped with the first self-developed cruise missiles for the use of airplanes. Based on the Beriev A-50 , China has developed its own AWACS system under the name KJ-2000 . At the same time, various variants are being developed for the older Y-8 transport aircraft, including AWACS units and combat command systems, which are particularly designed for connection with naval units. A new anti-aircraft system called the CSA-7 is essentially a copy of the French Crotale , a tactical anti-aircraft weapon with a range of 15 kilometers.
Together with Pakistan, China is involved in the Chengdu FC-1 project. China should buy at least 200 pieces.
Imports
The Air Force has a small number of cruise missiles that have been imported and are mainly suitable for anti-sea targeting, as well as some cruise missiles for anti-radar equipment (mainly Israeli harpy drones and Russian anti-radar missiles).
In addition, in 2005 a decision was made with Russia to purchase a further 40 Il-76 transport aircraft and four Il-78 refueling aircraft , but this was not carried out due to increased prices and production delays. After this process led to tensions between the two states and to the freezing of other arms deals by China, the two partners agreed in July 2008 to completely renegotiate the deal.
Negotiations are also ongoing about the purchase of further missiles and cruise missiles for the air-to-air and air-to-ground applications (including anti-radar missiles), as well as our own development programs in this segment. In the course of this modernization, the air force is being downsized, as the large number of obsolete fighters cannot be replaced by much newer models. Some of these fighters have been converted into unmanned drones , but their quality still lags behind Western machines.
literature
- Andreas Rupprecht: Dragon wings. The military aviation of the People's Republic of China. First part . In: Fliegerrevue Extra . No. 17 , 2007, p. 48-75 .
- Andreas Rupprecht: Dragon wings. The military aviation of the People's Republic of China. Part two . In: Fliegerrevue Extra . No. 18 , 2007, p. 40-73 .
- Andreas Rupprecht: Dragon wings. The military aviation of the People's Republic of China. Third part . In: Fliegerrevue Extra . No. 19 , 2007, pp. 30-71 .
- Andreas Rupprecht, Tom Cooper : Modern Chinese Warplanes, Combat Aircraft and Units of the Chinese Air Force and Naval Aviation. Harpia Publishing, 2012, ISBN 978-0-9854554-0-8 .
- Andreas Rupprecht & Tom Cooper: Modern Chinese Warplanes, Combat Aircraft and Units of the Chinese Air Force and Naval Aviation, Harpia Publishing (2012), ISBN 0985455403 , ISBN 978-0985455408
Web links
- The PLAAF at GlobalSecurity (English)
- About the equipment of the PLAAF at SinoDefence (English)
- Organization of the PLAAF from January 2007 (English)
