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  • Initial Fighter Pilot Training in the PLA Air Force

    At the beginning of the 2010s, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force’s (PLAAF’s) program for the initial training of fighter pilots had three problems. First, the program was inordinately long and gradual. Second, the PLAAF lacked an advanced trainer aircraft that was suitable for

  • Commanders of the PLA Air Force

    In the era of great power competition, it is important to understand all of the actors. Not just organizations and structure, but people as well. On 27 August 2017, Lieutenant General Ding Laihang became the 12th Commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force (PLAAF) since 1949. He

  • Chinese Airborne C4ISR

         As we move further into the era of 21st century great power competition, it is important to understand the many facets of that competition. This report is the next in a series of studies by the China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) that seeks to lay the foundation for better understanding

  • The Improvement of the PLA’s Close Air Support Capability

    In August 2020 the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) indicated that some of its units had made technological and procedural advancements in its capability to provide close air support (CAS). The PLA has been working to develop the systems and procedures to conduct CAS safely and effectively for

  • Air-to-Air Missiles: Capabilities and Developments In China

    “Good enough”, this is how I often describe China’s short-term ambitions. They don’t need to have a world-class / global-leader military, not yet; what they need is something that is ‘good enough’. This has implications for how China pursues its program of military modernization and its goal to

  • Command of the Air - the view of the PLAAF

         Although the 2004 white paper is the first of the PRC’s defense white papers to note what it calls “command of the air,” identified in the Chinese version as  zhikongquan (制空权), the concept for the PLAAF dates back to the 1960s.  Although the 2015 Defense White Paper, which focused on PLA

  • China’s Air Force Preparing for Contingencies in the Skies Over Ladakh

         Although current clashes along the Line of Actual Control between India and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are contained to hand-to-hand fighting as of mid-June 2020, the death of several dozen soldiers on 15 June reveals the potential for the skirmish to escalate in scale. As Indian and

  • China's Aeroengine Industry

         As we move further into the era of 21st century great power competition, it is important to understand with whom we are competing. This report is our second in a series of studies by the China Aerospace Studies Institute that seeks to lay the foundation for better understanding the Aerospace

  • Overview of the PLA Air Force’s Integrated Air & Space Strategy

    This paper examines the “integrated air and space capability” 1 (kongtian yiti / 空天一体) component of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force’s (PLAAF) first ever service strategy, which was implemented to coincide with the PLAAF’s 10th Party Congress in May 2004 and represented a major milestone

  • China and Russia historic flight

    Chinese and Russian bombers conducted a historic air patrol over the western Pacific.  The Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement about the flight."On July 23, 2019, the Aerospace Force of Russia and the Air Force of the People’s Liberation Army of China conducted the first joint air patrol

  • PLAAF Maintenance issues

    This is just one example of the type of articles that CASI looks at every day.  Please let us know if you are interested in getting added to the research database list. Jin Liubiao (金柳标), an enlisted maintenance technician (机械员) of an Eastern TCAF Maintenance Group (东部战区航空兵某部机务大队), mentioned the

  • China's hypersonic military projects include spaceplanes and rail guns

      Full report and graphics: https://www.popsci.com/chinas-hypersonic-work-speeds-upThe nation is focusing its research and development on tech that moves faster than the speed of sound.TENGYUNThe Tengyun spaceplane, first flight scheduled around 2020, will benefit from Chinese research into

  • China teases its new stealth bomber

     Full report and graphics: https://www.popsci.com/chinas-new-bomber-reveal Big NewsH-20Keeping in mind that the video image could very well bear little or no resemblance to the actual bomber, the bomber appears to be a large, cranked flying wing.Xian Aircraft CorporationAVIC, the Chinese

  • PLA Air Force's Four "Key Training Brands"

    The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force's (PLAAF) desire to advance its strategic transformation through qualitative changes is evidenced by its development of what it calls the "four key training brands". These include:  the Golden Helmet military competition; the Golden

  • China has big plans for a modern bomber

    Full article and graphics: https://www.popsci.com/explaining-chinas-big-bomber-plansThe H-20 is China's future stealth bomber.H-6KThe H-6K—a modernized version of a 60-year-old Soviet design—is the only mass-produced bomber in the world today.XinhuaChina's defense industry has been rapidly