9th Aviation Brigade Likely Validates Manned-Unmanned Teaming Combat Methods

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has likely made significant progress in developing effective manned-unmanned teaming (MUMT) concepts and employment tactics. As early as 2024, combat units began participating in the combat method validation process for MUMT. A maintainer affiliated

China's SEAD Tactics & Doctrine

Modern air warfare has demonstrated air superiority can no longer be assumed, even by technologically advanced militaries. The proliferation of mobile, networked, and resilient air defense systems has engendered a crucial shift. Once characterized by rapid dominance, aerial campaigns now manifest as

Chinese Perceptions of Stealth: Shaping Defense Against U.S. Capabilities and Indigenous Developments

Stealth technology has transformed modern air warfare, providing the United States with a sustained operational advantage for over four decades. From its Cold War beginnings to its development in platforms like the F-117, B-2, F-22, and F-35, stealth has evolved into a system-of-systems capability

Dr. Brendan Mulvaney on The Defense & Aerospace Air Power Podcast [May 28, 26] Season 4 E18: Pacing Threat

PLA Aerospace Power: A Primer on Trends in China’s Military Air, Space, and Missile Forces 5th Edition

Introduction and Strategic Context     Over the past twelve months, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has deepened a force structure built around four services, the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force; and four strategic arms, including the newly established Aerospace Force responsible for

Intermediate Flight Training Shifting to Aviation University

In June the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) broadcast a television news report showing students at the PLA Air Force’s (PLAAF) Aviation University training in an intermediate flight trainer. The university previously only conducted basic flight training, whereas intermediate flight training

Aerial Refueling Added to Flight Academies’ Transition Training Curriculum

In August 2025 the television news program National Defense and Military Affairs at Noon, which is produced by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), broadcast a segment showing flight instructors at the PLA Air Force’s (PLAAF) Xi’an Flight Academy undergoing training in aerial refueling.  This

PRC Media Responses to Pakistani J-10's Combat Success

On 9 May 2025, a Reuters report claimed that at least one Indian Air Force Rafale combat aircraft was shot down by a Pakistani pilot flying an export variant of the Chinese J-10 fighter.1 The defeat of a leading Western combat aircraft by a People’s Republic of China (PRC) indigenously-produced

A Look at the J-20 AESA Radar

There is a contrasting or somewhat paradoxical component to available information about the People’s Liberation Army Air Force J-20 Mighty Dragon’s performance parameters, because while much can be observed and learned regarding the aircraft’s external configuration and domestically built WS-15

The Truth about the Sino-Russian Combined Patrols

This article was published as part of the cooperation between CASI and the Japanese Air Self Defense Force's  Air and Space Studies Institute (JASI)The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has conducted nine “combined strategic aerial patrols” with the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS)

2025 PLA Pilot Recruitment Cycle

     In accordance with Xi Jinping’s guidance, the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has prioritized the development of its high-tech aviation capabilities, emphasizing not only the advancement of sophisticated equipment but also the training of highly skilled flight personnel. As

Modernization of Fighter Pilot Training in the PLA Air Force Proceeds Apace

In the past several months, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has reported and released information about new developments in its effort to modernize the PLA Air Force’s (PLAAF) training of prospective fighter pilots. One of the institutions that conduct that training, the Shijiazhuang

Charting the Course: How the PLA's Expected Regional and Global Strategies Should Influence the U.S. Air Force's Lines of Efforts

By CASI Fellow Major Josh "Soup" CampbellThis report provides an analysis of the geopolitical dynamics between the United States and China, focusing on military and strategic considerations. It emphasizes that the United States, once unmatched in its military and economic prowess compared to China,

USAF Should Look At China’s Future Multi-Crew Fighter Model For F-15EX

The F-15EX's currently empty rear cockpit needs to be taken advantage of by adding a new kind of second crewmen, an Air Mission Commanding Officer.By CASI Fellow Major Josh "Soup" Campbell

PLA Aerospace Power: A Primer on Trends in China’s Military Air, Space, and Missile Forces 4th Edition

The Big Picture            As the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) moves ever closer to its centennial anniversary, it shows no signs of slowing the pace of modernization.  Under the direct guidance of Xi Jinping, Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),

Ongoing Organizational Reforms of the PLAAF

From the chapter by Dr. Brendan S. Mulvaney and Ken Allen on the Ongoing Organizational Reforms of the PLAAF from Modernising the People’s Liberation Army: Aspiring to be a Global Military Power (available

ITOW: Air Force Tactical Logistics

The “In Their Own Words” series is dedicated to translations of Chinese documents in order to help non-Mandarin speaking audiences access and understand Chinese thinking. CASI would like to thank all of those involved in this effort. In the “In Their Own Words” series, CASI and its collaborators aim

Army Fuel Keeps Air Force Aircraft Flying

In mid-February it was reported that a unit of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force was receiving aviation fuel and other supplies from a supply base of the PLA Army. The report provides more evidence that the PLA is improving its joint logistics capability, as previously assessed by

Status of the 41st Aviation Brigade transition to the J-20

By late last fall, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF) 41st Aviation Brigade active out of Wuyishan Airbase in Fujian province appeared to be transitioning to the J-20. Commercial satellite imagery from 29 November 2023 shows six J-20 airframes in the open at Wuyishan Airbase. This

Dragons Fly

Dragons Fly! Dr. Brendan Mulvaney, Director of the China Aerospace Studies Institute at Air University, looks at China’s 2023 in the air and what’s likely in 2024. Plus this week’s headlines in #airpower. From the Defense & Aerospace Report