https://freerepublic.com/tag/plaa/ en-us Thu, 17 Jan 2019 13:30:31 GMT Focus Forum 15 https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3720602/posts A new report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency highlights Beijing’s continued development of airpower capabilities. The unclassified report draws on public sources to discuss the full spectrum of Chinese military capabilities, from land forces to space and cyber capabilities. It also underlines the airpower developments that are of specific interest to Washington. “The People’s Liberation Army Air Force [PLAAF] is closing the gap with Western air forces across a broad spectrum of capabilities, such as aircraft performance, command and control, and electronic warfare,” it says. The PLAAF’s role has evolved from one of protecting China’s population centres and industrial... FlightGlobal https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3720602/posts#comment Thu, 17 Jan 2019 13:30:31 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/818428/posts China is faced with a catastrophe in its air force. Thousands of J-6 and J-7 fighters 9 (as well as Q5, H5 and H6 bombers) are going be at the end of their useful lives in the next ten years. All of these aircraft are based on 1950s Russian designs. The J-6 is a Chinese copy of the Russian MiG-19, the J-7 a copy of the MiG-21. Since the end of the Cold War, China has been buying more modern Su-27 and Su-30 warplanes from Russia, as well as the technology needed to build them on their own. But Chinese... Strategypage.com https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/818428/posts#comment Tue, 7 Jan 2003 19:36:14 GMT