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...