The People's Liberation Army Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the People's
Liberation Army, the military of the People's Republic of China.
The PLAAF was officially established on 11 November 1949.
As of 2010, the PLAAF has a strength of around 330,000 personnel and is the largest air force
in Asia.
With ongoing modernisation, all older aircraft types in service are quickly being phased
out and emphasis being placed on developing modern 4.5th generation fighters to replace
them - along with 5th generation fighters in the near future.
If current trends continue and the United States Air Force pursue plans to replace larger
numbers of F-15 tactical fighters with fewer numbers of F-22 Raptors then the People's
Liberation Army Air Force is set to, in numerical terms, have the largest tactical fighter force
in the world.
The People's Liberation Army Navy maintains its own naval air arm, operating some 450
aircraft, of which around 290 are fighter aircraft.
History
Korean War to the Sino-Soviet Split The PLAAF was founded with Soviet assistance
on November 11, 1949, shortly after the formation of the People's Republic of China.
The PLA had operated few aircraft before that.
The PLA's first organized air unit, the Nanyuan Flying Group, was formed only in the summer
of 1949 from about 40 ex-Nationalist aircraft; its task was to defend Beijing, the nation's
new capital.
The PLAAF fought the Korean War in Soviet-built MiG-15, known as the J-2 in Chinese service,
with training from Soviet instructors.
The war also brought Soviet assistance for the indigenous aircraft industry.
The Shenyang Aircraft Factory built the two-seat MiG-15UTI trainer as the JJ-2, and during
the war manufactured various components to maintain the Soviet-built fighters.
This prepared them to mass-produce derivatives of Soviet aircraft under license, starting
with the J-5 in 1956, then the J-6 in 1959, and then the J-7 in 1967.
The 1960s were a difficult time for the PLAAF.
The withdrawal of Soviet aid due to the Sino-Soviet split, and the prioritization of the missile
and nuclear weapon programs, caused the industry to markedly decline through 1963.
A recovery began around 1965 as J-2s, J-5s, and some J-6s were provided to North Vietnam
during the Vietnam War.
Development of the J-8, China's first indigenous fighter, was also initiated during the 1960s.
The 1980s The PLA Air Force underwent reorganization
and streamlining as part of the reduction in force begun in 1985.
Before the 1985 reorganization, the Air Force reportedly had four branches: air defense,
ground attack, bombing, and independent air regiments.
In peacetime the Air Force Directorate, under the supervision of the PLA General Staff Department,
controlled the Air Force through air army headquarters located with, or in communication
with, each of the seven military region headquarters.
In war, control of the Air Force probably reverted to the regional commanders.
In 1987 it was not clear how the reorganization and the incorporation of air support elements
into the group armies affected air force organization.
The largest Air Force organizational unit was the division, which consisted of 17,000
personnel in three regiments.
A typical air defense regiment had three squadrons of three flights; each flight had three or
four aircraft.
The Air Force also had 220,000 air defense personnel who controlled about 100 surface-to-air
missile sites and over 16,000 antiaircraft guns.
In addition, it had a large number of early-warning, ground-control-intercept, and air-base radars
manned by specialized troops organized into at least twenty-two independent regiments.
In the 1980s the Air Force made serious efforts to raise the educational level and improve
the training of its pilots.
Superannuated pilots were retired or assigned to other duties.
All new pilots were at least middle-school graduates.
The time it took to train a qualified pilot capable of performing combat missions reportedly
was reduced from four or five years to two years.
Training emphasized raising technical and tactical skills in individual pilots and participation
in combined-arms operations.
Flight safety also increased.
In 1987 the Air Force had serious technological deficiencies — especially when compared
with its principal threat, the Soviet Union — and had many needs that it could not satisfy.
It needed more advanced aircraft, better avionics, electronic countermeasures equipment, more
powerful aircraft weaponry, a low-altitude surface-to-air missile, and better controlled
antiaircraft artillery guns.
Some progress was made in aircraft design with the incorporation of Western avionics
into the F-7 and F-8, the development of refueling capabilities for the B-6D bomber and the A-5
attack fighter, increased aircraft all-weather capabilities, and the production of the HQ-2J
high-altitude surface-to-air missile and the C-601 air-to-ship missile.
Although the PLAAF received significant support from Western nations in the 1980s when China
was seen as a counterweight to Soviet power, this support ended in 1989 as a result of
the Chinese crackdown on the Tiananmen protests of 1989 and the later collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991.
After the fall of the USSR, Russia became China's principal arms supplier to the effect
that Chinese economic growth allowed Russia to sustain its aerospace industry.
Modernization program
In the late 1980s, the primary mission of the PLAAF was the defense of the mainland,
and most aircraft were assigned to this role.
A smaller number of ground attack and bomber units were assigned to interdiction and possibly
close air support, and some bomber units could be used for nuclear delivery.
The force had only limited military airlift and reconnaissance capabilities.
In the early 1990s, the PLAAF began a program of modernization, motivated by the collapse
of the Soviet Union, as well as the possibility of military conflict with the Republic of
China and perhaps also involving the United States.
This process began with the acquisition of Su-27s in the early 1990s and the development
of various fourth-generation aircraft, including the domestic J-10, and the FC-1 . The PLAAF
also strove to improve its pilot training and continued to retire obsolete aircraft.
This resulted in a reduction of the overall number of aircraft in the PLAAF with a concurrent
increase in quality of its air fleet.
The 21st century has seen the continuation of the modernization program with China's
huge economic growth.
It acquired 76 Su-30MKK's from 2000 to 2003, and 24 upgraded Su-30MK2's in 2004.
It also produced around 200 J-11s from 2002 onwards and bought 3 batches of the Su-27SK/UBK.
Production of the J-10 fighter began in 2002 with an estimated 200 aircraft in service
currently.
The PLAAF also began developing its own tanker aircraft, which it previously lacked, by modifying
old H-6 bomber.
In 2005 it announced plans to buy approximately 30 IL-76 transport planes and 8 Il-78 tanker
planes, which would greatly increase its troop airlift capability and offer extended range
to many aircraft, though as of 2009 this deal is still on hold.
Predictions of the PLAAF's future aircraft fleet indicate that it will consist of large
quantities of Chengdu J-10 and Shenyang J-11 as its main force, with J-16 and JH-7A as
the PLAAF backbone precision strike fighters.
Future stealth fighter projects such as the Chengdu J-20 will be inducted into the air
fleet in small numbers, assigned to elite PLAAF selected pilots.
The transport fleet will comprise Y-9 medium range transport aircraft, along with the Soviet
Ilyushin Il-76, and domestic Y-20 heavy transport aircraft.
Its helicopter fleet will comprise Z-20, Z-15 and Mi-17 troop transporters, and the WZ-10
attack helicopter for its ground forces.
AWACS/AEW will be refined variants of existing service fleet of KJ-2000 and KJ-200, with
UAV/UCAV in early stages of service in the PLAAF.
Senior Colonel Wu Guohui has said that the PLAAF is working on a stealth bomber, which
some people have called the H-18.
Ranks and insignia
The ranks in the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force are similar to those of the
Chinese Army, formally known as the People's Liberation Army Ground Force, except that
those of the PLA Air Force are prefixed by 空军 meaning Air Force.
See Ranks of the People's Liberation Army or the article on an individual rank for details
on the evolution of rank and insignia in the PLAAF.
This article primarily covers the existing ranks and insignia.
The markings of the PLAAF are a red star in front of a red band, it is very similar to
the insignia of the Russian Air Force.
The Red star contains the Chinese characters for eight and one, representing August 1,
1927, the date of the formation of the PLA.
PLAAF aircraft carry these markings on the fins as well.
Aerobatic Display Team The August 1st is the first PLAAF aerobatics
team.
It was formed in 1962.
Aircraft inventory of PLAAF August 1st Aerobatic Team includes the J-10 and it has previously
flown the JJ-5 and J-7.
The Sky Wing and Red Falcon air demonstration teams, which operate Nanchang CJ-6 and Hongdu
JL-8 respectively, were established in 2011.
Organization
The Air Force headquarters consists of four departments: Command, Political, Logistic,
and Equipment, which mirrors the four general departments of the PLA.
Below the headquarters, Military region air forces direct divisions, which in turn direct
regiments and squadrons.
The PLAAF typically used the system of threes in its organization at Division level and
below, i.e. 3 Regiments per Division, 3 Squadrons per Regiment, and so on.
The situation is now more fluid, with several divisions only having two regiments.
There are also Independent Regiments within the MRAFs.
There is also an Airborne Corps under direct control of PLAAF Headquarters.
Order of battle Air bases
There is presently over 150 air bases utilized by the People's Liberation Army Air Force,
these are divided into seven military regions as follows:
Beijing Military Region Chengdu Military Region
Guangzhou Military Region Jinan Military Region
Lanzhou Military Region Nanjing Military Region
Shenyang Military Region Equipment
The People's Liberation Army Air Force operates a large and varied fleet of some 2,800+ aircraft,
of which around 1,620 are combat aircraft.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, PLAAF pilots acquire an
average of 100-150 flying hours per year.
For a list of aircraft no-longer flown by the People's Liberation Army Air Force see;
List of historic aircraft of the People's Liberation Army Air Force.
Aircraft inventory
Future of the People's Liberation Army Air Force
The People's Liberation Army Air Force is undergoing a period of extensive modernization.
Listed below are some of the more high profile aircraft under development.
See also People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force
Republic of China Air Force List of Chinese aircraft
List of Chinese aircraft engines References
Bibliography
Online
External links Articles on the Chinese military, from Sinodefence.com
Chinese Air Power PLAAF Aircraft Numbering System
Regional Capability Growth on APA The Sleeping Giant Awakens
PLA Airbase Page on APA PLA idag-PLAAF
USAF Air University, The PLAAF in 2010