Political Science/International Relations

This is the definitive reference source examining all aspects of one of the most powerful air forces in the world, the Chinese. Although China has been a significant air power for more than fifty years, very little has been published or even known about its capabilities. Along with the recent emergence of China as a world economic and military superpower, China has recently invested huge sums of money in modernizing its air force, developing its own aircraft and technology as well as buying from overseas. This remarkable new book unveils for the very first time, the full details of the organization, capabilities, and aircraft of all Chinese air forces - the third largest in the world today. It details the Chinese air force's order of battle, from the top command down to the operational regiments and squadrons. It also includes descriptions and specifications of the Air Force and the NSavy main fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.

The book relates to understanding the growing importance of aerospace power in modern warfare, including integration of air and space which has truly become the new theatre of war. The unifying space dimension will remain the single most important source for information and communication which can be used in multiple forms. It is an attempt to focus on China's evolving military strategy with emphasis on the aerospace dimension and its implications in the region, specifically in the Indian context. Initially, the book attempts to analyse the strategic importance of the rising economic, political and military stature of China with a view to understand its regional and global implications in the military domain. China, in recent times, has time and again demonstrated its resolve to defend its security interests at all costs. For over three decades, China has been modernising its strategic and nuclear capabilities besides developing new and complex military platforms that would be of great value to joint operations warfare. The current decade through 2020 will prove critical to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as it attempts to integrate many new and complex platforms, and to adopt modern operational concepts, including network-centric warfare. Besides undertaking a comprehensive modernisation of its armed forces, China is developing a series of offensive space capabilities while advocating the peaceful use of outer space. In the later part, the book highlights the transformation of China's aerospace power. The PLA Air Force (PLAAF) appears to be well on its way to becoming a modern, highly capable air force for the 21st century. China's latest combat aircraft, the J-20, highlights China's ambition to produce a fighter aircraft that incorporates stealth attributes, advanced avionics, and super-cruise capable engines over the next several years. China's aviation industry is developing several types of Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. PLAAF exercises have demonstrated that its role has changed from support to ground forces to being able to conduct operations independently. It is actively trying to imbibe better training programmes and has increased joint training with other air forces in the recent years. Induction of the aircraft carrier Liaoning in September 2012 highlights China's growing maritime interests and power projection capabilities. The book will be of immense value both for the readers of the countries in the immediate neighbourhood of China and the strategic community in general since the rise of China and other major Asian players, including India, will shape the strategic international environment in the coming decades of this century.

Among the many defining developments of the 21st Century is the Rise of China in every sphere of economic and military power. The world is going through a period of strategic uncertainty as China seeks to dislodge the United States as the leading power in Indo-Pacific region. While USA wants a "uni-polar world, but a bi-polar Asia", China is clearly working towards a "bi-polar world and uni-polar Asia". In its quest for what it thinks is its rightful place, China believes that the one who controls aerospace, controls the planet. China has been investing heavily in "aerospace" technologies and capabilities, which has been part of its so-called "peaceful rise" strategy. China has had major boundary disputes with a large number of its neighbours, including India. It has often tried to use muscle-flexing approach to resolve them. Chinese rising military power thus has implications for India. This book, China The Rising Aerospace Power - Implications for India is aimed at comprehensive evaluation of how the Chinese aerospace technologies, industrial capability, the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and various other elements of air and space are getting into place. In the very dynamic, and continuously evolving scenario, the book is meant to be a one stop place to understand the current status and unfolding future of Chinese aerospace power.

China's aircraft carrier program is making major waves well before the first ship has been completed. Undoubtedly, this development heralds a new era in Chinese national security policy. While the present volume presents substantial new insight on that particular question, its focus is decidedly broader in scope. Chinese Aerospace Power offers a comprehensive survey of Chinese aerospace developments, with a focus on areas of potential strategic significance previously unexplored in Western scholarship. The book also links these developments to the vast maritime battlespace of the Asia-Pacific region and highlights the consequent implications for the U.S. military, particularly the U.S. Navy.

A variety of viewpoints is offered in this timely analysis of China's economy and the future shape of Beijing's energy consumption. The authors, all noted authorities in the fields of economics, diplomacy, energy, and defense, consider an unprecedented range of influences and factors to avoid the limitations of looking at the subject myopically or with political bias. They conclude that while energy insecurity could eventually lead to an arms race at sea or even a naval conflict that neither side wants, there is ample room for Sino-American energy dialogue and cooperation in the maritime domain.

Less than a decade ago, China's air force was an antiquated service equipped almost exclusively with weapons based on 1950s-era Soviet designs and operated by personnel with questionable training according to outdated employment concepts. Today, the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) appears to be on its way to becoming a modern, highly capable air force for the 21st century. This monograph analyzes publications of the Chinese military, previously published Western analyses of China's air force, and information available in published sources about current and future capabilities of the PLAAF. It describes the concepts for employing forces that the PLAAF is likely to implement in the future, analyzes how those concepts might be realized in a conflict over Taiwan, assesses the implications of China implementing these concepts, and provides recommendations about actions that should be taken in response.