China’s Search for a ‘Strategic Air Force’

ABSTRACT

Once dismissed by many outside observers, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has undergone an impressive transformation over the past two decades, emerging as one of the world’s premier air forces. As it continues to modernize, it is focused on becoming a ‘strategic air force.’ PLAAF strategists suggest this means it should play a decisive role in protecting Chinese national interests, field modern capabilities commensurate with China’s standing as a major power, and enjoy the institutional status befitting its role as a ‘strategic service,’ an important consideration given the historical dominance of the ground force in China’s military.

KEYWORDS:

• China
• People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
• People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF)
• military
• strategy
• doctrine

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the support of RAND’s Project Air Force and to thank Ken Allen for his comments on an earlier draft.

Notes

¹ ‘Chinese President Urges Stronger Air Force,’ Xinhua, 14 April 2014.

² David Shlapak, ‘Equipping the PLAAF: The Long March to Modernity,’ in Richard P. Hallion, Roger Cliff, and Phillip C. Saunders (ed.), The Chinese Air Force: Evolving Concepts, Roles, and Capabilities (Washington DC: National Defense Univ. 2012), 191.

³ For example, the term ‘strategic air force’‘ does not appear in the following texts: People’s Liberation Army (PLA), People’s Liberation Army Military Terminology (Beijing: Academy of Military Science Press 2011); People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), China Air Force Encyclopedia (Beijing, China: Aviation Industry Press 2005); People’s Liberation Army, Chinese Military Encyclopedia (Beijing: Academy of Military Science Press 1997).

⁴ Richard P. Hallion, Roger Cliff, and Phillip C. Saunders (ed.), The Chinese Air Force: Evolving Concepts, Roles, and Capabilities (Washington DC: National Defense Univ. 2012); Roger Cliff, John Fei, Jeff Hagen, Elizabeth Hague, Eric Heginbotham, and John Stillion, Shaking the Heavens and Splitting the Earth: Chinese Air Force Employment Concepts in the 21st Century (Santa Monica, CA: RAND 2011); Kevin Lanzit and Kenneth W. Allen, ‘Right-Sizing the PLA Air Force: New Operational Concepts Define a Smaller, More Capable Force,’ in Roy Kamphausen and Andrew Scobell (ed.), Right-Sizing the People’s Liberation Army (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College 2007), 437–78; Kenneth W. Allen, ‘PLA Air Force Organization,’ in James C. Mulvenon and Andrew N.D. Yang, ed., The People’s Liberation Army as an Organization (Santa Monica, CA: RAND 2002), 346-457; John W. Lewis and Xue Litai, ‘China’s Search for a Modern Air Force,’ International Security24/ 1 (Summer 1999), 64–94; and Kenneth W. Allen, Glenn Krumel, and Jonathan D. Pollack, China’s Air Force Eners the 21st^st Century (Santa Monica, CA: RAND 1995).

⁵ People’s Liberation Army Military Terminology; China Air Force Encyclopedia; Zhu Hui, (ed.), Strategic Air Force (Beijing: Blue Sky Press 2009); Ding Budong and Wang Xinghong, On Building a Strategic Air Force (Beijing: Blue Sky Press 2010); Ye Haiyuan, Air Force Military Theory Innovation Research (Beijing: Blue Sky Press 2010); Shang Jinsuo (ed.), Science of Air Force Building (Beijing: PLA Publishing House 2009); Wang Fengshan, Li Xiaojun, and Ma Shuanzhu, Science of Modern Air Defense (Beijing: Aviation Industry Press 2008); Yuan Jingwei, Research on Integrated Aerospace Combat Operations (Beijing: National Defense UP 2006); Cai Fengzhen and Tian Anping, The Science of Integrated Aerospace Combat (Beijing: PLA Press 2006); He Weirong, (ed.), Science of Air Force Training (Beijing: Academy of Military Science Press 2006); Cai Fengzhen and Tian Anping, The Air and Space Battlefield and China’s Air Force (Beijing: PLA Press 2004); Cui Changqi, Air Raid and Counter Air Raid in the 21^st Century (Beijing: Liberation Army Press 2002).

⁶ Kenneth W. Allen, Glenn Krumel, and Jonathan D. Pollack, China’s Air Force Enters the 21^st Century (Santa Monica, CA: RAND 1995), p. xvii.

⁷ Dong Wenxian, ‘On the 30th Anniversary of Publication of Deng Xiaoping’s Article: “Modern Warfare Demands Command of the Air,”’ in Zhu Hui (ed.), Strategic Air Force, 1–3.

⁸ China Air Force Encyclopedia, Vol 1., . 39.

⁹ Although territorial air defense and supporting ground or naval forces could be strategic activities, PLAAF writers indicate that becoming a ’strategic air force’ requires broader missions and capabilities.

¹⁰ Ji Yan, ‘The Strategic Positioning and Overall Transformation of China’s Air Force,’ in Zhu Hui, Strategic Air Force, 73.

¹¹ Wang Mingzhi, ‘Thoughts on the Character and Building of a Strategic Air Force,’ Air Force News, 15 Jan. 2009.

¹² Ji Yan, ‘The Strategic Positioning and Overall Transformation of China’s Air Force,’ 74.

¹³ ‘Flying with Force and Vigor in the Sky of the New Century: Interview with CMC Member and PLAAF Commander Xu Qiliang,’ PLA Daily, 1 Nov. 2009.

¹⁴ Dong Wenxian, ‘The Expansion of National Strategic Space Calls for a Strategic Air Force,’ Air Force News, 2 Feb. 2008, 2.

¹⁵ ‘Famous Military External Propaganda Expert Dai Xu was a Guest of Global Times to Discuss the 60th Anniversary of the PLA Air Force,’ Global Times, 12 Nov. 2009.

¹⁶ Ding and Wang, 6–8. For another perspective on the capabilities of a ‘strategic air force,’ see Ye Haiyuan, Air Force Military Theory Innovation Research, pp. 201–208.

¹⁷ Information Office of the State Council, People’s Republic of China, China’s National Defense in 2008, Beijing, China, Jan. 2009, http://english.gov.cn/official/2009-01/20/content_1210227.htm

¹⁸ Murray Scot Tanner, ‘The Missions of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force,’ in Hallion, Cliff, and Saunders, ed., The Chinese Air Force: Evolving Concepts, Roles, and Capabilities (Washington, DC: National Defense University, 2012), pp. 133–148.

¹⁹ Dong Wenxian, ‘Integration of Offense and Defense: The Basic Characteristics of a Modernized Strategic Air Force,’ Air Force News, 16 Feb. 2008, p. 2.

²⁰ Li Chuanxun, ‘Reflections on Air Force Transformation and Building Strategy,’ in Zhu Hui, ed., Strategic Air Force, p. 96.

²¹ Dong Wenxian, ‘A Through Analysis of the Inevitability of Air-Space Integration,’ in Zhu Hui (ed.), Strategic Air Force, 30.

²² Kevin Pollpeter, China Dream, Space Dream: China’s Progress in Space Technologies and Implications for the United States (US-China Economic and Security Review Commission 2015), 96-98.

²³ See, for example, AMS Military Strategy Research Department (ed.), The Science of Military Strategy (Beijing: Military Science Press, 2013), p. 233.

²⁴ Wang Mingliang, Yang Yujie, Wang Xudong, and Guo Jinsuo, ‘A Few Propositions Concerning the Strategic Air Force,’ in Zhu Hui, Strategic Air Force, 57.

²⁵ Dong Wenxian, ‘Air Force Culture,’ Air Force News, 19 April 2008.

²⁶ AMS Military Strategy Research Department (ed.), The Science of Military Strategy (Beijing, China: Military Science Press 2013), 218.

²⁷ Wang Mingliang, Yang Yujie, Wang Xudong, and Guo Jinsuo, ‘A Few Propositions Concerning the Strategic Air Force,’ 58.

²⁸ ‘Famous Military External Propaganda Expert Dai Xu was a Guest of Global Times.’

²⁹ Peng Guangqian and Yao Youzhi (eds.), The Science of Military Strategy (Beijing: Military Science Publishing House2005). This is the English translation of the 2001 Chinese edition.

³⁰ Hu Jiansheng and Liu Jinjun, ‘A Strategic Air Force Should Attach Importance to Building Long-Range Offensive Air Power,’ in Zhu Hui, Strategic Air Force, 122.

³¹ Ruan Kexiang, ‘Several Theoretical Issues Concerning the Strategic Air Force,’ in Zhu Hui, Strategic Air Force, 68–9.

³² Wang Mingzhi, ‘Thoughts on the Character and Building of a Strategic Air Force,’ Air Force News, 15 Jan. 2009.

³³ Dong Wenxian, ‘Air and Space Defense: The Core Thinking in the Air Force’s Strategy,’ Air Force News, 3 May 2008.

³⁴ Wang Mingliang, Yang Yujie, Wei Dexing, Pang Xu, and Wang Suying, ‘Report on Non-War Military Actions,’ China Air Force, 1 July 2008, 60–4.

³⁵ Dong Wenxian, ‘Air Force Culture: Distinctive Characteristic of the Strategic Air Force,’ Air Force News, 19 April. 2008.

³⁶ AMS Military Strategy Research Department (ed.), The Science of Military Strategy 2013, 227.

³⁷ US Department of Defense, ‘Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, 2014,’ Washington DC: June 2014, p. 9.

³⁸ See, for example, Ding and Wang, eds., pp. 274-289. Ding and Wang argue that the ‘development trends’ of a ‘strategic air force’ include stealthy, smart, unmanned, and interchangeable weapons systems and platforms.

³⁹ Wang Mingzhi, ‘Contemporary Battlefields Call for Long-Range Aerial Strategic Power Projection Capability,’ Guangming Daily, 30 Aug. 2012.

⁴⁰ Yang Zhaoqi, ‘The Inaugural Flight of the Y-20,’ Oriental Outlook, 7 Feb. 2013, 34–6.

⁴¹ Wang Weishan, ‘Improve the PLA’s Strategic Projection Capability,’ in Zhu Hui., Strategic Air Force, 163–8.

⁴² Yang, ‘The Inaugural Flight of the Y-20.’

⁴³ ‘Y-20 Gives Air Power a Push,’ China Daily, 28 Jan. 2013.

⁴⁴ Yang, ‘The Inaugural Flight of the Y-20.’

⁴⁵ Guo Miao, ‘Successful Maiden Flight of the Yun-20, China’s Large Military Transport Aircraft,’ Science and Technology Daily, 28 Jan. 2013.

⁴⁶ U.S. Department of Defense, ‘Military and Security Developments 2014,’ p. 9.

⁴⁷ See, for example, Dong Wenxian, ‘Integration of Stealth and Non-Stealth Aircraft: The Development Direction of a Modernized Strategic Air Force,’ Air Force News, 15 Mar. 2008, p. 2.

⁴⁸ Lee Fuell, ‘Broad Trends in Chinese Air Force and Missile Modernization,’ Presentation to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 30 Jan. 2014, 5, <http://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Lee%20Fuell_Testimony1.30.14.pdf>.

⁴⁹ US Department of Defense, ‘Military and Security Developments 2014,’ 9.

⁵⁰ Wang, Yang, Wang, and Guo, ‘A Few Propositions Concerning the Strategic Air Force,’ in Zhu Hui, Strategic Air Force, 64.

⁵¹ Shi Keru, Liu Gang, Ma Honggang, ‘Increase the Strategic Combat Capability of the Air Force,’ in Zhu Hui, ed., Strategic Air Force, p. 115.

⁵² AMS Military Strategy Research Department (ed.), The Science of Military Strategy 2013, 223–4.

⁵³ ‘Senior Officer: China’s Next Generation Strategic Bomber Combat Radius Needs to Cover Second Island Chain,’ People’s Daily, 20 Dec. 2013, <http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/1220/c1011-23895273.html>.

⁵⁴ ‘Photos of China’s First Long-Endurance UAV Released,’ China.org.cn, 8 Nov. 2013.

⁵⁵ Huang Sujian and Zhang Zhengping, ‘The Development of the Essential Properties of the US Strategic Air Force and Its Inspiration for China’s Air Force Building,’ in Zhu Hui, Strategic Air Force, 282.

⁵⁶ Shi, ‘China is Going All Out to Forge a Strategic Air Force.’

⁵⁷ Jane’s Defence Weekly, ‘China’s KJ-500 AEW&C Platform “Enters Service,” 24 Mar. 2015.

⁵⁸ Ruan, ‘Several Theoretical Issues Concerning the Strategic Air Force,’ p. 69.

⁵⁹ Fuell, “Broad Trends in Chinese Air Force and Missile Modernization,” p. 6.

⁶⁰ AMS Military Strategy Research Department (ed.), The Science of Military Strategy (Beijing: Military Science Press 2013), 223, 225–6.

⁶¹ Dong Wenxian, ‘Air-Space Integration: The Necessary Choice for a Modern Strategic Air Force,’ Air Force News, 1 Mar. 2008, p. 2.

⁶² AMS Military Strategy Research Department (ed.), The Science of Military Strategy (Beijing: Military Science Press 2013), 227.

⁶³ Zhu Heping, ‘Constructing the Air-Space Early Warning System,’ in Zhu Hui, Strategic Air Force, 158–62.

⁶⁴ U.S. Department of Defense, ‘Military and Security Developments 2014,’ pp. 69-70.

⁶⁵ US Department of Defense, ‘Military and Security Developments 2014,’ 10.

⁶⁶ AMS Military Strategy Research Department (ed.), The Science of Military Strategy (Beijing: Military Science Press 2013), 223.

⁶⁷ Shang, ed., Science of Air Force Building, 454.

⁶⁸ Ibid., 458–60.

⁶⁹ Li Chuanxun, ‘Reflections on Air Force Transformation and Building Strategy,’ in Zhu Hui, Strategic Air Force, . 95–100.

⁷⁰ Shang Jinsuo, Li Zhen, Li Liguang, and Ye Haiyuan, ‘Creative Development of the People’s Air Force Along With the Progress of the People’s Republic,’ China Military Science, April 2009, 22–30.

⁷¹ Shang, Science of Air Force Building, 461-4.

⁷² Ibid., 480.

⁷³ Fuell, ‘Broad Trends in Chinese Air Force and Missile Modernization,’ 9.

⁷⁴ Sun Maoqing, Xu Zhuangzhi, and Li Xuanliang, ‘Air Force Test and Training Base Forges Modern Air Force,’ Xinhua, 1 Dec. 2008.

⁷⁵ Tan Jie and Yang Chunyuan, ‘Aim at Informatized Battlefields, Speed up Teaching Transformation,’ PLA Daily Online, 9 Sept. 2008, . 1.

⁷⁶ Meng Lin, ‘Bring Training Closer to Actual Operations,’ PLA Daily, 10 Dec. 2013, 3.

⁷⁷ Zeng Fanlun and Ding Yibo, ‘On-the-Spot Account of an Air Defense Operation Drill of a Missile Battalion in the Nanjing Military Region Air Force,’ PLA Daily, 16 April 2014, 2.

⁷⁸ Li Yongqi: ‘Aviation Division of the PLA Air Force Breaks Through the Fixed Procedure Training Model, Adds Uncertainties to the Whole Process of Readiness Maneuver Drills,’ PLA Daily Online, 23 June 2014, 1.

⁷⁹ From Dean Cheng, ‘Chinese Lessons from the Gulf Wars,’ in Andrew Scobell, David Lai, and Roy Kamphausen (eds.), Chinese Lessons from Other People’s Wars (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, Nov. 2011), 165–6.

⁸⁰ Mi Jinguo, Zhou Yipeng, and Liu Wenping, ‘First Time for Research and Training of Combined Arms Army Artillery Long-Range Firepower Implementation in Joint Sea Control Operations,’ People’s Navy, 28 Oct. 2011, p. 1.

⁸¹ Wanda Ayuso and Lonnie Henley, ‘Aspiring to Jointness: PLA Training, Exercises, and Doctrine, 2008–2012,’ in Roy Kamphausen, David Lai, and Travis Tanner, (eds.), Assessing the People’s Liberation Army in the Hu Jintao Era (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, April 2014), 171–205.

⁸² U.S. Department of Defense, ‘Military and Security Developments 2014,’ p. 9.

⁸³ Huang and Zhang, ‘The Development of the Essential Properties of the U.S. Strategic Air Force and Its Inspiration for China’s Air Force Building,’ in Zhu Hui, ed., Strategic Air Force, p. 282.

⁸⁴ AMS Military Strategy Research Department, ed., The Science of Military Strategy (Beijing: Military Science Press, 2013), p. 218.

⁸⁵ ‘National Intelligence Estimate: Communist China’s Weapons Program for Strategic Attack,’ NIE 13-8-71, 28 Oct. 1971, pp. 7-8.

⁸⁶ ‘National Intelligence Estimate: PRC Defense Policy and Armed Forces,’ NIE 13-76, 11 Nov. 1976, p. 47.

⁸⁷ ‘China’s Military Modernization and its Implications for the United States,’ Hearing before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 30 Jan. 2014, http://origin.www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/USCC%20Hearing%20Transcript%20-%20January%2030%202014.pdf

⁸⁸ Huang and Zhang, ‘The Development of the Essential Properties of the U.S. Strategic Air Force and Its Inspiration for China’s Air Force Building,’ in Zhu Hui, ed., Strategic Air Force, p. 280.

⁸⁹ Some PLAAF strategists point out that the air forces of nuclear powers typically have nuclear strike capabilities. See Hu Jiansheng and Liu Jinjun, ‘A Strategic Air Force Should Attach Importance to Building Long-Range Offensive Air Power,’ in Zhu Hui, ed., Strategic Air Force, pp. 119-120.

⁹⁰ ‘Senior Officer: China’s Next Generation Strategic Bomber Combat Radius Needs to Cover Second Island Chain,’ People’s Daily, 20 Dec. 2013, http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/1220/c1011-23895273.html

⁹¹ Dong Wenxian, ‘Integration of Offense and Defense: The Basic Characteristics of a Modernized Strategic Air Force,’ Air Force News, 16 Dec. 2008, p. 2.

⁹² Mark A. Stokes and Dean Cheng, China’s Evolving Space Capabilities, Project 2049 Institute, 26 Apr. 2012, http://project2049.net/documents/uscc_china-space-program-report_april-2012.pdf

⁹³ Dong Wenxian, ‘A Preliminary Ten Point Conclusion on “Air-Space Integration,”’ in Zhu Hui, ed., Strategic Air Force, p. 48.

⁹⁴ It is possible the PLA will create a unified space service, but it seems more likely that space and counter-space missions will continue to be spread across a number of organizations. For example, Second Artillery’s responsibility for mobile missiles makes it the obvious choice for direct ascent ASAT systems and mobile space launch vehicles intended to provide an operationally responsive space capability.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael S. Chase

Michael Chase (corresponding author) is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation and an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC. He was previously an Associate Professor at the US Naval War College (NWC) in Newport, Rhode Island, where he served as director of the strategic deterrence group in the Warfare Analysis and Research Department and taught in the Strategy and Policy Department.

Cristina L. Garafola

Cristina Garafola is a research assistant at the RAND Corporation. Cristina holds a masters degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a graduate certificate from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies. Prior to joining RAND, Cristina worked at the Department of the Treasury, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State.