Military Viewpoint
J-16 fighter jets of the Chinese Air force fly in two-ship formation
Photograph: eng.chinamil.com.cn / Liu Chang and Liu Yinghua
CHINA’S AIRPOWER — THIRD LARGEST IN THE WORLD The J-16 fighter aircraft is clear evidence that the aerospace industry of China is no longer dependent on Russia for technology in the domain of the aerospace and defence industry By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd) The annual report for the year 2021 on China’s military power prepared by the Department of Defence of the United States of America, was made available to the public in November this year. As per this document, China today, possesses the largest aviation force in the region and the third largest in the world. POWER CENTRES China’s military power is wielded by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) which is the umbrella organisation for the security
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of the nation. The capability of China’s military to project and wield air power which undoubtedly is a vital component of any military organisation in the world today, lies with the assets that are available with two organisations of its armed forces namely the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and the People’s Liberation Army Naval Air Force (PLANAF). Both these organisations possess and operate a variety of military aircraft either jointly or independently to ensure the security of the national air space as also to project the nation’s capability of wielding its air
ISSUE 12 • 2021
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