| People's Republic of China |
Excavations have shown that the Homo Erectus lived in China about one million years ago.
Airplane relevant history however started at 12 March 1912 when the almost 400 years of Qing Dynasty
came to an end and a provisional government of the Republic of China was established in Nanjing.
Effectively the country became ever more in the hands of Warlords, which was countered by the establishment
of a Soviet assisted Communist Party of China (CPC). From 1925 the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, KMT)
seized control from the warlords in the South and Central China and from 1927 also ousted the Communist
Party from this region. From 1934 the CPC started the Long March soon under the command of Mao Zedong.
Although the two parties were at the same side fighting the Japanese invasion between 1931 and 1945,
the CPC continued to force the Nationalists further south after the Sino-Japanese war had ended.
In 1949 the remaining KMT forces under the command of Chiang Kai-Shek fled to Taiwan and the People's
Republic of China was proclaimed on 1 October 1949 with Taiwan and some outlying islands of Fujian being
regarded as rebellious provinces still to be conquered.
Flying in the newborn Peoples Republic received a kick-start in 1951 in the Korean War with the
Soviet Union delivering fighter and bomber
aircraft including over 1000 MiG-15. Continued deliveries stopped abruptly in 1960.
In this period production of aircraft came into full swing
with about 780 J5s (MiG-17) and over 3000 J6s (MiG-19 versions) to name a few.
Mid 60s "indigenous" designed aircraft like the J7 (MiG-21 version), J8 and Q5 (MiG-19
derivative) saw the first light of day.
One of the achievements of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1970) was that not only the armed
forces lost all people with any education, but also that aircraft quality levels dropped to
sub-zero standards and production of aircraft became out of the question. It lasted until
the mid '80s until more advanced versions of existing aircraft types started to appear.
The armed forces are in the midst of a massive modernization in which old airplanes are discarded
in favour of modern ones on the basis of quality instead of quantity. In 1982 John Andrade in his
book "Militair 1982" estimated the number of active aircraft at about 4750. Current estimates come
close to 3200 that is also shown in the number of divisions that reduced from 50 in the heydays to
about 32 nowadays. Major reductions were announced in 1982 and 1998 and also in 2004 further reductions were announced.
The turn of the century saw a major replacement program where obsolete front-line aircraft were
replaced by new generation derivatives like new J7, J8 and Q5 versions. Also some Su-27/Su-30 aircraft
were introduced. Only a few years later, by 2010, nearly all old generation fighters have gone and many
Air Force and Navy regiments now fly modern fighters like J10, JH7A and J11 derivatives, with new
versions to come. In a suppprise move early January a new 5th Generation Fighter J20 made its first flight.
The bomber force is a decade away from flying the H5 and is now flying modern H6 aircraft, although the airframe
is stll based on the vintage Tu-16.
A Rapid Deployment Force is visible as many fighters now have in-flight tanking capability. Also, modern warfare
practices were introduced relatively recently with the introduction of several special equipped Y8s for AEW&C,
AWACS, ELINT missions to name a few and the Il-76 AWACS. Also, dedicated helicopters for the CSAR missions were
not seen before.
The last element of the armed forces where old aircraft could be enjoyed is surrendering to modern times.
Training has been modernized with the JJ7A/Q5J replacing old JJ6 aircraft with the operational regiments
and the JL8 having replaced the JJ5 with the training regiments. Only initial training is still done by
the very vintage CJ6 aircraft, although at the 2010 show at Zhuhai the first CJ7 replacement aircraft
was first shown to the public with an expected order book of about 300 aircraft.
The army has seen a massive expansion with Mi-17 and Z9 helicopters and even a dedicated attack helicopter
with the WZ10.
To complete the modernization picture of course the air force is also introducing UAV flying.
This is outside the scope of this website however.
End 2011 a major reorganisation of the Chinese military was about to start.
Known details have yet to result in a complete picture. In the ORBAT page the known organization in 2011 is presented.
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| Armed Forces Organization |
The armed forces of the People's Republic of China (PRC) are composed of the People's Liberation Army,
the Chinese People's Armed Police Force and the militia.
The Central Military Commission (CMC) of the PRC directs and assumes unified command of the nation's
armed forces. The active components of the PLA are the country's standing army, consisting of the Army,
Navy, Air Force and the Second Artillery Force, whose main task is to conduct operations of defence,
and assist in maintaining social order.
Through the General Staff Headquarters, the General Political Department, the General Logistics
Department and the General Armaments Department, the CMC exercises operational command over the
whole PLA and leadership for the development of the PLA.
For day-to-day operation seven Military Regions, "da junqu" (Shenyang, Beijing, Lanzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Chengdu)
exercise direct leadership over the Army units under their command.
In time of war, or any large scale military exercise, all aspect of operation will be control by a
CMC WarZone HQ.
The WarZone HQ will command all assets, as it seems fit, including elements from a different MRs.
In 1958 the number of Military Regions was at its maximum at 13, but forces-reductions enabled the
reduction of command centres. It is being said that 2004 will see another reduction to six
Military Regions with the division of Jinan MR to other MRs.
Source: Scramble
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In October 2010 Turkey was the first European country to welcome Chinese Flankers during a bi-national exercise. The four Su-27UBKs were taken from differrent Regiments.
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Photo: Turkish Air Force
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11 Januari 2011 China entered the 5th Generation Fighter League when the Chengdu Aircraft Company J20 performed its first flight.
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Photo: China Spotters
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People's Liberation Army - Air Force
