Introduction On 5 June 2024, the United States (US) Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s National Counterintelligence and Security Centre (NCSC), along with its Five Eyes intelligence partners from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, issued a warning about China’s attempts to recruit Western military officers to train its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel. [1] According to the warning, Chinese authorities are targeting current and former Western military officers, particularly those with expertise in aviation, including military pilots, flight engineers, air operations centre personnel, and technical experts on Western military tactics, training, and procedures. The PLA aims to enhance its air capabilities, improve planning for future operations, and develop countermeasures against Western battle strategies through these training programs. These efforts are not new; [2] the PLA has been obtaining the services of Western trainers for its aviation personnel for several years now. The PLA Air Force (PLAAF) has remained marginalised for a long time, due to the dominant influence of the PLA Army on Chinese military strategy and decision-making. The PLAAF also feels disadvantaged in air warfare because it is excluded from key bilateral and multilateral air exercises organised by Western air forces to enhance combat skills and update doctrine and tactics. Although China has initiated organisational and inventory transformations to improve its combat capability and operational efficiency, its tactics and operational concepts remain untested. [3] To address this shortfall, China has employed various methods—including the recruitment of Western trainers—to enhance the professional skills of its air combatants and update its doctrine and tactics.
Authors
- Attribution
- Atul Kumar, “Operational and Training Constraints in China’s Air Force,” ORF Issue Brief No. 721 , July 2024, Observer Research Foundation.
- Pages
- 18
- Published in
- India
Table of Contents
- Introduction 3
- PLAAF Evolution 4
- Since 1949 4
- PLAAF Evolution 5
- Since 1949 5
- The PLAAF has transformed into a strategic and operationally 5
- The PLAAF s Inventory 6
- Transformation 6
- The PLAAF s Inventory 7
- Transformation 7
- Modern and Strategic Air Force 8
- Modern and Strategic Air Force 9
- China has bolstered 9
- Modern and Strategic Air Force 10
- PLAAF seeks to enhance its joint- basing capabilities. 10
- Opaque Scouting and 11
- Recruitment 11
- Opaque Scouting and 12
- Recruitment 12
- China extracts 12
- Implications and Lessons 13
- Endnotes 14
- Endnotes 15
- Endnotes 16
- Endnotes 17
