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PLA Air Force Operation and Modernization

by Kenneth W. Allen

End Notes (2/3)

30) The four first level departments are headquarters (silingbu/kongsi), political (zhengzhibu/kongzheng), logistics (houqinbu/konghou), and equipment (zhuangbeibu/ kongzhuang). When the PLAAF was founded in November 1949, an Air Force Engineering Department (kongjun gongchengbu) was established to manage aircraft maintenance, and the PLAAF's Engineering College in Xian was established in September 1964. Maintenance for all other PLAAF equipment (vehicles, SAMs, AAA, etc. was the responsibility of the Logistics Department). In September 1969, the Engineering Department was abolished and its Field Maintenance Department (waichangbu) was subordinated to the Headquarters Department as the Maintenance Department (jiwubu). On 1 May 1976, the Aeronautical Engineering Department (hangkong gongchengbu/konggong) was established as a first level department. In October 1998, the Aeronautical Engineering Department was reorganized to became the PLAAF Equipment Department (zhuangbeibu/Kongzhuangbu) in order to be in alignment with the PLA's new fourth general department - the General Equipment Department (zongzhuangbeibu).

31) In order to exercise the Party's absolute leadership over the military, a Party Committee and Standing Committee is established at each regiment (and equivalent) and above. The political commissar is normally the secretary of the Party Committee at these levels. Grassroots Party Committees are established at each battalion and equivalent. Grassroots Party Branches are set up at the company level. Besides the Party Committee, political organizations have been established in each regiment and higher, and their equivalent. The General Political Department (GPD) is the highest leading body for political work in the PLA. While divisions and brigades have a Political Department, regiments have a Political Division.

32) The official terms for the PLAAF's AAA troops is gaoshepao bing/gaopaobing and the SAM troops is dikong daodan bing/didao bing/daodan bing. However, the PLAAF occasionally refers to its AAA troops as first artillery (yipao), and SAM troops as second artillery (erpao), which is often confused with China's Second Artillery Corps (erpao).

33) Unless otherwise specified, this section describing the historical organizations of the PLAAF come from interviews with PLAAF officials plus Allen, Kenneth W., People's Republic of China, People's Liberation Army Air Force, Washington, D.C.: Defense Intelligence Agency, May 1991, Section 13.

34) Interview with PLAAF officials.

35) "The Security Situation in the Taiwan Strait," Report submitted by Secretary of Defense William Cohen to the US Senate as directed by the FY99 Appropriations Bill, 17 February 1999, 6. Discussions with PLAAF officials indicate that this number (32 divisions) is too low, but they did not specify the total number. In addition, the number of 4500 aircraft is probably too high. According to a March 1997 Hong Kong report, US reconnaissance satellites discovered in June 1993 that China had gathered over 1,000 combat aircraft at an airfield (Rugao) in central China, which turned out to be an exceptionally large aircraft depot to accommodate retired planes. Japan's Research for Peace and Security (RIPS) Asian Security: 1998-1999 (page 108) provides a figure of 3,740 war plane, which is a reduction of 1,230 from 1997. The majority of the aircraft taken out of the inventory are the older J-6s, which were last produced in 1979. The actual figure is probably somewhere around 3,500 aircraft in the active inventory today.

36) There are no female fighter pilots in the PLAAF, but there are several female transport pilots.

37) Kenneth W. Allen, Glenn Krumel, and Jonathan D. Pollack, China's Air Force Enters the 21st Century (Santa Monica: RAND, 1995), 130.

38) Upon graduating from a basic flying academy, pilots move to a transition training base, where training lasts for one year (100 to 120 flying hours). The pilots begin flying the F-5 for basic airmanship, then transition to the F-6 or F-7. Upon graduation, the pilots are expected to be capable of flying in "three weather conditions" (i.e., day and night visual flight rules [VFR], and day instrument flight rules [IFR]). "Four weather conditions" adds night IFR flights. Thereafter annual flying hours vary according to the type of aircraft: bombers (80 hours), fighters (100-110 hours) and the A-5 ground attack aircraft (150 hours). Dangdai Zhongguo Kongjun [China Today: Air Force], (Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 1989), 503-504.

39) Cai Shanwu, "Build a Strong Air Force: An Interview with PLA Air Force Commander Wang Hai and Political Commissar Zhu Guang," Renmin Ribao in Chinese, FBIS, 10 November 1989, 5. From ?It is Hard to Give Full Play to Advanced Fighters," Shijie Ribao, 22 August 1997, A12, in John Wilson Lewis and Xue Litai, "China's Search for a Modern Air Force," International Security, Volume 24, No 1 (Summer 1999), MIT, 86. This figure of 20.7 percent includes all officers, not just pilots. It is difficult to track the number or percentage of pilots in each category because the PLAAF does not routinely report these figures, or reports them in different forms (i.e., total pilots, not just fighter pilots).

40) Kenneth W. Allen, Glenn Krumel, and Jonathan D. Pollack, China's Air Force Enters the 21st Century (Santa Monica: RAND, 1995), 130.

41) Robert S. Dudney, "Fifteen in a Row," Air Force Magazine, April 1999, 25. Unfortunately, figures are not readily available for other Asian air forces.

42) Interview with a Department of Defense analyst.

43) Sun Maoqing, "Training Improves Air Force Combat Effectiveness," Xinhua, 26 March 1996. Sun Maoqing and Man Dongyan, "Air Force Flight Units Fulfill Training Mission," Xinhua, 23 December 1996. Neither of these articles attributed the excess training to the exercise conducted opposite Taiwan during March 1996 and the large exercise in the Gobi desert in September, but this is the most likely cause. Sun Maoqing, "Make Efforts To Build Modernized People's Air Force," Beijing Liaowang, 14 April 1997 No 15, pp 20?21. Zhang Nongke and Zhang Jinyu, "Air Force Builds Modern, Comprehensive Tactical Training Base," Jiefangjun Bao, 28 October 1996. There are quite often conflicting stories that tell the amount of training that PLAAF flying units receive. For example, an article in Volume 5 of the 1995 Zhongguo Kongjun [Air Force] magazine, discusses the number of sorties flown (54,506) over the eight-year period of 1987 through 1994 by an unidentified air division on the Leizhou Peninsula. However, assuming the division has at least 72 aircraft, this equates to 6,813 sorties per year or 94 sorties per aircraft per year and less than two sorties per week.

44) Sun Maoqing, "Make Efforts To Build Modernized People's Air Force: Interview With Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Liu Shunyao," Beijing Liaowang, FBIS, 14 April 1997, No 15, 20-21.

45) "Deputy Commander Says Air Force Improves Combat Readiness," Xinhua, 20 January 1999 (FBIS-CHI-99-020, 20 January 1999). These comments were made during a work conference on Air Force training.

46) Sun Maoqing, "Make Efforts To Build Modernized People's Air Force: Interview With Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Liu Shunyao," Beijing Liaowang, FBIS, 14 April 1997, No 15, 20-21.

47) This unit has been identified as the Blue Army (Lan Jun) and Blue Skies (Lan Tian) unit. The PLAAF visited Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada during the late 1980s and received briefings on the US Air Force's Red Flag exercise.

48) In February 1987, the PLAAF Flight Test and Training Center (kongjun feixing shiyan xunlian zhongxin) was established in Cangzhou (AKA Cangxian), Hebei Province, replacing the 11th Aviation School.

49) Zhang Nongke and Zhang Jinyu, "Grindstone Confronts Iron Wings in Blue Sky: Air Force Forms Unified Blue Army Unit for First Time To Confront Airmen Units in Rotation, Jiefangjun Bao, 28 April 1997 (FBIS-CHI-97-102, 28 April 1998).

50) Interviews.

51) Zhang Nongke, Niu Ruili, Liu Guojiang, and Guo Kai, "The Hypothetical Enemy of the Chinese Air Force," Hong Kong Tzu Ching, No. 106, 5 August 1999, 19-23 (FBIS-CHI-1999-0824, 5 August 1999).

52) Interviews in Asia during May and June 1999 indicated that there were no Su-27s assigned to the aggressor squadrons. It is doubtful that any of the Su-27s assigned to the regiments at Wuhu or Suixi were permanently assigned to the aggressor unit. The only logical explanation is that some of the first aircraft assembled at Shenyang have been assigned there. The first aircraft assembled at Shenyang flew in December 1998. An interview with a USAF F-15 pilot about this article indicated his concern about discrepancies in the article relating to the types of intercepts that were conducted. He cited a healthy dose of skepticism about the article's claims.

53) Historically, the PLAAF has not flown over water very much. This mission has been reserved for the Naval Air Force.

54) Department of Defense analyst.

55) Sun Maoqing, "Training Improves Air Force Combat Effectiveness," Xinhua, 26 March 1996 (FBIS-CHI-99-018, 18 January 1999).

56) Dangdai Zhongguo Kongjun [China Today: Air Force], (Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 1989), 311.

57) Zhang Nongke and Zhang Jinyu, "Air Force Builds Modern, Comprehensive Tactical Training Base," Jiefangjun Bao, 28 October 1996, (FBIS-CHI-96-228, 26 November 1996).

58) Ibid.

59) "China Builds Airport Copy," Associated Press, 28 April 1999.

60) Zhang Nongke and Zhang Jinyu, "Summary of the Air Force's Pioneering Offensive? Defensive Confrontation Exercise With Participation of Varied Types of Aircraft (Arms of the Service) Under Unknown Conditions," Jiefangjun Bao, 25 September 1996 (FBIS-CHI-96-205, 25 September 1996).

61) "PRC Air Force Upgrades Weather Forecast Equipment," Xinhua 13 January 1998 (FBIS-CHI-98-012, 12 January 1998).

62) Zhao Zhongwei and Fan Haisong, "Overall Combat Strength of the Air Force of the Guangzhou Military Region Crosses A New Threshold; First?Rate Equipment Builds An Aerial Great Wall of Steel," Guangzhou Yangcheng Wanbao in Chinese, FBIS, 22 July 1999.

63) Ibid. This exercise appears to be an annual event for this bomber unit. According to Zhongguo Kongjun [China's Air Force], January 1989, Vol. 18, 41-43, in September 1986, eight B-6 bombers from an air division in the Guangzhou MRAF participated in a seven-hour inter-MRAF long range attack training exercise. The bombers first dropped bombs at a bomb range in Hunan Province, then flew over three hours through five provinces to drop bombs at a bomb range in the northwest. Although the bombing results were good in Hunan, they were unsatisfactory in the northwest. The pilots were not familiar with the target, the sun was in their eyes, the target was difficult to find, and they did not arrive at the target on time, so they had to return home without dropping their bombs. As a result, they only received a rating of two for this portion of the exercise. In August 1987, another cell of eight bombers conducted a long range attack based on a tactical scenario. The first target was hit during low level bombing, which was followed by a high altitude, long distance navigation route with a direct run on a target range on another lake. Before entering a simulated enemy radar net, they rapidly descended to quietly close on the target. Following this, they used maximum climbing speed to conduct their bombing. Before entering the bombing starting point, they met an unpredictable event. They were not able to see the number one target on an island in the middle of the lake because the water had risen. By the time the first two aircraft discovered this, it was too late to switch to another target. The third aircraft quickly switched to target number six on a peninsula on the lake. The bombs were dropped and hit 15 meters from the center of the target, resulting in a rating of five.

64) Zhao Zhongwei and Fan Haisong, "Overall Combat Strength of the Air Force of the Guangzhou Military Region Crosses A New Threshold; First?Rate Equipment Builds An Aerial Great Wall of Steel," Guangzhou Yangcheng Wanbao in Chinese, (FBIS-CHI-1999-0723, 22 July 1999).

65) "Storage Center for Fighters, Transport Planes, Bombers of Air Force," Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao, 17 March 1997. The US Air Force hosted a small PLAAF delegation in the United States in 1988 to discuss maintenance and logistics. The delegation visited Hill Air Force base, Davis Monthan airbase, and the Smithsonian's aircraft refurbishment center in Washington, D.C. One of the leaders of the delegation returned to Beijing and became the head of the Air Force's new aviation museum at Shahezhen airbase located just north of Beijing. During the visit, the delegation made known that they were planning to build a huge aircraft storage facility similar to Davis Monthan, but were having problems finding a place with the proper climate and necessary space. US reconnaissance satellites discovered in June 1993 that China had gathered over 1,000 combat aircraft at Rugao airfield in central China. The storage center has three purposes: taking over and storing retired aircraft from all Air Force units nationwide; routine maintenance for those planes still functioning well; and renovating old and broken aircraft.

66) "The Security Situation in the Taiwan Strait," Report submitted by Secretary of Defense William Cohen to the US Senate as directed by the FY99 Appropriations Bill, 17 February 1999. Although not cited here, there is an excellent paper by Michael Richard Danis entitled "China's Air Force in the Twenty-First Century: Chinese Acquisition and Production of Advanced Aerospace Technology," that appeared in The China Strategic Institute, Vol III, no. 1, Spring 1998, 122-135.

67) According to a Department of Defense analyst, the J-8B (F-8II) and J-8D have a forward hemisphere BVR engagement capability with the PL-4/PL-11 (Aspide/Aspide copy) AAM. The J-8D has a forward hemisphere self-protection jammer. The J-8IIM development program with Russia will be completed in 2000. It includes the ZhUK-8II pulse doppler radar and AA-10A and AA-X-12 active AAM. The J-8IIM has better BVR capability than the Su-27SK in the Chinese inventory. The upgrade also includes the ability to fire KH-31A antiship missiles. The Chinese could produce the J-8IIM or upgrade the J-8B/D, or both. The Chinese currently have approximately 100 J-8B/D deployed. While the J-8IIM is an export program, the PLAAF is weighing its options on this program.

68) According a Department of Defense engineer with over ten years experience analyzing Chinese aircraft, the J-7 and J-8 have several variants with modern subsystems. For example, Chinese promotional brochures describe the J-7C/D as having a monopulse fire control radar capable of off-boresight engagements and can accept data link inputs. The J-7E, with its larger cranked wing with leading edge flaps is capable of withstanding 8 G's, is therefore quite maneuverable and lethal. The J-7D, J-7E, and J-8D all have upgraded radar warning receiver which would allow them to better detect Western aircraft. Combined with improved electronic countermeasures (ECM), they could close to within visual range (WVR) for air-to-air combat. The Chinese are working several simple upgrade programs that could further improve their near term capabilities. The J-7MG is nearing completion, and has a pulse doppler radar called the Super SkyRanger. It is still WVR, but it has ACM modes and look-down capability. At the Zhuhai airshow, the Chinese claimed that all aircraft would be upgraded with a helmet mounted sight (HMS). The Russians have proven the value of HMS. They cut typical lock-on time from 5-15 seconds, to 1-2 seconds, even at high off-boresight angles. They also claimed that the KG-300 jammer pod was tested on an J-7. If you upgrade J-7MG with the Super SkyRanger, and HMS, and the KG-300 jammer pod, J-7E would be a very capable aircraft.

69) Kenneth Allen, "PLAAF Modernization: An Assessment," in Crisis in the Taiwan Strait, (Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press, September 1997), 218-245.

70) Hsiao Yu-sheng, "China's New Generation Main Military Aircraft," Kuang Chiao Ching, Hong Kong, 16 November 1995.

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