Modernizing China's Air Force: Its Strategy Budget and Capabilities

China Asias stirring dragon has the worlds third largest air force in total number of aircraft and in recent years has slowly started to modernize it. This force structure modernization is a reflection of Chinas history strategy and budget limitations. Therefore this paper examines the Peoples Liberation Army Air Forces (PLAAF) historical foundation its strategy and the force structure it is building. A general comparison of the PLAAFs planned capabilities given three conflict scenarios provides evidence that the PLAAFs modernization direction is sound and is consistent with both its strategy and limited budget