By Bill Gertz (The Washington Times)
China’s People’s Liberation Army increased its army, navy, air force and rocket force structures along with increasing military specialties for waging of space conflict, information warfare and cyberwar in the past year, according to a new report by an Air Force think tank.
“This restructuring is explicitly intended to improve the PLA’s ability to conduct joint, all‑domain operations and informationized warfare in contingencies ranging from Taiwan to the western Pacific and Indian Oceans,” the report by the China Aerospace Studies Institute warns.
PLA military reforms have also refined and improved the command structure for the relatively new five theater commands, the report said.
The 113-page report, “PLA Aerospace Power: A Primer on Trends in China’s Military Air, Space, and Missile Forces,” was made public on Tuesday.
The creation of the new PLA aerospace force after dissolving the strategic support force in 2024 also bolstered space warfare capabilities.
The growing PLA power is described in Chinese military writings as air, missile, naval aviation, and space capabilities that are “mutually reinforcing tools for deterrence, coercion, and, if necessary, high‑intensity regional conflict,” the report states.
CASI Director Brendan S. Mulvaney said the latest report is a main source for understanding China’s drive for waging advanced warfare.
“It explains how the People’s Liberation Army air forces, space capabilities, and the CCP directed aerospace industrial base, are rapidly progressing and modernizing its aerospace force; rivaling, and in the case of hypersonic weapons even surpassing, those of the U.S.,” he said.
A troubling advance for the PLA air force in the past year was evident in long-range nuclear deterrence and strategic signaling with H-6 nuclear bomber patrols and joint flights with Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers near Japan and South Korea, the report said.
Chinese nuclear bombers also conducted patrols near Taiwan along with large numbers of warship operations that, the report said, “have become routine and are explicitly framed by Chinese sources as warnings against ‘Taiwan independence’ and external interference.”
The past year also saw major increases in the development of Chinese aircraft carrier power projection, which the report said is “extending China’s naval aviation reach beyond the first island chain and narrowing qualitative gaps with U.S. carrier strike groups.”
The carrier operations are bolstering power projection capabilities into the western Pacific and Indian Ocean and “indicate that China is on the cusp of fielding a more capable carrier aviation force able to support sustained blue‑water operations,” the report said.
PLA missile power is also advancing significantly, with large numbers of missiles of all ranges and types that threaten U.S. and allied bases, ports and naval forces in the region.
The missiles complement air forces and navy aviation by providing “rapid, long‑range precision strike options against regional targets, complicating U.S. and partner operational planning in a crisis,” the report said.
The increase in missile power happened despite a purge within the missile force and defense industry that may have disrupted some procurement and timelines for advanced missile and space weaponry.
“We nonetheless judge that despite short‑term disruptions, sustained growth in China’s defense budget and political commitment to modernization mean that PLA [Rocket Force’s] long‑term trajectory remains upward, albeit with greater central oversight and potential delays in selected high‑end systems,” the report said.
Space warfare capabilities also increased in the past year, the report said.
Foreign joint exercises and military sales also stepped up in the past 12 months, with close defense and military ties to Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and some European and Latin American states, the report said.
Taken together, PLA military developments over the past year confirm that China is steadily improving its capacity to project power and impose costs on adversaries across multiple domains, the report concluded.
“At the same time, the anti‑corruption campaign in the defense sector, the technical complexity of advanced carrier aviation and space systems, and the possibility of miscalculation during increasingly frequent joint drills and close air and maritime encounters all underscore that China’s rise as an air and space‑power is neither linear nor without risk.”
This article was made available to WMAL via The Washington Times.
