Shaking the Heavens and Splitting the Earth
Chinese Air Force Employment Concepts in the 21st Century
by Roger Cliff, John F. Fei, Jeff Hagen, Elizabeth Hague, Eric Heginbotham, John Stillion
Shaking the Heavens and Splitting the Earth: Chinese Air Force Employment Concepts in the 21st Century | RAND
http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand...RAND_MG915.pdf
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CHAPTER ELEVEN
Conclusions and Implications
The most immediate observation that suggests itself from the analysis of Chinese military publications on air force operations as described in the preceding chapters is how systematic and comprehensive they are. Few militaries in the world have such extensive published documentation on the employment of air forces. The concepts described, moreover, appear to be realistic and practical, drawing on the experience of other air forces in recent conflicts, particularly those of the United States (the PLAAF having had no significant combat experience since the 1950s), but remaining appropriate to the current and near-future capabilities of the PLAAF. ........ Indeed, the United States has not fought a conflict against an adversary capable of challenging its supremacy in the air since at least the Korean War.
A second observation is that, although the PLAAF has traditionally emphasized defensive operations, that is no longer the case, and the United States would likely find the PLAAF to be an aggressive opponent in the event of a conflict. ........ Thus, the PLAAF can be expected to carry the fight to the United States in the form of direct attacks on U.S. air bases and ships. These attacks, moreover, will be carried out not by China’s air force operating in isolation but in coordination with the Second Artillery’s conventional ballistic and cruise missiles. As a consequence, for the first time since the end of the Cold War, U.S. air forces would not be able to regard their bases as sanctuaries safe from enemy attack in a conflict.
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