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People's Liberation Army
Air Force

PLAAF Equipment

The Chinese air force has rid itself of many elderly aircraft, and acquired a few modern units. The total number of Chinese fighter aircraft has apparently decreased by one-third over the past five years, from about 4,000 to about 2,500. Force improvements have been limited almost exclusively to the addition of a few dozen first-rate Su-27s purchased from Russia, with the remaining inventory consisting of obsolete designs which date from the 1960s. The large force of J-6 and J-7 aircraft [Chinese-equivalent MiG-19s and MiG-21s] are so antiquated as to be useless against Taiwan's F-16s and Mirage 2000s. The PLA Air Force has no in-flight refueling tankers or airborne warning and command platforms in service, though both are under development. As of early 1998, some 1,300 aircraft were stationed at the air bases within 500 nautical miles from Taiwan, of which some 600 airplanes had a radius of operation over Taiwan proper.
Aircraft Source Armament Inventory
1985 1995 2000 2005 2010
BOMBERS 620 500 320 120 100
H-9 0 0 0 0 ???
H-6 BADGER Tu-16 YJ-6 120 120 120 120 ? 100
H-5 BEAGLE Il-28 YJ-8 500 380 200 ? 0 ? 0
ATTACK 500 500 450 325 300
JH-7 YJ-8 + PL-8 0 0 0 25 150
Q-5 FANTAN 500 500 450 300 150
FIGHTER 4,130 4,050 2,500 2,000 1,800
J-12 0 0 0 0 0
J-11 FLANKER Su-27 AA-11 0 46 48 72 144
J-10 Lavi PL-7 / PL-10 0 0 0 0 300
J-9 / FC-1 MiG-33 PL-7 / PL-10 0 0 0 50 200
J-8 FINBACK PL-2 / PL-7 / PL-9 30 100 150 400 650
J-7 FISHBED MiG-21 PL-2 / PL-7  200 500 500 500 500
J-6 FARMER MiG-19 PL-1 / PL-2  3000 3000 1800 1000 0
J-5 FRESCO MiG-17 PL-1  400 400 0 0 0
J-4 FAGOT MiG-15 500 0 0 0 0
HELICOPTERS 400 400 210 225 250
TRANSPORTS 550 485 425 425 400

Sources and Resources



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Updated November 15, 2002