... and is now approaching a decisive point which will be vitally important for China’s future potential to project its power far beyond its borders.
The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) of today traces its history back to the small aviation units of the Red Army in the period 1930–40
[1]
. The communist forces made very limited use of aircraft in the civil war and the fight against the Japanese aggressors, since most of the trained personnel and equipment was controlled by ...
... purposes — is open to debate…
What we can say with some degree of certainty is that military aviation in the traditional sense will cease to exist. We will see completely new aerospace systems that are unlike anything we have seen before in military aviation. Aviation will be replaced by reusable aerial vehicles with ion engines. We could see engines that use the magnetic force of the poles, which would make it possible at the beginning of the 22nd century to fly long distances in short amounts of time. I’d ...
... Its exact composition was not publicized, but it certainly comprised several dozen planes. The signs are that there is no movement of really large forces at least remotely comparable in size to those committed in 1991 and 2003. There were no strategic aviation raids from U.S. territory (a small number of B-1B Lancer bombers that are taking part in the operation are launching their attacks from Qatar, where they have been based for a long time for actions in Afghanistan). In the Persian Gulf, there ...
... 18,000
[7]
. Bearing in mind that the annual aircraft flight time exceeds 200 hours (more than 100 hours per pilot, with more pilots than aircraft) and adding in the cost of spare parts, periodic overhauls, precision weapons and extensive training, aviation is definitely a toy for the rich.
But this toy is not something a country can live without. While the rich enjoy the fruits of advanced technology, the poor are working hard to find a solution.
Buying Second Hand
www.flickr.com / Military Aviation
Aircraft Fighter Plane Embraer EMB-314 Super
Tucano.
During the Cold War, third-world countries were able to acquire aircraft more easily, since both the Soviet Union and the United States often provided their less affluent allies with ...
