China Heads Out To Sea

Since the late 1980s China has aggressively pursued a policy of modernizing its defense industries, with the aim of rivaling those of the West and Russia.

Now the results of that policy are reaching the front line, allowing China’s forces to transition from a Cold War inventory that was dominated by huge quantities of unsophisticated equipment to a leaner force equipped with systems that are smarter and more competitive with those fielded by the West.

In recent times the air force has been revived by the fielding of the Chengdu J-10, a genuine fourth-generation multi-role type, as well as the purchase from Russia and unlicensed copying of advanced “Flanker” versions.

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