EVENTS

Abstract

China's strong economic growth has also led to the rapid modernisation and rise of its military which has raised alarm in the region. The most recent example of this was in November, 2013 when China surprised the world by unilaterally declaring its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea. The Chinese have clearly signalled to its neighbours that it is likely to aggressively assert its territorial claims. While it is understood that the main focus of China’s military modernisation is to cater for the Taiwan contingency and geopolitical competition with the US, it also needs to be kept in mind that China’s rise poses serious security challenges to India. China has supplied missile and nuclear weapons technology to Pakistan and it is also providing assistance to Pakistan in developing its plutonium-based nuclear weapons programme at Khushab. China’s attempts to bring countries on India’s periphery under its influence also add to Indian concerns. There is a school of thought that exaggerates China’s capability. However, is the Chinese PLA Air Force capability so great? This presentation analyses China’s military clout and argues that the Chinese air force will have serious limitations in launching air operations, against India, due to inadequate airfield infrastructure in Tibet, reduced aircraft performance from high altitude airfields and vulnerability to air interdiction.

About the Speaker

Gp Capt Ravinder Singh Chhatwal retired from the Indian Air Force in July 2007 and he has been holding a position of Senior Fellow at Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS) since 2013.  His present area of research is “China’s Air Defence System”.