Aviation industry boosts PLA strength

Turning point was the development of Chinese fighter jet in 2004, ending country's reliance on Russia

The People's Liberation Army has one of the world's mightiest air forces thanks to the rapid development of China's aviation industry.

The PLA Air Force has world-class hardware including the Y-20 strategic transport plane, the KJ-500 early warning and control aircraft, and the GJ-1 multipurpose combat drone.

As China's first domestically developed heavy-lift transport plane, the Y-20 was commissioned in early July.

With a maximum takeoff weight of about 200 metric tons, the colossal jet can transport cargo and personnel over long distances in diverse weather conditions.

The KJ-500 is the latest addition to the Air Force's support fleet. The aircraft, which entered service around 2014, has one fixed phased-array radar and two passive electronic intelligence arrays, which allow it to track up to 100 targets simultaneously to a range of 470 kilometers, military sources say.

The GJ-1 is an advanced drone with an operational range of more than 3,000 km and a payload of up to 200 kilograms. It is believed it was delivered to the PLA around 2014.

Aviation Industry Corp of China, the nation's leading aircraft maker, developed all of these aircraft. Over the past decade, the state-owned company has transformed from a modest player in the international aviation community to an influential power.

The turning point for China's aviation industry came in 2004 when AVIC completed development of the J-10A fighter jet and delivered it to the PLA, ending the Air Force's reliance on antiquated Russian planes.

Since then, AVIC has developed several variants of the jet and is now flight-testing the J-10C, which features improved stealth capability and cutting-edge radar, according to the company.

The most noticeable indication of AVIC's rise is its two fifth-generation stealth fighters, which make China the only nation other than the United States to develop such technology.

The twin-engine, heavy-duty J-20 has completed testing and is in mass production, according to Chinese military observers, who say the plane will soon be delivered to the PLA.

The company has also begun to promote the lightweight J-31 in the international arms market as a rival to the US-made Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.

Although there are no signs the PLA has decided to procure the J-31, its existence offers a wider range of options to complement the J-20, says Wu Peixin, an aviation analyst in Beijing.

Currently, the only combat-ready fifth-generation fighter jet in the world is the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, which entered service with the US Air Force in 2005.