Traditionally, the PRC authorities very harshly censor information regarding their armed forces. Unauthorized leaks in this area are suppressed by the most stringent methods. For example, a few years ago, a Chinese blogger was convicted for posting a photo of the new Chinese J-10 fighter on the Internet. Moreover, the very fact of mass production and the arrival of aircraft into service is easily recorded by space reconnaissance means. Most recently, these aircraft took part in demonstration flights at MAKS-2013 in Zhukovsky.
China is currently the only one of the five great powers, the permanent members of the UN Security Council and the recognized five nuclear powers, which does not provide any official information about its military forces, including nuclear weapons.
The official rationale for this secrecy is that China's nuclear forces are small and technically incomparable with those of the other five powers, and therefore, in order to maintain its nuclear deterrent potential, China needs to maintain uncertainty about its strategic nuclear forces.
At the same time, China is the only one of the great powers that at the official level has undertaken a commitment not to use nuclear weapons first, and without any reservations. This commitment is accompanied by some vague informal clarifications (probably sanctioned by the authorities) that in peacetime, Chinese nuclear warheads are kept separate from missiles. It is also indicated that in the event of a nuclear strike, the task is to deliver the warheads to the carriers within two weeks and retaliate against the aggressor.
Due to the complete closedness of official data, all assessments of the PRC's nuclear weapons are based on information from foreign government and private sources. Thus, according to some of them, China has about 130 strategic ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads. They include 35 old stationary ICBMs of the Dongfang-4 / 5A type and 15 old stationary medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) of the Dongfang-3A type. Also deployed about 25 new soil-mobile ICBMs of the "Dongfang-31A" type (the Chinese analogue of the Russian Topol missile) and 60 new soil-mobile MRBMs "Dongfang-21". Medium-range missiles are aimed mainly at Russia, in relation to which they are strategic, as well as at American bases in the Asia-Pacific region.
The deployment of the newest DF-31A began in 2007, in 2010 there were about 10 missiles and the same number of launchers in service. US intelligence estimates that China, with 20 silo-based DF-5A missiles, currently has "less than 50 missiles" that could reach the continental United States. US intelligence estimates that fewer than 25 DF-31A missiles are currently deployed.
As part of the modernization of its strategic forces, China is moving from obsolete liquid-propellant missiles to new solid-propellant ones. The new systems are more mobile and therefore less vulnerable to enemy attacks.
But by all indications, Chinese mobile systems are more vulnerable than Russian ones. The central regions of the PRC, unlike Russia, do not have large forests where missile systems could hide in the daytime. The mobile launcher is large in size. Its maintenance requires significant human resources and a large amount of auxiliary equipment. This makes its rapid movement limited and relatively easy to detect by space reconnaissance assets.
Mobile launchers will, of course, be dispersed in the event of war. But while they have some off-road capabilities, they require solid, level surfaces to launch missiles. As a result, launchers will have to remain on the road or be used from off-the-shelf launch pads that stand out clearly in high-resolution satellite imagery. In addition, the launcher cannot simply be driven away and launched on its own, all this must happen with the support of tons of orientation, repair and communication facilities.
Satellite images show China is establishing launch sites for its new DF-31 / 31A road-mobile ICBMs in the central part of the country. Several launchers of new DF-31 / 31A ICBMs appeared in two districts of eastern Qinghai province in June 2011.
Over the next decade, older, shorter-range missiles will be decommissioned and replaced with DF-31 / 31A. With the arrival of new ICBMs, most of the Chinese missile forces will be able to target the mainland United States and, possibly, their number will double by 2025. But even by that time, the Chinese nuclear missile potential will be significantly inferior to the potential of Russia and the United States.
The air component of the PRC's strategic nuclear forces is represented by the H-6 aircraft, which are the Chinese version of the Tu-16 bomber, created in the USSR in the mid-50s.
Currently, several dozen aircraft of this type have been modernized by installing modern avionics and turbofan engines D-30KP-2. The combat load is 12,000 kg. The bomber is capable of carrying 6 CJ-10A cruise missiles (a copy of the Kh-55). But even a modernized version with cruise missiles and modern efficient engines cannot be considered a strategic bomber. In the zone of its reach: Eastern Siberia, Transbaikalia and the Far East. As of the beginning of 2013, there were about 120 H-6 aircraft of various modifications in service.
The modernization of the N-6 is being carried out at an aircraft plant in Xi'an.
The naval component is just beginning to form and consists of one type 092 "Xia" SSBN built in the 1980s, which never went to sea for combat patrols.
Recently built and put into operation four SSBNs pr. 094 "Jin".
In total, China's nuclear arsenal is estimated at about 180-240 warheads, making it the 4th or 3rd nuclear power after the United States and the Russian Federation (and possibly France), depending on the accuracy of available unofficial estimates. Chinese nuclear warheads are classified mainly in the thermonuclear class with a power range of 200 kt - 3.3 Mt. There is no doubt that the economic and technical potential of the PRC makes it possible to carry out a rapid build-up of nuclear missile weapons across the entire range of their classes.
The PRC Air Force is armed with about 4 thousand combat aircraft (up to 500-600 units can carry nuclear weapons), of which more than 3 thousand fighters, about 200 bombers.
The aircraft and helicopter fleet is equipped with aircraft of mainly Russian (Soviet) manufacturers - MiG-21, Su-27, Su-30MKK, Su-30MK2, Il-76, An-12, Mi-8. However, there are also aircraft of our own design - shock Q-5 and JH-7, light fighter J-10.
Mass production of the most modern and efficient J-11V (Su-30MK) is carried out at the aircraft plant in Shenyang.
The scale of production is much larger than at the aircraft building plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. At the same time, the Chinese do not bother at all about the lack of a license.
On the basis of the Israeli Lavi fighter, the J-10 light fighter was created and is being produced at the Chengdu aircraft plant. It uses the Russian AL-31F engine.
There, active work is underway to create its own 5th generation fighter.
On the basis of transport Il-76, Y-7 (AN-24), Y-8 (AN-12), AWACS aircraft have been created and are being produced.
Satellite images show that in recent years, modern aircraft have practically ousted the J-6 (MiG-19) and J-7 (MiG-21) airfields from the PRC airfields.
At the same time, the N-5 (Il-28) bombers are still in the naval aviation.
Perhaps these aircraft are used as training or patrol aircraft.
The PRC has a very developed airfield network, especially in the east of the country. In terms of the number of hard-surfaced airfields, China surpasses Russia. The PLA anti-aircraft missile forces of the PRC are armed with 110-120 anti-aircraft missile systems (divisions) HQ-2, HQ-61, HQ-7, HQ-9, HQ-12, HQ-16, S-300PMU, S-300PMU-1 and 2, for a total of about 700 PU.
SAM S-300 in the Qingdao area
According to this indicator, China is second only to our country (about 1500 PU).
SAM HQ-6D in the Chengju area
A year ago, at least a third of this number of Chinese air defense systems accounted for obsolete HQ-2 (analogue of the C-75 air defense system), now there are no more than 10% of the total.
Positions of the air defense missile system HQ-2 (C-75)
Obsolete air defense systems are actively being decommissioned and modern systems are being deployed in their positions.
There are four spaceports in China (one under construction). In 1967, Mao Zedong decided to start developing his own manned space program. The first Chinese spacecraft, Shuguang-1, was supposed to send two cosmonauts into orbit already in 1973. Especially for him, in the province of Sichuan, near the city of Xichang, the construction of a cosmodrome was started.
The location of the launch pad was chosen according to the principle of maximum distance from the Soviet border. After funding for the project was cut in 1972, and several leading scientists were repressed during the Cultural Revolution, the project was closed. The construction of the cosmodrome resumed a decade later, ending in 1984.
Taiyuan Cosmodrome - located in the northern province of Shanxi, near the city of Taiyuan.
It has been operating since 1988. Its area is 375 sq. Km. The cosmodrome houses a launcher, a maintenance tower and two storage facilities for liquid fuel. Jiuquan Cosmodrome - has been operating since 1958. Located on the edge of the Badan-Jilin Desert in the lower reaches of the Heihe River in Gansu Province, it is named after the city of Jiuquan, located 100 kilometers from the cosmodrome.
It is the largest cosmodrome in China (until 1984 - the only one) and the only one used in the national manned program.
Also carries out launches of military missiles. The launch site at the cosmodrome has an area of 2800 km²
In the same place, in the Badan-Jilin desert, there are large air ranges and an air defense test center.
The PRC Navy currently has more than 200 large submarine and surface warships.
The largest is the aircraft carrier Liaoning, the former Varyag - sold by Ukraine for scrap prices in April 1998.
In 2005, the ship was put into dry dock in Dalian and underwent intensive modernization and completion for 6 years.
On August 10, 2011, the ship first went to sea trials, which lasted 4 days.
On September 25, the aircraft carrier was officially accepted into the PLA Navy under the name "Liaoning" and hull number 16.
Prior to that, the Chinese specialists already had the opportunity to get acquainted with the former Soviet aircraft-carrying ships.
Aircraft cruiser "Kiev" turned into a floating casino
In the mid-90s, Minsk and Kiev were bought in Russia, also at the price of scrap metal.
To practice takeoff and landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier, a life-size concrete model of an aircraft carrier was built in one of the central regions of the PRC.
The number of naval aviation exceeds 400 helicopters and aircraft.
Fighter-bombers of naval aviation JH-7
Navy J-8 and J-7, with almost the same delta wing, a noticeable difference in geometric dimensions
In addition to fighters and attack vehicles, their fleet includes amphibious seaplanes of their own production SH-5, which are used as patrol and search and rescue aircraft.
The capabilities of Google Earth make it possible to visually assess the pace of development of the armed forces of the PRC. This is especially noticeable in such areas as: air defense, air force and navy.
