Want China Times
Date: 2015-10-14
By: Staff Reporter

By the year 2017, it will take the United States about 2,200 fighters, a full

One of the first 12 F-22 Raptors lands at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii on Feb. 7, 2007. (Photo courtesy of USAF)

two-thirds of its Air Force, to defeat an aerial invasion launched by the PLA against Taiwan, according to a report by the Santa Monica-based think tank RAND Corporation.

While the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps together have a larger advanced fighter fleet than their PLA counterparts, China enjoys the geographic advantage. Such geographic and situational factors favor China in nearly all Asian conflict scenarios and allow Beijing to challenge US air power in the Far East without the need to have as many advanced fighters as Washington.

To defeat a potential Chinese aerial offensive against Taiwan, the United States would need to deploy 30 fighter wings to the Western Pacific. Such an attrition campaign against the PLA Air Force and Navy Air Force would be unsustainable for the US.     [FULL  STORY]