China is building a fleet of a hundred large transport aircraft that will be able to deploy troops all around the world, according to a Russian military expert.
In an article published Oct. 16 on the Russian Council website, Vasily Kashin, a China expert at the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow, says that the People's Liberation Army hopes to complete the project by 2020.
To reach that goal, China is in the process of acquiring Il-76 multi-purpose four-engine strategic airlifters and Il-78 four-engined aerial refueling tankers from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, and is also developing its own Xian Y-20 large military transport aircraft.
According to Kashin, the quality of China's military technology has reached a new level, such that the PLA is now a modernized force capable of fighting a technically advanced war. The new generation PLA has a blue-water navy and maritime force capable of operating across the deep waters of open oceans as well as a powerful strategic air force, he wrote.
The project is said to be part of a series of major programs designed to complete China's transformation into a modern military power. One of the programs aims to build an army that can win wars through superior information technology by 2050. To this end, the PLA set a goal back in 2000 for 60% of all new recruits to be university graduates, though by 2009 the number had barely passed 30%. To entice more qualified soldiers, the PLA has also introduced comprehensive insurance schemes and higher compensation that has seen monthly salaries more than double between 2006 and 2011 to around US$840 a month.
No comments:
Post a Comment