As we all know, especially in recent years, China's military strength is growing by leaps and bounds, and its international influence is gradually expanding. But we must admit that there was a time when our military power was controlled by others.

In the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, our volunteer army drove away the Americans with advanced weapons with their long guns and short guns, which actually shows that weapons may not be the only factor in winning a war. But to be honest, in the bloody history of modern times, China's army, from the Opium War, to the Anti-Japanese War, the Liberation War, and the later War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, gradually tempered into a strong belief. This power is incredibly strong, which may be the fundamental reason why the weak defeated the strong.

However, since the Gulf War, the US military strength has awakened the world! This also makes us realize that in modern warfare, the advancement of weapons is crucial. When the Gulf War broke out in 1991, our army was in a stage of working hard to make progress, so the international community had to "tolerate" it many times.

The Gulf War showed the world a new combat mode. The U.S. military assembled a multinational force of 790,000 people, 3,510 aircraft, 5,100 tanks and various combat ships. The U.S. Army, Marine Corps, tanks, armored vehicles, aircraft, and equipment and supplies are countless.

During the Gulf War, in Operation Desert Shield, the U.S. military dispatched two aircraft carrier battle groups, the USS Eisenhower and the USS Independence. During Desert Storm, the U.S. military dispatched six aircraft carriers in succession, sweeping across Iraq like a hurricane with overwhelming momentum.

Among them, the most elite of the US military is the US Air Force. The US Air Force is equipped with new main fighters "Nighthawk fighters" that hover over Iraq every day, bombing Iraq with artillery shells, precision-guided missiles, and cruise missiles. Iraq's air defense system is as fragile as an eggshell, and domestic infrastructure and energy facilities are not spared.

The performance of the US Air Force in the Gulf War refreshed the world's imagination of modern warfare. Wars before this were basically human wave tactics, but the Gulf War opened up the "dimensionality reduction strike" mode, and people had nowhere to hide in front of high-tech intelligent weapons.

The reason why the U.S. had such impressive military strength at that time was actually due to the competition with the Soviet Union. The U.S. was busy developing various high-tech weapons, and the military force in the Gulf War was originally intended to be used in the decisive battle with the Soviet Union. At that time, putting such force to fight Iraq was indeed a bit insignificant.

Since then, countries around the world, including China, have realized the importance of developing high-tech weapons. The future form of warfare must be high-tech confrontation. Since the Gulf War, the United States has been showing off its military power for decades, and has maintained its single-machine hegemony for many years with the support of the so-called "military myth".

China's military power, "knowing shame and then courage", has made clear the conditions required for modern warfare and is catching up! At present, China's military influence has a huge deterrent effect worldwide. Our army has 13 group armies, four heavy armored combined divisions, 29 heavy armored combined brigades, 4 air assault brigades, more than 800,000 army field troops, and more than 3,000 third-generation tanks.

In terms of the navy, the Liaoning, Shandong and Fujian ships have been put into service so far. After more than 20 years of research and development and construction, such outstanding achievements are very rare. In addition, there are 30 055 and 052 series destroyers, at least 40 054 series destroyers, hundreds of 056 series destroyers, and three 075 series destroyers.

The strength of the Air Force is the focus of our discussion today! I will keep you in suspense for now. The United States has always been fond of making various military rankings, and basically puts itself at the top. On the one hand, it is to consolidate the "mythical" status of the US military, and on the other hand, it may be purely for fun.

Not long ago, there was such a ranking, which aroused widespread discussion among military fans around the world. A website called "World Dictionary of Modern Military Aircraft (WDMMA)" ranked the global air power. Russia ranked third, India ranked sixth, so where did China rank?

Let's talk about the first two first. The United States has them all. The first is the United States Air Force, and the second is the United States Army Air Force . The strength of the United States Air Force is indeed not to be underestimated. So far, the United States Air Force has 2,094 fighter jets of various models, including 841 F-16C/D/V, 375 F-15 series, and more than 400 F-35A, and F-22 fifth-generation aircraft.

In addition, drones, air-based cruise missiles, intercontinental ballistic missiles, etc. have been turned next door. The US Air Force has always been ahead of the world in terms of both quantity and quality. It is not surprising that the US Army Aviation Corps can follow closely behind the US Air Force.

They have more than 5,000 helicopters alone, the largest in the world in terms of both quantity and variety. Among them, the Apache attack helicopter not only has extremely strong firepower, but can also survive in all kinds of weather conditions, which is already the best in terms of helicopters. At the same time, the U.S. Army Air Force played a huge role during World War II and can be regarded as the world's largest air force.

But in fact, in recent years, the US military strength is showing signs of overall decline. If the US military strength during the Gulf War was its peak moment, then since then the US military strength has not made much progress, and has even been declining.

After the Gulf War, the victories in the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War made the United States feel complacent. They thought that they could easily destroy a country by throwing a few aircraft carrier formations and a few attack ships. During this period, the United States became extremely arrogant. During the Bush Jr. era, the United States cancelled high-intensity confrontation weapons, stopped production of the F-22, and lightened the army to adapt to global deployment.

Gradually, the United States, which was in a state of expansion, saw its manufacturing industry decline and its military industry slowly being overtaken by China. Now it is in a hurry. Some people ask, what evidence do you have for the decline of the US military industry? It is very simple. Let's look at the third place, Russia . In recent years, it has been fighting fiercely with Ukraine and is inseparable.

Western countries, led by the United States, have continuously provided Ukraine with military aid and high-end weapons and ammunition, but they have still not dealt a crushing blow to Russia, and have been beaten up by the Russian army from time to time. According to what has been said above, the peak period of the US military's strength has been over 30 years ago. If you let the Russian army take their weapons and travel back to the Gulf War, they are likely to fight better than the United States at that time.

To know whether the U.S. military industry has made progress, we can tell by looking at what weapons they have provided to Ukraine. Some people say that the U.S. is probably hiding something and not providing the Ukrainian army with "killer weapons". Although this is possible, the probability is too low.

Ukraine was the first to stand up and say it was unwilling. You have good things but you don't give them to us, so that we lose our lives in vain on the battlefield. Is this reasonable? Obviously not. Biden's purpose in provoking the Russia-Ukraine war is to defeat Russia. There is no reason for the United States not to help the Ukrainian army.

In the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian Aerospace Forces had a very strong presence, and the performance of the Su-34, Su-35S, R-37M, and A-50 early warning aircraft on the front line in eastern Ukraine was amazing. However, the Ukrainian air force was also strong, and many Russian aerospace fighters were hit and shot down by missiles.

The glorious period of the Soviet Air Force has ended with the Red Flag. Although the Russian military industry is large, the research and development of new weapons has gradually fallen behind in recent years, which has also made the Russian Aerospace Force appear to be "strong on the outside but weak on the inside". Fighter jets have been lacking maintenance for many years, and pilots are not trained rigorously. In terms of missiles, precision-guided bombs are in short supply, not to mention other aspects.

In addition, in the field of fifth-generation aircraft, among the top three permanent members, Russia's Su-57 is the worst, and has basically not appeared in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, Russia's advantage lies in its large size and rich financial resources, which are enough even if it squanders.

The United States still ranks fourth and fifth, followed by India, while China ranks seventh after India.

Seeing this, many people have lost interest. The Indian Air Force is ranked only after the United States and Russia, which is not convincing. Some netizens commented, "The key is how can we convince Americans of this ranking?" It is a "deception" tactic! However, the fact that the Indian Air Force is ranked so high really aroused my curiosity, so I studied this (WDNMM website). It turns out that they have their own algorithm to rank.

The website's annual rankings take into account values related to the total combat power of various aviation services in the world. Modernization, logistics, and attack and defense capabilities are all factors that the website considers. To put it bluntly, the website has its own set of criteria. The reason why India ranks high is that they take into account all the orders that India intends to place and the newly purchased aircraft. In terms of the enthusiasm for purchasing weapons from various countries, India is indeed at the top.

Therefore, the ranking of this website is not very useful for reference and is not of high value. It is enough to just watch for fun. However, our rational and objective analysis shows that India's air force strength is not as weak as imagined, but it is a bit funny to say that it is higher than China.

In order to recapture the Goa region, India dispatched 45,000 troops to face the Portuguese garrison of less than 4,000 people, but the casualty ratio was similar to that of Portugal, which shows how poor it was. In the subsequent battle with Pakistan, the Indian Air Force claimed that it had killed 300 Pakistani soldiers, but it was eventually revealed that the explosives were not dropped on the intended target. They fled in a hurry.

India is very weak in research and development, but they will buy. In the weapons storage of the Indian Air Force, you can see the most powerful fighter jets from various countries, which may also be considered a kind of "power".

The list is too subjective, so don't take it too seriously . The military strength of the Chinese Air Force is obvious to all. Last year, an intercontinental missile attracted worldwide attention. At the end of the year, the "sixth-generation aircraft" of Chengdu Aircraft Corporation and Shenyang Aircraft Corporation made a brilliant debut, and Chinese fighter jets are leading the world. In addition, at this year's Zhuhai Air Show, from drones to robot dogs, to advanced radars and fighter jets, each of them could be a national treasure of other countries.

The J-35A fighter jet has made Americans sleepless at night! I am afraid that the only people who can really feel blindly superior in this "list" are the Indians!

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Reference: 2022 Global Air Power Ranking: The United States is far ahead, India surpasses China - Global Times

PLA Daily: Strategic air forces are coming out of nowhere, and it is no longer a dream to fight all over the world in one or two hours - The Paper