The Concept of the PLAAF’s Missions

Prior to the 1990s, the PLAAF’s official mission was largely limited to that of a localized defensive force intended to support ground (or maritime) opera­tions on or close to the mainland.2 In recent years, however, Chinese Commu­nist Party (CCP) and PLA leaders have made clear that they envision a greatly expanded combat and noncombat role for the air force. In 2004, the Party’s Cen­tral Military Commission (CMC) approved the air force’s first-ever service-spe­cific strategic concept. This concept clearly suggested a much broader mission than in the past, with a greater emphasis on offense: “Integrate air and space; be simultaneously prepared for offensive and defensive operations” (kongtian yi ti, gongfang jianbei, Й^—1Ф, ЖШШЮ3 Then, in 2008, China’s National Defense White Paper identified the PLAAF as a “strategic service” of the PLA.4

Over the past 5 to 6 years in particular, PLA analysts of air – and space – power have produced an outpouring of articles and in-depth studies analyz­ing and debating the future missions that the world’s most powerful air forces, including China’s, will have to prepare to undertake. This chapter draws heav­ily upon these analyses.5

Some recent Chinese military reference works have tried to clarify and standardize the definitions of concepts such as “mission” and “task” and related terms such as “operations” (xingdong, ТЙ). But most PLA books and articles do not draw clear distinctions among these concepts, nor have consistent def­initions for these terms emerged in recent analyses of air – and spacepower. For example, the most common terms for “mission” (shiming, U#) and “task” (renwu, H%-) are often used interchangeably or in combination.

The Chinese Air Force Encyclopedia and a few other analytical sources provide distinct definitions for air force “missions” (shiming, U#) and air force “tasks” (renwu, fi^).6 The Chinese Air Force Encyclopedia defines airforce mis­sions as:

The important historical responsibilities entrusted to the air force by the state, which are divided into basic missions [jiben shiming, S^U#], special missions [teshu shiming, #^U#], and concrete missions [juti shiming, ДІФШ#].7

Historically, statements of basic PLA missions have been worded as slo­gans or broad statements of political values or goals. The PLAAF’s first state­ment of mission, for example, appears to have been Mao Zedong’s April 1950 inscription for the inaugural issue of the PLAAF’s journal People’s Air Force. It read simply “Create a Strong and Great People’s Air Force; Destroy the Rem­nant Enemy Forces; Stabilize the Nation’s Defenses.”8 Today, statements of the PLAAF’s basic missions tend to be worded in somewhat more concrete terms, but are still not highly detailed. An example is the 2008 National Defense White Paper’s statement that the PLAAF was responsible for “safeguarding the coun­try’s territorial air space and territorial sovereignty, and maintaining a stable air defense posture nationwide.”9

The Air Force Encyclopedia defines the basic tasks (jiben renwu,

#) of any nation’s air force as “the important responsibilities that an air force assumes in order to carry out its missions.”10 Although “tasks” are supposed to be clearly defined responsibilities intended to carry out PLAAF missions, very few PLA analysts actually make any clear distinction between “tasks” and rela­tively specific or concrete “missions.” Some senior analysts even use the term “tasks”—renwu—jointly or interchangeably with “missions”—shiming—both when they describe some relatively abstract missions (deterrence, for example) and when they describe far more concrete and specific missions or tasks.

For example, two leading analysts have referred to the same undertak­ing by air force personnel—using air and space forces to deter the enemy, for example—as different categories of concepts: one labels this a “task-mission” (renwu shiming; Ї#ШФ), and the other calls some of these activities “opera­tions” (xingdong; ТЙ) in one portion of his study and “tasks” in another.11 This lack of consistency within the PLAAF literature indicates a clear conceptual problem—the PLAAF is presently in the process of defining a new set of mis­sions without a clear, agreed-upon concept of what a “mission” is or how it fits into the structure of PLAAF military thought.

The PLAAF has not publicly released a list of its principal missions. Nor have PLA air – and spacepower analysts over the past several years referred to air force missions using the same list of missions and similar terms for them— something Western analysts would expect to see if an agreed-upon list of mis­sions existed. But a review of recent PLA writings on air – and spacepower suggests that a broad consensus exists among PLA analysts concerning the importance of six core PLAAF air and space missions: deterrence; offense; defense; airlift; airborne; and blockade support. The breadth of this list under­scores the terrific change in the PLA’s overall view of the air force’s mission and utility over the past 15 years or so.

A closer examination of some of these missions demonstrates an impor­tant theme in the PLAAF’s transition away from being a largely defensively – oriented air force. Several of these missions reflect the PLAs focus on devel­oping the air force’s offensive capabilities as well as its capability to retake and maintain the initiative in deterrence and combat missions. The remainder of this chapter focuses on what most analysts would probably agree are the three most important of these missions—deterrence, offense, and defense—with a special focus on this new emphasis on offense and initiative.