Fighter 10 jets fly in the 7th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, November 5, 2009. [China News Service] |
Air and space power is a sign of a country's strength, as security threats from air and space are serious problems around the world. According to China News Service, some experts have indicated that China's air force should focus on the development of air and space power to meet national security needs.
Ji Yan, deputy director of the Strategy Research Office at Air Force Command College, says that strengthening the air force is very important. He emphasized that that the air force should do its part to control space power.
Developing air and space power is a priority for many countries. The United States holds the Schriever space war game every few years to train and develop space professionals' combat skills.
Don Wenxian, an air force researcher, says the whole society should give support to developing China's air and space power because air force is the main way to ensure the nation's air and space security.
Xu Yan, a professor at China National Defense University, says army-civilian combination strategies can indirectly strengthen the air force. By improving China's aviation industry, the air force armament will also be developed.
According to Xu, seven countries in the world can independently produce fighters and launch artificial satellites, but only Russia, the United States and the Western European Union have the ability to manufacture large aircrafts.
Advanced passenger airliners require similar mechanical and electrical capabilities and manufacturing processes, so army-civilian combination strategies help develop this field. For example, the Boeing Company in USA and Tupolev Joint Stock Company in Russia manufacture both heavy bombers and civil aviation aircrafts. The economy and military can have a positive interaction on each other, with both being developed at the same time.
By developing the large passenger aircraft industry, China's economy and military force will also develop. By strengthening China's military power, China's air and space power will see similar benefits.