China Vs. USA in Combat Aviation: What Do the Russians Think?

Pravda has an interesting article on China’s new stealth fighter and the current state of American combat aviation. So how does Moscow think things stack up? One analyst seems particularly bullish on Beijing:

“Alexander Khramchikhin, deputy director of the Institute for Political and Military Analysis, told Pravda.Ru that the present-day situation in the US Air Force leaves much to be desired indeed.

‘The US air fleet is based on F-15 and F-16 fighters. They were put into service nearly 40 years ago. Most of these fighters need to be decommissioned. The F-18, used in the US Navy, is not new either. They will modernize many fighters, of course, but it is not going to solve the problem. The American combat aviation is in need of global upgrade. No country in the world can challenge the USA nowadays, but the US combat aviation is already unable to effectively execute the tasks to destroy the combat aviation of other powerful countries, such as China.’

‘The combat aviation has been playing the main role in armed conflicts during the recent 20 years. This will not work with China today, though. The aircraft, which China has recently tested, is not a prototype of a fifth-generation aircraft, because its engines do not meet adequate requirements. However, it does not give the Americans a reason to relax. China can handle all those problems quickly.'”