Derek Solen, a senior researcher at the U.S. Air Force’s China Aerospace Studies Institute, wrote this opinion piece on two recent articles by the Chinese military about the U.S. Air Force’s use of heavy planes, like bombers and cargo planes, for different missions than they were originally designed for. The first Chinese article questioned whether these efforts were useful or even possible. However, another article soon followed that argued that these efforts actually pose a threat.
The first article was written by someone named Liu Haochang and appeared in a Chinese publication called China National Defense News. It was mainly intended for people in the Chinese military and defense industry. The article summarized a piece from Defense News, but put a negative spin on the U.S. Air Force’s efforts. Liu also quoted some “analysts” who said that in modern warfare, transport planes and logistical support are important targets and that any enemy planes during a conflict are targets for attack. The article ended by quoting some Americans, including an executive from L3Harris and Heather Penney of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, who agreed with the negative assessment of the U.S. Air Force’s efforts.
However, another article in China National Defense News, written by Xi Qizhi argued that the U.S. Air Force’s efforts are actually a big threat. The article said that the U.S. Air Force’s ability to use their heavy planes for a variety of missions, including psychological operations, makes them very powerful. The article also stressed that China should not underestimate these planes and the damage they could cause.
Xi’s article focused on Rapid Dragon, a program aimed at developing the ability to launch cruise missiles from pallets dropped by cargo aircraft. A previous article about Rapid Dragon in China National Defense News had mentioned some positive aspects of the program, but also highlighted two critical weaknesses: the scarcity of cargo aircraft in the U.S. Air Force’s inventory and the inadequacies of the AGM-158B missile being used in the program, including its low “cost effectiveness” and insufficient range. However, Xi’s article did not mention these weaknesses and instead emphasized the advantages of Rapid Dragon. He argued that cargo planes can carry a large number of missiles, and the use of palletized munitions will confuse enemies and increase the agility and suddenness of U.S. strike missions. Xi also claimed that Rapid Dragon has high “cost effectiveness,” as it is cheaper to turn cargo planes into bombers than to develop and maintain bombers and can also quickly turn allies’ cargo planes into bombers. He predicted that there will be more types of palletized munitions and more types of aircraft able to carry them in the future.
It’s not easy to say which of these two articles represents the Chinese military’s true views on the situation. The contradiction between them shows that it can be hard to figure out what the organization really thinks. While the first article downplayed the threat from the U.S. Air Force, the second article sounded more alarmed and might be a more accurate representation of the Chinese military’s concerns.
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