With the progress of science and technology and the development of military concepts, air superiority is becoming more and more important in modern wars, so the air force has attracted more and more attention from all countries. There are five major air force powers in the world, namely the United States, China, Russia, France and India.
Us-China air force
The US Air Force ranks first, and this ranking is well deserved.
As the only superpower in the world, the air force of the United States belongs to the world-class existence in scale, and the quality of the air force is also in the forefront of the world. From fighter planes to bombers to transport planes, the US Air Force can say that there are no big shortcomings, which other countries on earth can't do.
Compared with the air forces of other countries, the greatest advantage of the US Air Force is not the performance of fighters, but the naval and air bases deployed around the world.
As a global hegemon, the United States has more than 370 overseas naval and air bases around the world. From the United States to the European continent, from Japan and South Korea to Australia, the US Air Force has the military capability to intervene anywhere on earth in a short time.
China Air Force ranks second, and there are no major problems at present. China Air Force is a rising star among the five permanent members, and it was not until the 20th century that it was able to manufacture advanced fighters. When the American F-22 made its first flight in the last century, China's fighter plane also used the high-altitude high-speed fighter J-8, which was twice as low as that of the American fighter plane.
However, the China Air Force now has five generations of fighter planes, catching up with the US Air Force in terms of fighter plane quality. However, the number of advanced fighters in active service in China is still relatively small, so the China Air Force ranks second for the time being.
In addition, China Air Force has many shortcomings, such as aviation development and the number of transport planes. If these shortcomings can be filled, the gap between China Air Force and US Air Force can be further narrowed.
The Russian Air Force ranks third, and many people may not be satisfied with this ranking. After all, the Russian Air Force did not perform well on the battlefield in Ukraine. This is actually harmless, because Russia is not only targeting Ukraine, but also targeting NATO. Although NATO does not support Ukraine on the surface, there are many kinds of "soft support".
For example, aid Ukrainian weapons and provide intelligence and information technology support to Ukraine. The Russian air force is still mainly eating the old capital of the Soviet Union, which has a great disadvantage in the degree of informationization.
Ukraine has NATO's information technology support, and Russia is easy to suffer a small loss. But that's all. The volume of Ukraine is there. Unless NATO exits in person, Russia's macro advantage will not disappear.
And the US Air Force has been shot down several times in the Middle East. Now the American drone is shot down by the Middle East Houthi armed forces. Can this represent the strength of the US Air Force? As one of the five permanent members, Russia is the biggest successor of the Soviet Union. As the saying goes, there are still 3,000 nails on the rotten ship, and the strength of the Russian Air Force cannot be underestimated.
French and Indian air forces and their aviation industries
The French air force ranked fourth. The reason why the French Air Force ranks in this position is that France is one of the only countries in the world with an independent aviation industry. At present, there are no more than 10 countries that can independently build aircraft, and no more than 5 countries that can independently build more advanced fighters.
South Korea has assembled a KF-2/KLOC-0 fighter plane, and dares to claim to be the ninth country in the world that can build a jet fighter. In fact, Korean fighters have received technical support from many other countries, but even South Korea can become the ninth fighter, which shows the scarcity of the aviation industry.
After World War II, due to the influence of Gaullism, France has been relatively independent in Europe, unlike Britain, which needs to be attached to the United States. Therefore, it has built the fourth complete national defense industry in the world, and the aviation industry is also quite good.
European countries such as Britain have to cooperate with other European countries or get technical support from the United States to develop advanced fighters, but France can build it itself. It is also possible to build a fourth generation machine, or a 4.5 generation machine, not to mention a fifth generation machine. France alone can rank among the top five air force powers in the world.
The Indian Air Force ranks fifth. India ranks here on the one hand because of its size, and on the other hand because India actually has a relatively attractive aviation industry.
In terms of volume, India is the second most populous country in the world, the seventh largest in terms of territory and the top ten in terms of economic aggregate. Therefore, even if the Indian Air Force piles up, it can pile up a huge air force.
In the aviation industry, India still has two brushes, although there are not many things. Brilliant fighters imported only from India need to import engines from the United States, radars from Israel, radomes and ejection seats from Britain, avionics from France and artillery from Russia. Other places are basically made in India.
Although many of these imported components are core equipment, India is already very strong in this step. Although the performance of the glorious fighter is not so good, it still shows that there is something in India.
Of course, the current equipment of the Indian Air Force is mainly French gusts and Russian Su -30 fighters. Indian-made fighters like Guanghui are rarely purchased by the military. However, thanks to the size of India, the strength of the Indian Air Force cannot be underestimated.
Four of these five countries have been at war in the past four years. Needless to say, the United States basically has a large number of military operations in the Middle East every year.
Russia is still at war with Ukraine. As things stand, this war will last for a long time. France is actually a colonial power until now, and its air force now goes to North Africa to carry out military operations from time to time. Not to mention India, which often fights with Pakistan.
The United States has a record of many fighter planes being destroyed in the Middle East, and Russia has also suffered a lot on the battlefield in Ukraine. India's air force is large, but it is still fighting Pakistan. Because France fought mostly public security wars, it basically crushed them all the way. The performance of these national air forces also shows that there is no absolute strength on the battlefield.