By Robert Wall
For more than two decades, combat aircraft flown by the U.S. and
its European allies have pretty much owned the sky. Now, Russia and
China are spending lavishly on new weapons that could challenge
that superiority, spurring a new arms race.
Some of the hardware, both planes and antiaircraft capabilities,
is expected to roll out in the next few years. The upgrades come as
Moscow flexes its muscles in hot spots such as Eastern Europe and
the Middle East and Beijing does so in the South China Sea --
heightening urgency among Western military brass to push for their
own, next-generation combat planes.
"The most pressing challenge for the United States Air Force is
the rise of peer competitors with advanced military capabilities
rivaling our own, " Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein
told lawmakers in June, days before being confirmed in the job.
Two months later, the U.S. Air Force certified its new F-35
Joint Strike Fighter. Designed to be hard to detect, the plane is
specially built for the sort of limited, precision strikes that
have become a hallmark of Western military action since NATO's
bombing campaign in Bosnia in the 1990s.
What is considered the Ferrari of combat jets, the F-22, is
still relatively new, first fielded in 2005. Designed to shoot down
enemy aircraft while flying as fast as twice the speed of sound, it
has more recently evolved into a bomber, too, and can soak up
intelligence over enemy territory.
More than three-fourths of the U.S. fleet of jet fighters,
however, can be traced back to the 1970s. The Air Force has flown
its F-15 since 1975. The widely used F-16 has been operational
since 1979, and the U.S. Navy's F/A-18 was first deployed in
1978.
Those older planes are also the backbone of the air forces of
many Asian and European allies, along with newer jets like France's
Rafale and the Eurofighter.
Russia plans to start fielding its first stealth fighter, the
T-50, in 2018. The twin-engine plane is designed to be highly
maneuverable and equipped with sophisticated electronics to spot
enemy aircraft from miles away.
Meanwhile, it has deployed some of its latest combat planes,
such as the Su-34 bomber and Su-35 fighter, to Syria. Russia's
Defense Ministry couldn't be reached for comment.
China has historically relied on Russian designs, many older and
some built domestically under license. That is starting to change
with the new projects. The country's air force "is rapidly closing
the gap with Western air forces across a broad spectrum of
capabilities," the Pentagon said this year in its annual assessment
of the Chinese military.
China's J-20, which resembles the U.S. F-22, started flying in
2011, though it hasn't yet entered military service. A year later,
Beijing began flight trials of the FC-31, a look-alike of the U.S.
F-35.
China's Defense Ministry referred to its response in May to the
Pentagon's report when it expressed "strong dissatisfaction and
resolute opposition" and accused the U.S. of "improper comment" on
issues including China's weapons development.
The U.S. still maintains an edge -- its radar-evading planes are
operational, while Russia and China are still developing theirs.
But it isn't just new aircraft raising concerns.
Both China and Russia are also fielding more sophisticated
antiaircraft systems. Moscow says its new S-400 can shoot down
planes at a range of up to 236 miles, or roughly twice the previous
range.
In August, Russia's Defense Ministry announced the system would
be deployed to newly annexed Crimea amid escalating tensions with
Ukraine. Moscow is also marketing its new air-defense systems for
sale abroad.
"That enormously complicates the challenge of conducting any
type of military operation," said David Deptula, a retired U.S. Air
Force lieutenant general.
China this year deployed its HQ-9 surface-to-air missile system
to the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, a chain that is also
claimed by Vietnam.
To counter those new threats, the U.S. Air Force, in a recent
assessment of combat needs, recommended introducing long-range
missiles or other weapons that would allow current planes to strike
targets while remaining outside the range of an adversary's
defenses.
It is also already pushing new planes, targeting 2030 for an
upgraded model, U.S. Air Force Gen. Herbert J. Carlisle, head of
the service's Air Combat Command, said at an air show in England in
July.
The U.S. Navy in May kicked off an 18-month assessment of how to
replace its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet multi-role combat jet, with a
target date around 2035.
The Pentagon is still defining exactly what it wants in a new
plane, but such plane makers as Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp.
and Northrop Grumman Corp. have all started circulating futuristic
drawings of what such a plane might look like. BAE Systems PLC says
the company has a small group of engineers brainstorming for the
U.K., according to Chris Boardman, managing director at a military
unit of the British arms maker.
Some U.S. lawmakers and others have urged the Air Force to
restart production of the F-22 fighter, which the U.S. stopped
building in 2012, with new electronics to more effectively counter
improving enemy air defenses.
European defense ministries, including the U.K.'s, have also
recently begun to consider new combat aircraft, said Douglas
Barrie, military aerospace senior fellow at the London-based
International Institute for Strategic Studies. He cited "Russia's
assertiveness in Eastern Europe and its procurement of increasingly
capable combat aircraft."
The U.K. Defense Ministry said it plans a number of technology
"maturation" efforts in conjunction with the U.S. and France. It is
buying the F-35, but is also pursuing its own efforts, the ministry
said.
Germany, too, wants a combat aircraft to replace its aging
Tornados, developed with Italy and the U.K., which entered
Luftwaffe service 37 years ago.
Berlin is looking at manned and unmanned options, according to a
German Defense Ministry report last year. A ministry spokeswoman
said the capabilities to be required are still being assessed,
along with the future threat picture.
Paris, in addition to working with the U.K. on new concepts,
plans to upgrade the Rafale combat plane to keep it effective
against evolving threats, a French Defense Ministry spokesman
said.
Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 25, 2016 13:41 ET (17:41 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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