Why is America's air superiority maintained for another 20 years? One is aircraft, the other is missiles.
At present, only fourth-generation and fifth-generation aircraft, as well as strategic bombers, can be used as a country's military card, and the United States belongs to the world's leading position in this area.
The first is the fourth-generation aircraft, that is, F15 and other relatively advanced superior fighters under the fifth-generation aircraft. What is the total number in the United States? The data at the beginning of 2023 is 1273, including the F15 equipped by the National Guard, the latest F15ex, and the F18\FA18 equipped by the Navy. The total number of these aircraft already exceeds the air forces of the vast majority of countries in the world.
Among them, it is worth mentioning the F15EX, the latest equipment purchase by the United States. As we all know, the fourth-generation aircraft of the US military entered service much earlier than the fourth-generation aircraft of the Chinese Air Force, especially the F15. Before the F35A was not equipped with a large number of US troops, the F15 series fighters have always been the most frequently used aircraft in the US military, so some of the early F15 formations, whether it is material life or structural strength, have decayed, so the domestic F15 fleet needs to be retired. But if the plane is decommissioned, it is impossible for the pilot to retire, right? The formation can't just be cut like that, right? Surely it will have to be replaced with a new plane!
For what? F35A？ Sorry, the production capacity is not available, so the world's latest fourth-generation aircraft, which is also the world's latest interceptor F15EX, officially debuted. Why interceptors? Because of this twin-engine heavy battle, it was changed to a single-person pilot, taking on the responsibility of air superiority fighters, mainly used in Alaska and the United States mainland to defend the homeland.
In terms of fifth-generation aircraft, the United States currently has about 80 available F22s, and the total number of F35A\B\C global fleet is close to 1,000, of which the US military itself is equipped with about 300 F35 models, and the number of fifth-generation aircraft is undoubtedly the largest in the world.
Moreover, the US military also has the most lacking weapon of our military - strategic stealth bombers, the current number of US B2 stealth bombers available is about 20, the next generation of stealth fighter B21, is also under development, so these strengths, on paper, are very strong.
The pupil surpasses the master? The number of heavy aircraft in China has surpassed that of the United States, and it can form a comprehensive suppression! Is it still far from catching up with the so-called 20-year gap between China and the United States?
The number of fourth-generation aircraft in the US military is about 1273, but in fact, the number of heavy twin-engine fighters that can undertake major combat missions is less than 600. In other words, among the main forces of the US Air Force, only about 600 can really be used to compete with China, Russia and other major powers.
And how many heavy fighters are there in China? As of the end of 2022, the figure is about 1,100. These 1,100 are not like the United States, adding the old F15C \D, China's main models, are J-20, J-16, J-15, J-11B, Su-35, Su-30, of which more than 100 Su-27 Su-30 Su-35 imported from Russia and produced, these aircraft are expected to be retired within this year, and almost all of them are J-20, J-16, J-15 and other cutting-edge models equipped with the latest aviation, avionics, and missiles. This huge difference in quantity and quality is not something that the US military can level by fiercely manufacturing the F35 series.
Someone will ask, the United States has B21, there is a F35 fleet of servant countries, and China is not comparable. Yes, the United States has B21, but the strength of the American army has not increased because of the appearance of B21. Why? Because in the final analysis, B21 is the replacement of B2, directly cut the low-altitude penetration capability, not to mention, the overall cost has also come down a lot, but since the B21 test flight, there has still been no news of mass production, considering the current industrial capacity of the United States, whether it can be mass-produced B21 has also become an uncertain factor.
As for the F35 fleet, although there are hundreds of F35s deployed around China, let's be honest, what is the use of having F35s in a servant country like Japan and South Korea? First of all, in terms of performance, the F35 is far inferior to the J-20, and the air combat performance is completely defeated; secondly, the F35 is almost invisible in the face of the Chinese mainland's radar, and it cannot form a strategic suppression, especially after the number of J-20 in service exceeds 300, the existence of the F35 is almost only a role in consuming the power of China's fourth-generation aircraft.
Finally, there are weapon systems. At present, China already has such a full-fledged double-pulse ultra-long-range air-to-air missile as the PL15, and the United States? Only the AIM120 is maturely available, which is far inferior to the Chinese PL15 in terms of range and accuracy. As for the latest AIM260, the promise made by AIM120 has not yet been fulfilled, and it is really not very credible for the mass production of AIM260. So China is just around the corner to catch up with the United States and gain superiority in the air.