David Versus Goliath

The Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF), as part of that country’s armed forces, faces a nearly impossible primary mission on paper, to defend the airspace of Taiwan from the might of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).

- Justin Bronk

With around 400 combat aircraft including jet trainers, the ROCAF faces a PLAAF of over 2100 combat aircraft, as well as the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) formidable People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the ballistic missiles of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force and long-range Surfaceto-Air Missile (SAM) batteries on the PRC’s side of the Taiwan Strait. On top of this numerical disparity, the ROC’s geopolitical isolation as a result of sustained PRC pressure means that the ROCAF finds it very difficult to procure and maintain modern fighters, missile stocks and other key equipment. As Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute of Strategic Studies think tank in London puts it; “In terms of air power Taiwan is faced with being overmatched not only numerically but also increasingly in terms of technology. As the PLAAF moves to what in Western terms would be viewed as a mixed fourth- and near fifth-generation fleet of combat aircraft in the 2020s, equipped with increasingly capable short, medium and long-range air-to-air missiles, the challenges faced by the ROCAF will only grow.” In addition, the ROC has limited runways and other infrastructure suitable for operating fast jets, and all of those which are available would be prime targets for PRC longrange precision strikes in the first hours of any conflict across the Strait. What the ROCAF does have in its favour, however, is an abundance of mountainous terrain and a decent number of modern longrange SAM systems.