Is the F-35 Fleet Alone Deterring China? Can China Match Sensing, Computing, Air-Combat, Weapons, Stealth, 5th-Gen Fleet Size & Networking of F-35?

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington D.C.) The F-35 has been a lightning rod for criticism and debate for many years. Yet, to an equal or even greater extent, the Joint Strike Fighter has been critical, even essential, to the survival and prosperity of the free world.

There is little question that 5th-generation technology represents a paradigm-changing “breakthrough” in the realm of air combat when compared with any 4th-generation fighter.

The U.S. and NATO’s superiority in the air is arguably a key reason why China has not yet moved on Taiwan and Russia has not attempted to further expand into Eastern Europe and threaten NATO stability.

Any cursory examination of available Russian and Chinese air power reveals that neither great power rival appears capable of truly challenging the U.S. and NATO in the air. There is one clear, self-evident reason for this: the dawn of the F-35 era. 

The U.S. is already operating more than 300 F-35s, and both carriers and amphibious are armed with mission-ready, operational JSF planes, so there is an ability for U.S. forces to “mass” 5th-generation air power formations both across the European continent and from the sea in the Pacific.

Neither China nor Russia has a sea-launched 5th-generation capacity in any impactful fashion, and China’s J-20 fleet is limited to land take-off.