5 Lethal American Weapons of War China Wished it Had

Kyle Mizokami

Security, Asia

Here is Beijing’s wishlist—and it’s a big one.

For nearly thirty years, China has been on a military research tear, pouring enormous sums of money into weapons research and development. The arms embargo placed on the country after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre put a halt to arms technology transfers, and suddenly Beijing was on its own.

The country has made great strides since then, developing long-range missiles, its own military aviation industry, and cranking out prodigious numbers of naval vessels—with locally sourced weapons and electronics.

Still, there are plenty of gaps in China’s weapons platforms and, in some categories, the People’s Liberation Army can still only gaze longingly at the Pentagon’s war inventory. The gap between the two countries continues to close, but until closed here are five American weapons systems the PLA wishes it had.

F-22 Raptor

China is currently working on a long range fifth generation fighter, the Chengdu J-20, but it’s unlikely the new plane will be in the same class as the F-22 Raptor. But what if China had Raptors of its own?

The F-22’s stealth and maneuverability would make it very useful as an air superiority fighter in a neighborhood crowded with potentially hostile air forces. Japanese F-15J Eagles, Russian/Indian PAK-FA fifth generation fighters and Vietnamese Su-30 multi-role fighters are all potential adversaries.

The F-22 would be the ideal solution for fending off these enemy air forces—or sweeping the skies clear on the first day of an offensive air campaign. The F-22’s relatively long range would be helpful in rapidly repositioning the jets from one end of China to the other, from the Indian border to the East China Sea.

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter