China’s Rising Threat: Beijing’s New War Machines Aim at U.S. Power in Asia

China’s air force showcased a suite of new armaments this week, including a new stealth fighter and an attack drone, demonstrating its advancing ability to challenge the U.S. military presence in the Asia Pacific.

The public debut of the J-35A stealth fighter and other weapons systems at China’s premier airshow, which started Tuesday, represents the centerpiece in the Chinese air force’s celebrations of its 75th anniversary—a milestone in Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s sweeping campaign to modernize the People’s Liberation Army.

A single J-35A soared over crowds of spectators in a brief flypast on the opening day of Airshow China in the southern city of Zhuhai, making a steep climb with afterburners before rolling away and streaking out of view, state television footage showed.Other new weapons—including the “Jiu Tian” reconnaissance and attack drone and the HQ-19 anti-ballistic-missile system—were also prominent in ground displays at the biennial airshow, as examples of the PLA’s growing prowess in aerial warfare and air defense.

Much remains unclear about these systems and their capabilities. Even so, Chinese officials and state media say the new armaments reflect the significant advances that Beijing has made in developing its air power and enhancing its ability to defend China’s strategic interests.

Xi has directed an ambitious modernization program for the PLA, aimed at transforming the Soviet-style military into a 21st-century fighting force. Beijing has demonstrated progre…  ss through increasingly complex combat drills—such as combined aerial and naval maneuvers—as well as more frequent deployments that reach beyond China’s periphery.

U.S. officials have increasingly raised concerns about how Beijing’s burgeoning military strength could affect Washington’s ability to maintain an effective security presence in the Asia Pacific.

“China is not a future threat. China is a threat today,” U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said in September. “The Chinese Communist Party continues to invest heavily in capabilities, organizations and operational concepts designed specifically to defeat the ability of the United States and its allies to project power in the Western Pacific.”