While the U.S. has been tied up in Iraq, China is modernizing its military and its air defenses are now nearly impenetrable to all but the newest of American fighters, Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, commander of the roughly 50,000 U.S. forces in Japan, said in an interview with The Associated Press this week.
China, is rapidly filling the skies with newer, Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27 ``Flankers'' and Su-30s, along with the domestically built J-10, a state-of-the-art fighter that Beijing just rolled out in January. China has also improved its ballistic missile defenses and its ability to take the fight into space.
``Are we in trouble? It depends on the scenario,'' Wright said September 27 . ``But you have to be concerned about the small number of our forces and the age of our forces.'' Doing so would require the F-22 or the Joint Strike Fighter, which both have stealth capabilities. The Air Force sent a dozen F-22s to Japan earlier this year, but only for a temporary deployment. It has no plans to bring more here permanently. The Joint Strike Fighter, or F-35, is not yet combat-ready.
``China is not engaged in a tough ground war in southwest Asia so they have the freedom to maneuver to modernize forces that are not current,'' he said. " (Source: Goldsea Asian American Daily, Sep 30, 2007)