There are two China's – the big one and the little one. The little one does not want to be eaten by the big one. The big one has an enduring desire to eat the little one. This is a prescription for a fight. And one day there will be a fight.

Meanwhile preparations for this fight continue, despite denials. The bigger China has developed a fighter, known as the J-10. This plane, has a look of the unlamented Israeli Lavi to it. An excellent summary on China's fighter development can be found here.



Meanwhile the little China, also known as Taiwan, is also developing a fighter. But Taiwan is in a tough spot. It has been restricted on what kind of fighter it develops – the US does not want it to develop a plane with offensive capabilities. So it has tended to develop something of a point defense fighter in the IDF-11. An excellent summary of this aircraft can be found here.



Rather than stop at 130 jets as planned, the latest version IDF-11 has been upgraded and now has a name – Goshawk. Its not clear if the Taiwanese will do next. The original versions of the IDF may be grounded in ten years. Since the bigger China will not stop developing fighters that clearly are not point defense equipment, the little China has few options. Consequently we expect to see the Goshawk version of the IDF-11 become the standard.

Neither country offers much information on capabilities. So comparing the two fighters is not an easy task. The military doctrine of the Chinese strategist Sun Tzu ias that it is more important to defeat the enemy's strategy than to engage in combat. Deception and bluffing are necessary elements of Sun Tzu's strategy and both China's subscribe to this thinking. As each country develops its aircraft they are sending messages.

There are two China's – the big one and the little one. The little one does not want to be eaten by the big one. The big one has an enduring desire to eat the little one. This is a prescription for a fight. And one day there will be a fight.

Meanwhile preparations for this fight continue, despite denials. The bigger China has developed a fighter, known as the J-10. This plane, has a look of the unlamented Israeli Lavi to it. An excellent summary on China's fighter development can be found here.



Meanwhile the little China, also known as Taiwan, is also developing a fighter. But Taiwan is in a tough spot. It has been restricted on what kind of fighter it develops – the US does not want it to develop a plane with offensive capabilities. So it has tended to develop something of a point defense fighter in the IDF-11. An excellent summary of this aircraft can be found here.



Rather than stop at 130 jets as planned, the latest version IDF-11 has been upgraded and now has a name – Goshawk. Its not clear if the Taiwanese will do next. The original versions of the IDF may be grounded in ten years. Since the bigger China will not stop developing fighters that clearly are not point defense equipment, the little China has few options. Consequently we expect to see the Goshawk version of the IDF-11 become the standard.

Neither country offers much information on capabilities. So comparing the two fighters is not an easy task. The military doctrine of the Chinese strategist Sun Tzu ias that it is more important to defeat the enemy's strategy than to engage in combat. Deception and bluffing are necessary elements of Sun Tzu's strategy and both China's subscribe to this thinking. As each country develops its aircraft they are sending messages.