New Air Force Chief Sets Ambitious Goals, Including Making Strikes Over Long Distances

The new commander of China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) says his service needs to expand its offensive capabilities for missions beyond homeland defense, reports the South China Morning Post.

The PLAAF must be capable of effective offensive and defensive missions and build up its long-range capabilities to become a "strategic" airborne unit, Lt. Gen. Ding Laihang said on Sept. 3, as cited by the state-run China National Radio.

The air force is undergoing "an...