1 China’s Military Procurement Approach in the Early 21 st Century and Its Operational Implications Yoram Evron Introduction The intensive modernization that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been undergoing over the last three decades has attracted great interest worldwide. One development that has drawn particular attention is the advancement of China’s military technolog y. Since the late 1990s, China’s defense industry and the PLA’s procurement system have initiated several reforms, which have dramatically upgraded the Chinese military arsenal by developing a variety of solid-fuel ballistic missiles, fourth generation aircraft, anti-satellite weapons, cruise-missiles and other advanced weaponry systems. 1 Lately, in January 2011, China unveiled a prototype of the J-20 stealth fighter, which is supposed to put it on the threshold of the top aviation powers club. Nevertheless, as "[p]redicting the battlefield impact of new weapons and concepts during peacetime is extremely difficult," 2 one question seems to be overlooked: What is the actual military value of these systems? For example, to what degree do they fit in with the PLA’s military buildup plans? How fully are they assimilated into the forces? In what quantities are they deployed? In other words, as Robert Ross, a prominent China scholar, puts it: "A balanced assessment of [China's] military- modernization program requires attention to the obstacles to Beijing's developing and effectively operating these technologies." 3 The purpose of this study is to analyze China’s t echnological military progress in terms of its contribution to the PLA’s war-fighting capabilities. This study’s basic assumption is that 1 On China's military modernization, see Richard D. Fisher, China’s Military Modernization: Building for Regional and Global Reach (Westport: Praeger Security International 2010); Dennis J. Blasko, The Chinese Army Today: Tradition and Transformation for the 21 st Century (New York: Routledge 2006); Keith Crane et al., Modernizing China’s Military: Opportunities and Constraints (Santa Monica: RAND 2005); David Shambaugh, Modernizing China’s Military: Progress, Problems, and Prospects (Berkeley: California UP 2002). For a most recent evaluation of China's defense science and technology, see the Journal of Strategic Studies 34/3 (June 2011), which has been devoted to this subject. 2 Thomas G. Mahnken, 'China’s Anti-Access Strategy in Historical and Theoretical Perspective,' Journal of Strategic Studies 34/3 (June 2011), 307. 3 Aaron L. Friedberg and Robert S. Ross, 'Here Be Dragons: Is China a Military Threat', The National Interest (Sept.– Oct. 2009), 28.