During the past 50 years, the Naval Air Force, as an important arm of services of the People's armed forces, has undergone constant growth from scratch and from small to big. Over the past few years, the third generation leading collective of the Party with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core has led the modernization drive of the Naval Air Force into a new period of development, China has formed a strong navy-air-force contingent defending the coastal areas and territorial seas of the motherland.

   President Jiang, Carrying Forward the Consistent Thought of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, Has Placed the Construction of the Naval Air Force in an Important Strategic Position, Thus Welcoming in a New Opportunity for the Leaping Development of the Modernization of the Naval Air Force.

   The Naval Air Force (NAF) is an important component part of modern navy. From World War II to nowadays high-tech war, Naval Air Force has been an important crack and supportive force in naval warfare and land operation. Without air control there would be no naval supremacy. If China wants to build a powerful modern navy and put once and for all an end to the history of wanton imperialist aggression from the sea, it must have a contingent of adaptive Naval Air Force. Therefore, the NAF construction has always received the great attention and cordial solicitude from the core of the Party's three generations.

   Soon after the birth of New China, Chairman Mao Zedong made a resolute decision on approving the establishment of a naval air force. On September 6, 1952, the Central Military Commission formally transmitted the order on the formation of a naval air force. Fighting while engaging in construction, the NAF took part in the homeland anti-aircraft operation for the first time on March 18, 1954. In order to counter the enemy's harassing air attacks, Chairman Mao Zedong ordered the Naval Air Force to participate in a war. The young heroic Naval Air Force, defying the powerful enemies, had performed repeated exploits in the battles in defense of the territorial seas and territorial air of the motherland, and had gained brilliant achievements by downing and damaging 359 enemy planes, the heroic navy-air-force regiment and other advanced combat collectives and a batch of well-known combat heroes had come to the fore. Chairman Mao had received representatives of the combat heroes of the above-said regiment for 25 times, exciting officers and men of the Naval Air Force one generation after another.

   Comrade Deng Xiaoping also showed great concern for the construction of the Naval Air Force. During his visit to a foreign country in 1975, when he heard that there were several pilots of the NAF studying ship-board aircraft flying techniques in this country, he specially found time to pay a special trip to see them, he said to them in all earnestness, "You should overcome any difficulties, try to learn modern techniques and strive to win honor for the motherland!" On July 29, 1979, Deng came to the sea plane unit of the Naval Air Force on inspection, he encouraged officers and men to bear firmly in mind the great trust placed on them by the Party and the people, and to properly defend the territorial sea and air of the motherland.

   Carrying forward Mao Zedong's military thinking and Deng Xiaoping's theory on army construction in the New Period, President Jiang Zemin led the formulation of our army's military strategic principle for the New Period, set forth the historic subject of winning local war under the conditions of modern technique, particularly high technology, thus further clearly setting the target for the modernization of People's Navy.

   Although he is busy with a myriad of State affairs every day, President Jiang is concerned with the NAF construction and development. Each time when he inspected the navy unit, he met with the leaders and airmen, encouraging them to love the army and practice military technique and dedicate themselves to the cause of the NAF construction. On November 29, 1995, in order to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the nomination of the "Heroic Naval-Air Force Regiment", President Jiang wrote the inscriptions: "Building a Powerful Naval Air Force to Defend the Security of the China's Territorial Sea". Bearing firmly in mind the great trust placed on them by the President, officers and men of the Naval Air Force have consistently placed ideological-political construction in the primary position of various pieces of work, striving to strengthen the comprehensive construction centered on modernization.

   Jiang Clearly Sees the World's New Military Development Trend of Military Reform, Shows Great Concern for the Building of the Equipment of Naval Air Force, the Naval Air Force Has Initially Formed a New Modernized Lineup Composed of Different Types of Aircraft.

   At the end of 2000, President Jiang once again came to the Naval Airforce unit on an inspection tour and called on the commanders and fighters of the naval unit which had just satisfactorily completed major maneuvering tasks, he reviewed with keen interest the new types of weapons and equipment of the Naval Air Force.

   He exhorted leaders of the Navy and Naval Air Force: You should conscientiously study, digest and assimilate various kinds of advanced technologies, base yourselves on independent innovation, quicken the research and development of new equipment and narrow the gaps between the army of China and those of the developed countries.

   President Jiang has an insight into the development trend of the world's new military change, closely follows the process of the modernization of the equipment of the Naval Air Force. He has repeatedly bothered about the development and use of the new types of equipment of the Naval Air Force, examined and approved the plans for the development of new equipment. Under the direct concerns of the President, the Naval Air Force, through independent development, introduction, assimilation, the grafting of new technology and transformation, and other channels, has incessantly improved the quality and promoted the upgrading of weapons and equipment, gradually realizing the change from backward to advanced aircraft models and the leap from single type to multiple type of airplanes. Today, the Naval Air Force has possessed multi-type, multi-purpose new planes specially for the navy, these include bombers, fighters, attackers, sea planes, ship-based helicopters, cautionary patrol aircraft and electronic scouting planes.

   The Important Ideology Set Forth by president Jiang on the Construction of a Modern Powerful Navy with Comprehensive Combat Capabilities Has Charted the Orientation for the Construction of the Naval Air Force under New Circumstances and Raised the Building of Combat Effectiveness of the Naval Air Force to a New Stage.

   President Jiang has repeatedly emphasized the need to speed up the pace of the drive for the modernization of the Naval Air Force and to constantly enhance the comprehensive combat capabilities of the Navy under the conditions of modern technologies, particularly high technology. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Navy, he wrote down these inscriptions: "Strive for the Construction of a Modern Navy with powerful comprehensive combat capabilities".

   To accomplish the work set down in the inscriptions, the Naval Air Force faces heavy tasks and a long way ahead. The NAF resolutely carries out the President's instructions, engages in the practice of science and technology in a deep-going way and persistently places the enhancement of comprehensive combat capacity on the basis of technological progress and gives full play to the initiative and creativeness of the broad masses of officers and men, as a result of these efforts, rich fruits have been reaped and reports of success have kept pouring in. The combat effectiveness of new equipment has taken shape in succession.

   New breakthroughs have been made in the research on methods of operation and pattern of training. A naval air force operational method system compatible with the military strategic principle for the New Period has been initially formed, thus bringing military training closer to actual combat and regularization training to a new higher level.

   A new pattern has taken shape in the construction of a contingent of talents. In the Naval Air Force unit, more than half of the airmen and professional and technical cadres possess a bachelor degree, a large batch of commanders of a compound type and technicians of an expert type have emerged; a three-level (academy, base and flight regiment) training mechanism has taken shape.

   In recent years, the Naval Air Force, guided by the important ideology of President Jiang's "three represents", has been engaged in exploration and innovation, sought breakthroughs in the construction of powerful armed forces through science and technology and development in quality construction, the naval unit's abilities in respect to flexibility to meet emergency, the coordination of ship-board airplanes, air grapple, low-altitude defense, long-range attack and accurate strike have been remarkably enhanced. This marks a new stage in the overall combat capacity of the Naval Air Force under the high-tech conditions.

   In the new century, the people's armed forces of the Republic have faced higher goals of development. Carrying on the morning rays of the new century, the Naval Air Force is flying over the 10,000-li (one li=0.5 km) territorial sea and air of the Republic. Enditem