PLAAF debuted on the world stage during the Korean War. Being extremely inexperienced in air battle and flight, the fledgling PLAAF fought courageously against the world’s top air force that had decades of air battle experience and performed superbly in defiance of the sharp difference in strength and capability. They shot down or injured 425 American planes in total, among which 330 were shot down in comparison to 231 on the Chinese side with a ratio of 1.3:1. The cruel Korean War fostered a powerful PLAAF and shook the US Air Force’s air dominance.
