What did the declassified documents reveal?

This is Declassified. Today, we're examining a declassified government record on U.S. intelligence regarding the Chinese Air Force in 1951. This document, an intelligence review, offers a glimpse into early assessments of Chinese military aviation during a critical period. You can find this record at documents2.theblackvault.com. This document, an intelligence report from May fifth, nineteen-fifty-one, was originally classified Secret. It was released to the public under the Freedom of Information Act, though a specific FOIA case number is not cited in the public archive. Declassification authority is attributed to the National Archives and Records Administration’s A-A-R-O, or Assassination Records Review Board. The declassification date is redacted. The document states, in part: "The aircraft disposed at other bases, Peiping, Tsingtao, Hsuchou, Hankow and Shanghai, could be readily used for operations over Korea. The aircraft currently in the south, specifically in the Canton area, is still negligible. There has been a decided increase in this estimate. This estimate does not include some three-hundred miscellaneous aircraft in storage, in some operational units, or in training units, or some thirty-eight transport aircraft presently used on the civil airlines. This estimate of seven-hundred-fifty first-line aircraft is broken down as follows: three-hundred-fifty fighters, of which, two-hundred are L-A-N-9s, L-A-N-7s, and Yak-9s, and one-hundred-fifty jets, mostly Mig-15s, but perhaps ten Yak-15s and L-A-N-5s. One-hundred-seventy-five I-L-10s ground attack. One-hundred T-U-2 light bombers. One-hundred-twenty-five transports, forty-five L-I-2s, twenty C-46s and 47s, and ten I-L-12s. The following aircraft radius data is suggested for the purpose of planning and making estimates." The document then presents a table of combat radius or cargo capacity for various aircraft types. For example, a Mig-15 is listed with a combat radius of three-hundred-twenty nautical miles, or four-hundred-twenty nautical miles with three-hundred-gallon external tanks. The I-L-10 is listed with a combat radius of one-hundred-fifty nautical miles and a payload of one-thousand-three-hundred-eighty pounds. Regarding personnel, the report states: "It is estimated that there are some ten-thousand-five-hundred C-O-A-F personnel currently in training, including at least two-thousand pilots, of which some two-hundred-fifty are qualified for jet operations. It is believed that there are possibly two to three-thousand additional student pilots in training. Very few sources have attempted to estimate the number of ground personnel available. However, it is believed that there are sufficient trained personnel to fly and maintain the present number of aircraft on hand, and that training will continue to keep in proportion to the number of aircraft required. This is based primarily on the fact that during nineteen-forty-nine and most of nineteen-fifty, reports indicated that air…

Why was this case declassified?

This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked on this page so the citation chain is auditable.

CIA Today, We're Examining A Declassified Government Record On U.s.

◆ BLUF — The short version

This is Declassified. S. intelligence regarding the Chinese Air Force in 1951. This document, an intelligence review, offers a glimpse into early assessments of Chinese military aviation during a critical period. com. This document, an intelligence report from May fifth, nineteen-fifty-one, was originally classified Secret.

Date: OCT 20 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

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This is Declassified. Today, we're examining a declassified government record on U.S. intelligence regarding the Chinese Air Force in 1951. This document, an intelligence review, offers a glimpse into early assessments of Chinese military aviation during a critical period. You can find this record…

View the primary source document

Questions about this case

What was CIA Today, We're Examining A Declassified Government Record On U.s. about?: This is Declassified. S. intelligence regarding the Chinese Air Force in 1951. This document, an intelligence review, offers a glimpse into early assessments of Chinese military aviation during a critical period. com. This document, an intelligence report from May fifth, nineteen-fifty-one, was originally classified Secret.
Why was this case declassified?: This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Storyflo narrates it directly from the public release.

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CIA Today, We're Examining A Declassified Government Record On U.s.

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