Taiwan’s air force operates approximately 400 combat aircraft, including upgraded F-16A/Bs, the domestically developed Indigenous Defense Fighter, and a dwindling number of older French Mirage 2000s. Against it stands the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, which fields approximately 2,000 combat aircraft including fifth-generation J-20 stealth fighters, advanced Su-35s acquired from Russia, and large numbers of fourth-generation J-10 and J-16 multirole fighters that outperform Taiwan’s F-16s in some performance parameters. The numerical imbalance is significant. The qualitative gap, when the J-20 enters the calculation, is severe. Taiwan’s air force cannot achieve air superiority over the strait in a sustained conventional air campaign against the PLAAF.