Tank Wise
In October 1949 the PLA's AFV complement was:
97+ Japanese Medium Tanks (no specific Type given, probably a whole different bunch)
Unknown Number of M3 Light Tanks, captured from Nationalists
67+ "Buffalo" LVTs, captured from Nationalists
Unknown Number of US Halftracks, captured from Nationalists
1950 Parade in Beijing of Captured Japanese Tanks - found in "Red China's Fighting Hordes" - a book circa about 1953.
What really began the modernization of China's armed forces was their friendship pact with the USSR; it enabled a large scale importation of modern armor.
From early 1950 to 1955; the following amounts of armor were sent to China by teh USSR.
T-34/85: 1,837
IS-2m: 82
SU-76: 912
SU-100: 99 - Beginning in 1955
SU-122: 40
SU-152: 67
By November 3, 1950 they had recieved the following from the USSR roughly:
300~ x T-34-85s
60~ x IS-2s
40~ x ISU-122s
By June 30, 1951 the Chinese forces in Korea were employing T-34s and SP Guns in support of the People's Volunteers, and by the end of the Korean War; each Chinese CPV infantry division had a combined tank/SP gun regiment with 24 T-34-85 tanks and 16 SU-76M guns assigned to it, with the CPV as a whole having about
:
278 x T-34s
38 x IS-2s
27 x SU-122s
48 x SU-76s
available in the Korean theatre.
Air Force Wise
In the time period of 1949-50; the PLAAF had a whole bunch of aircraft that they had inherited from the Nationalists following the Civil War; e.g
I couldn't definitely pin down how many actually *did* see service in PLAAF colors to a definite number to include them in the OOB.
As with AFVs, much aid was received from the USSR beginning in 1950, enabling the PLAAF to establish it's first cohesive aviation unit near Nanjing in June 1950. The unit consisted of:
2 x Fighter Regiments
1 x Bomber Regiment
1 x Attack Regiment
and had on it's rolls:
38 x MiG-15
39 x La-11s
39 x Tu-2s
25 x Il-10s
14 x Trainers
By the end of the Korean War on July 27, 1953, the PLAAF had ten fighter divisions and two bomber divisions in Korea with 800 pilots. They had flown 26,491 sorties over Korea, and engaged in 366 aerial battles; with claims of 330 allied aircraft shot down and another 95 damaged.
Losses were:
244 x MiG-15s
3 x La-11s
4 x Tu-2
151 Aircraft Damaged in Combat
168 Aircraft lost due to other causes
In comparison, the Soviets had flown 63,229 sorties over Korea, and claimed the destruction of 1,309 UN aircraft for the loss of 355 MiGs.
Why wasn't Soviet and Chinese Air Power more aggressive in the Korean War?
For the Soviets, we do have an answer. Their air force was given the mission of protecting the Yalu Bridges and the supply lines from China into North Korea; and were told to shoot down as many enemy bombers and fighter-bombers as possible. To this end, they were not equipped with offensive weapons like bombs, rockets, or napalm; and were specifically prohibited from engaging in ground support activities.
I would imagine that the Chinese had the same kind of prohibition as well; to prevent the war from escalating.
Much of the air force information is from
Red Wings over the Yalu by Xiaoming Zhang, BTW.