PHOTO: REUTERS

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As the war in Iran enters its third month, it’s providing a window for China into how US military capabilities work under fire, and a useful reminder that, on any battlefield, the adversary always has a big say in the outcome.

CNN spoke with a range of experts in China, Taiwan and elsewhere about how the last two months of fighting in and around the Persian Gulf can inform what might happen in any possible conflict that would pit Beijing against Washington.

They warned of China misreading its own strengths, lack of experience and holding on to a too-narrow view of the conflict and its consequences.

Fu Qianshao, a former colonel in China’s air force, said his major takeaway from the fighting so far is that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) can’t forget about its defenses, noting how Iran has found ways around US anti-missile systems like the Patriot or Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).

“We need to devote significant efforts to identify weakness in our defensive side to ensure we remain invincible in future wars,” Fu told CNN.

The PLA has rapidly expanded offensive firepower capacity in recent years, adding missiles with hypersonic glide vehicles that can evade interceptors and the platforms that can launch them.

The PLA Air Force is adding fifth-generation stealth fighters at a rapid rate and will field around 1,000 J-20 jets – the rough equivalent of US F-35s – when performing in a long-range precision strike mode, according to the British think tank RUSI. China has a long-range stealth bomber, similar to the US’ B-2 or the B-21, in the works.

But its defenses are another matter.

Analysts note Iran was able to penetrate US air defenses in the Persian Gulf with relatively primitive technology, including low-cost Shahed drones and lower-cost ballistic missiles.

Meanwhile, the US unleashed an air campaign on Iran with much more sophisticated weaponry, like F-35s and B-2s, and mixed it with cheaper, less high-tech guided munitions dropped from B-1s, B-52s and F-15s. They’ve knocked out everything from missile launchers to naval vessels to bridges.

It’s a mix that Beijing must plan for, Fu said. “We have to delve deeper to effectively guard our key sites, airfields and ports against attacks and raids,” he said.

Another lesson to be learned from Iran is that wars at this level, involving a great power and a lower-tier one, can’t always be tidy operations that end when a president is snatched by special forces in the middle of the night.