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Liu Zhen

China’s home-grown Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter has carried out sea training for the first time as the air force seeks to boost its combat readiness amid rising tensions with Taiwan and a regional arms race.
It comes three months after the fighter jet was deployed to combat units as part of Beijing’s huge military modernisation programme.
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The PLA air force announced on Wednesday that the training had taken place, without specifying where or when. The drill was conducted over the sea in “actual war conditions” to “further upgrade the air force’s combat capabilities”, Senior Colonel Shen Jinke said on the air force’s official microblog.
“It will enable the [PLA air force] to better defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity,” he said, without elaborating.


Beijing-based military analyst Zhou Chenming said the sea training indicated that the fighter jet would be sent to Taiwan and the contested South China Sea in the future.
China tests stealth ‘invisibility cloaks’ on regular fighter jets 
The People’s Liberation Army has stepped up military operations targeting Taiwan recently, including conducting strategic bomber flights close to the island and a live-fire drill in the Taiwan Strait last month. They followed pro-Taiwan gestures from Washington amid a spiralling trade dispute between China and the US, and as ties between Taipei and Beijing have deteriorated since President Tsai Ing-wen, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, came to power in 2016. 
Beijing sees self-ruled Taiwan as a wayward province to be brought under mainland Chinese rule, by force if necessary.
“The J-20 drill is another warning message because it went unseen by the Taiwanese air force and these stealth fighters are capable of a precision strike on the leadership,” Zhou said. “The PLA air force jets will enter the Taiwan [air defence identification zone] sooner or later.”

The fifth-generation fighter jet’s stealth, supersonic and manoeuvring capabilities give it a clear advantage over Taiwan’s third-generation jets such as the F-16 and the Mirage 2000, according to Li Jie, a military analyst in Beijing. But he said the J-20’s real opponents in the region would be the US F-22 and F-35A in Japan and South Korea.
“The J-20’s main task will be to gain superiority in the air. In practice, the air force will have to take their stronger adversaries into consideration,” Li said. “And they will need to get used to the actual environment, with the heat, humidity and salt over the sea.”
Japan received the first of its order of 42 F-35As in January and it plans to buy another 20 of the jets in the next six years. It also wants Lockheed Martin to develop a hybrid fighter jet based on both the F-22 and F-35A.
South Korea’s first F-35A made its public debut at a ceremony at Lockheed Martin’s assembly line in Texas in March. It will take delivery of 40 of the stealth fighter jets next year, and could order 20 more.
The United States added the fighter jet to its bases in Japan last year, and plans to deploy the shipborne version to its aircraft carriers in the region.

A report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute earlier this month said China’s expanding defence spending and military modernisation could be driving a regional arms race. 
China’s defence budget increased by 8.1 per cent this year to 1.1 trillion yuan (US$173 billion). But manufacturing problems with the J-20, especially with its engines, mean the air force does not have the number of the stealth fighters it needs at present. 
Why China’s first stealth fighter was rushed into service with inferior engines
A photo accompanying the air force announcement showed two of the older J-10 fighter jets in flight, which Li said would also have been involved in the drill.
“Given that there is still a limited number of J-20s available, there would be a number of aircraft used together for an effective combat force to complete various missions,” Li said.


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China’s military

Chinese J-20 stealth fighter jets carry out first sea training mission

China’s J-20 stealth fighters are seen taking part in a drill over the sea in this undated photo released by the air force. Photo: Xinhua

This US Air Force photo obtained June 12, 2017 shows an F-35 Lightning II assigned to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, as it flies alongside a 100th Air Refueling Wing KC-135 Stratotanker during a flight to Estonia on April 25, 2017. The US Air Force has temporarily grounded dozens of F-35 stealth fighters while it investigates an oxygen supply issue aboard the expensive planes, officials said June 12, 2017. The 56th Fighter Wing of Luke Air Force Base, Arizona "will continue their pause in local F-35A flying to coordinate analysis and communication between pilots, maintainers, medical professionals and a team of military and industry experts," spokeswoman Major Rebecca Heyse said in a statement. / AFP PHOTO / US AIR FORCE / Christine GROENING / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / US AIR FORCE/CHRISTINE GROENING" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

epa06514107 (FILE) - China's new J-20 stealth fighter flies during an airshow at the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China, 01 November 2016, (reissued 11 February 2018). Media reports on 11 February 2018 state that the J-20 stealth aircraft developed by China has been placed into combat service. EPA-EFE/YhC *** Local Caption *** 53099406

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Drill was conducted in ‘actual war conditions’, China’s air force says


Chinese J-20 stealth fighter jets carry out first sea training mission

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Drill was conducted in ‘actual war conditions’, China’s air force says

Drill was conducted in ‘actual war conditions’, China’s air force says