China will test-fly the much-rumoured J-20, its first fifth-generation stealth fighter, in the next few days in the southwestern city of Chengdu if weather permits, say military analysts who have followed the aircraft's development closely.
The test flight will follow a successful high-speed taxiing test at the airfield of Chengdu's Aircraft Design Institute last week.
The new fighter is emerging much earlier than Western military analysts expected. US Defence Secretary Dr Robert Gates said previously that China would have 'no fifth-generation aircraft by 2020'.
Military analysts say it will take China longer than a decade to mass produce the J-20, but it still signals a major step forward for the Chinese air force, which is gradually shaking off its dependency on obsolete Russian and Israeli designs.
Andrei Chang, editor-in-chief of the Canadian-based Kanwa Asian Defence Monthly, said the J-20 would have a test flight at Factory 132 in Chengdu in the next few days if the weather was good. 'The testing aircraft will be equipped with a modified WS10 engine that is made in China,' Chang said.
The new stealth fighter was not yet up to the standards of the Russian T-50 and the US F-22, which it aims to emulate, but it showed plenty of potential, he said. It fell short of its US and Russian rivals in terms of stealth technology and cruising speed.
The J-20 is capable of long-range missions with mid-air refuelling, can launch long-range cruise missiles and carry heavy weapon loads. It is also larger than most observers expected.
