China reveals J-20 stealth fighter’s missile carrying capability at Zhuhai air show

The Chinese air force has displayed its first stealth fighter jet’s ability to carry missiles for use in high-speed flight for the first time at the country’s biggest air show, in a bid to demonstrate that China has the next most advanced combat capability after the United States.

Two of the force’s four J-20 jets opened their missile bay doors during a fly-past at the biennial Airshow China in Zhuhai, in the southern province of Guangdong, each jet showing four medium- and long-range air-to-air missiles in its underside main bays and a short-range combat missile on both sides of the aircraft.

The demonstration on Monday – the air force’s 69th anniversary – showed that all the doors could be smoothly opened within a second, while the J-20s remained in high-speed circulating flight, which would be necessary if launching missiles during air battles.

However, it remains unclear whether the J-20 is able to launch missiles in high-speed flight. Xu Anxiang, deputy commander of the People’s Liberation Army air force, said the demonstration had indicated that the J-20 “has initial operational capability”.

“The capability to open bay doors during a high-speed fly-past is still a challenging and advanced technology and capability, because even Russia’s new-generation Su-57 stealth fighter jet is still incapable of doing it,” said a military insider who requested anonymity.