China’s J-20 ‘Mighty Dragons’ take starring role in aerial display for Communist Party centenary celebrations
- The fly-past in Beijing featured 15 of the country’s most advanced stealth fighters, the largest number yet to go on public display
- Production of the warplanes was stepped up last year, but is still being hampered by problems developing a suitable engine
The Chinese Communist Party’s centenary celebrations featured the largest display yet of its most advanced active stealth fighter, the J-20.
Fifteen of the jets, known as the “Mighty Dragon”, featured in Thursday’s performance above Tiananmen Square in Beijing, compared with the five that took part in the National Day parade in October 2019.
But that event featured nearly 170 aircraft – the country’s largest military fly-past – compared with the symbolically important total of 71 on display on Thursday.
The aerial show also featured Z-8 and Z-19 transport and reconnaissance helicopters forming the number “100” in the sky, while the PLA’s August 1 aerobatic team formed the numbers “7” and “1” – a reference to the party’s official foundation date of July 1 – with its J-10 fighters.
“It’s the first time China gathered so many J-20s to make a public appearance,” Liang Guoliang, a Hong Kong-based military analyst, said.