US F-35 and Chinese J-20 fighter jets had close encounter over East China Sea: US general
- Several such encounters amid high bilateral tensions in closing days of Trump presidency, source close to Chinese military tells the Post
- US Pacific Air Forces commander says Americans ‘relatively impressed’ with J-20 stealth fighter
Advanced Chinese and American fighter jets have had several encounters in the East China Sea, a source close to Beijing’s military told the Post, saying it reflected the high level of tensions between the two nations.
US Pacific Air Forces commander Kenneth Wilsbach did not mention the time of the encounter, but the source said such close contact became more frequent in the second half of 2020, as tensions escalated between Beijing and Washington under the cloud of a likely “October surprise” in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency.
In an online discussion with military aviation experts – posted on the YouTube channel of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies on Tuesday – Wilsbach also highlighted the US Air Force’s observation of the “air superiority” of the J-20s during the encounters.
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Mighty Dragon: China’s upgraded J-20 stealth fighter
“They are flying it [J-20s] pretty well. We recently had – I wouldn’t call it an engagement – where we got relatively close to the J-20s along with our F-35s in the East China Sea,” Wilsbach said in the video, adding that the US pilots had been “relatively impressed” with the command and control associated with the J-20.