China’s stealth fighter jets now seeing duty in all 5 theatre commands

Domestically produced J-20 stealth fighters are flexing muscles in contested territorial regions
Official praises performance of warplanes, as China continues to expand air force

China’s military

Jack Lau

Published: 5:27pm, 28 Sep 2022

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China’s military is now operating its home-grown stealth fighter jet in all five of the country’s theatre commands, according to an air force spokesman.

“J-20 fifth-generation fighters are operating in the east, south, west, north and central [theatre commands], are increasingly used by forces, and are flying farther and farther,” Senior Colonel Shen Jinke said on Thursday.

The warplane was being deployed in the East China Sea, the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, Shen said at a press conference promoting the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition to be held in Zhuhai in November.

When it made its maiden flight in 2011, the J-20 “Mighty Dragon” was considered a symbol of China’s efforts to modernise the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). With the jet’s introduction, China became the second country after the United States to operate a stealth fighter capable of supersonic cruising speeds.

The design of the J-20 is comparable to the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor used by the US Air Force.

“The domestically made J-20, J-16, B-6K bomber and YY-20 [tanker aircraft] flew proudly in the Taiwan Strait and strengthened our ability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Shen said.

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Beijing staged an unprecedented live-fire military exercise around Taiwan in August after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island.

The drills, involving missiles and frequent crossings of the Taiwan Strait median line, the de facto border, amounted to a semi-blockade of the island.

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Beijing sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province, to be brought under its control by force if necessary. Most countries do not recognise Taiwan as independent, but countries such as the US oppose the use of force to change the status quo.

A variant of the J-20 with twin seats is also being developed to allow it to take on more complex electronic warfare missions as well as missions involving drones.

Shen also praised the Y-20 heavy transport aircraft, which has been used to deliver missiles to Serbia and humanitarian aid to Tonga and Pakistan.

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The transport aircraft appears to be using the WS-20 Chinese-made turbofan engines, a departure from a previous reliance on Russian-made engines. Earlier Chinese engines did not allow the aircraft enough range.

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China is also developing another stealth fighter based on AVIC Shenyang Aircraft Company’s FC-31 fighter, sometimes called the “J-35” or “J-XY”. Fighters do not receive a J prefix unless they are commissioned by the PLA.