Posted on 02/09/2018 8:04:38 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
China’s J-20 stealth fighter has entered combat service, the country’s armed forces confirmed on Friday, expanding the military’s air power options as it presses on with a massive modernisation programme.
People’s Liberation Army Air Force spokesman Shen Jinke said the deployment of the J-20 to combat units would “help the air force better shoulder the sacred mission of safeguarding national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity”.
Shen said the air force was moving towards a modernised military service that could operate in all fronts, and had become an effective force to control, contain and win a war.
The fighter jet officially entered military service in September, and was put through its combat paces over nine days of drills with less-advanced J-16 and J-10C fighters last month, the air force said.
The J-20 was designed for stealth and manoeuvrability and is powered by two jet engines, giving it extra power as well as the ability to survive engine failure, according to the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
The US Naval Institute said the aircraft was likely to be a serious threat to US aircraft, ships and bases, because the PLA might be able to put more of them into the sky.
Beijing-based military analyst Li Jie said China felt an urgent need to boost its air power as neighbours upgraded their air forces.
“With the J-20 entering combat service, China can better counter other countries’ rising military forces,” Li said.
Zhou Chenming, another Beijing-based military analyst, said the deployment could trigger suspicion from other countries but China was aiming to safeguard its national interests.
China has intensified its air and naval drills in the South China Sea in recent months, raising concerns among its neighbours. In November, Chinese H-6K bombers and fighter jets flew through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, and along the Miyako Strait to the south of Japan.
The announcement came two days after Beijing announced its Su-35 fighter jets had taken part in a combat patrol over the contested South China Sea.
Independently developed by Chengdu Aerospace Corporation, the J-20 was unveiled in 2011 and made its first public flight at an air show in the southern city of Zhuhai in November 2016.
Military observers said at the time that the flight showed that China had mastered “stealth shaping” technology – an essential prerequisite for developing stealth aircraft.
China bans the export of the J-20 so it will not be for sale on the global market.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: J-20 stealth jet declared ready for combat
Our AWACS could see that thing a LONG way out!
(low freq radar)
It’s pretty though!
I'm a big fan of two-engine fighters...the F16 with its single turbofan makes me nervous.
I like the Dassault Falcon business jets with their three engines! They can remain in flight with any single engine.
Very impressive lines.
That and canards are not stealthy
Something tells me, that anther Pappy Boyington and the Black Sheep” are going appear.
Currently reading NASA books on X planes. Supersonic flight stability problems cannot be taken for granted at all. The somewhat unstealthiness of this craft aside, the Chinese must have access to good engineers and powerful CFD programs.
Its like the Firefox aircraft with an f35 frontal section and air intakes.
2 engines also make the heat signature larger.
Somehow “safeguarding national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity”is
NOT OK for America. Screw the “progressives”.
Except this thing is that big so it can carry super long range AWACS killer missiles, for which we have inadequate defense. Once the AWACS is down, the F-22 and F-35 are just as vulnerable as anything else that radiates in the modern air battle space. It radiates, it dies.
I heard that the bomb load is modest and the engines are somewhat underpowered.
Quite the ugly duckling, I must say.
“Chinese must have access to good engineers”
They do. They hacked into our systems/companies and took what they needed.
This isn’t a fighter-bomber. It’s an interceptor and is designed to clear enemy AWACS out of the air.
This isn’t a fighter-bomber. It’s an interceptor and is designed to clear enemy AWACS out of the air.
The only problem I see with that is. The AWACS is designed to be a standoff A/V where as it is many miles away from Enemy Airspace and have friendlies at there command!
The Russians and Chinese have spent a lot of time thinking about the AWACS issue. They’ve come up with extremely long range AWACS killer missiles - the AWACS can sit ‘many miles’ away from enemy airspace, but something like these J-20s can remain undetected long enough to get into launch range.
The Russian R-37 missile, already in service, has a 215 mile range and flies at Mach 6. (Verified by outside tests and observers.) There’s a new Russian/Indian missile, the KS-172, that has similar range at Mach 3-ish. And, of course, we know the Chinese have the older YJ-91 AWACS killer (100 mile range) for sure - and they’ve been showing a new missile which appears to be something far longer ranged like the R-37.
FYI, the longest ranged air to air missile the US currently deploys (or even has in inventory or has at a significant stage of development)? The AIM-120D, with a range of ~97 miles. And it only flies at Mach 4. R-37s fly at Mach 6 and can be launched from the edge or beyond the edge of an AWACS’s capability to detect the launching aircraft (generally accepted as about 200 miles). You do the math. 200 mile range missiles versus 100 mile range missiles.
We just, *just* now are working on an RFP for a longer ranged missile. http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/15692/the-pentagon-is-quietly-developing-an-next-generation-long-range-air-to-air-missile
I wouldn’t bet on that. I am sure we have been thinking the same thing and working on that very thing. I am sure the AWACS has been upgraded even more sing I last worked on it in 2007. Worked on AWACS for 32 years.
You would be in error. No significant upgrades to AWACS - all cancelled under Obama.
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