[Video]China’s proud J-20 radar stealth fighter can only be a “paper tiger” | Report | LINE TODAY

An article published on the website of the US magazine “The National Interest” on the 15th pointed out that the J-20 radar stealth fighter developed by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force with great efforts may still be difficult to match the US F-22 and F-20 in all aspects. -35 fighter jets, and will soon be completely left behind by the West’s push to develop more advanced sixth-generation fighters, and will inevitably become a “paper tiger”.

This report written by Peter Suciu pointed out that the J-20 fighter jet can be described as a “great leap forward” for the Chinese aviation industry. However, some people pointed out that the Beijing authorities may not only rely on domestic research and development to build this world-class fighter jet, but also obtain a large part of the technology from abroad. The report mentioned that in recent years, even Russia, a close partner with China, has expressed disappointment with the People’s Liberation Army’s blatant “borrowing” of Russian technology to innovatively develop more advanced military hardware. In fact, although there is no direct evidence to prove it, the J-20 is indeed very similar to the design of a new-generation fighter jet that Russia lost in the 1990s with the Su-47 Su Kai Design Bureau.

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In addition, this J-20 may also steal the technology and design of the United States’ top fighter jets through espionage means. The J-20 was developed later than the F-22, so it has a ready-made reference for speculation; however, some of its technologies and sensing systems are very similar to the F-35 optoelectronic targeting system later developed by Lockheed Martin, which clearly shows that China uses spies to control the J-20. -20 played a huge role in the research and development. Therefore, some people believe that the J-20 is actually a fighter jet that integrates American and Russian technologies, rather than a genuine “homemade” fighter jet.

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In this regard, U.S. Pacific Air Forces Commander General Kenneth Wilsbach bluntly stated at the Air Force and Space Force Association’s annual symposium held in Washington this year that the J-20 fighter jets are inferior to the air combat capabilities of the U.S. military and its allies. , the J-20 is not a “dominant aircraft.” He also mentioned: “They made some good imitations…but most of the technology of that aircraft was stolen from the United States.” Admiral Vibach is convinced that the combined combat power of US military aircraft and allied air forces will Can effectively deal with any potential threats posed by the J-20. The Drive website interpreted this as saying that the US military has “moderate” concerns about the rise of the J-20.

The US military believes that even if the J-20 has local performance advantages, it cannot compete with the overall air force strength of the US military and its allies. The picture shows the F-35A formation performing the “elephant walk” in Utah in 2018. (Taken from DVIDS)

The Beijing authorities are confident in the combat capabilities of the J-20 and are committed to ensuring that it can accelerate mass production. It was not until June this year that one of the J-20 prototypes was replaced with a WS-15 engine instead of a WS-10.

The US military estimates that the current number of J-20s owned by the People’s Liberation Army is between 150 and 160. The London-based think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) analyzed that Beijing is trying to increase J-20 production. IISS CEO Chipman ( John Chipman mentioned in February that the number of PLA fighter jets has increased rapidly in the past five years. “If this trend continues, the number of J-20As this year will exceed the number of F-22s currently in service.” F-22 production, including prototypes, has The total is 195.

It is still unclear how long it will take for the J-20 series fighters to be equipped with WS-15 engines. The currently used WS-10 engines are generally considered to be a stopgap measure to replace Russian-made engines. This J-20 is still In the prototype stage, the J-20 will not be considered a model with “mighty” actual combat capabilities until a large number of WS-15 engines are officially installed.