Until the J-20 Mighty Dragon is combat-tested, the fighter’s true specs and abilities will remain unverified.
Beijing continues to drop more hints surrounding its upcoming J-36 stealth fighter. Earlier this week, the People’s Republic of China released a new image of the platform, displaying the aircraft’s large main weapons bay. The J-36 has been observed flying around manufacturer Chengdu’s airfield in the last half year, stimulating more speculation surrounding the jet and its potential capabilities. Until the mysterious jet actually enters service with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), it will be extremely challenging to pinpoint which released images and footage are real. For now, Beijing’s aerial prowess is centered around its Chengdu J-20 “Mighty Dragon” fighter.
Introducing the J-20
Considered to represent the most advanced near-peer to the American-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, China’s Mighty Dragon airframe is a fan favorite among aviation buffs and military analysts alike. Chengdu Aircraft Corporation developed the fifth-generation jet as an air superiority fighter for the PLAAF nearly 15 years ago. However, the platform was conceptualized in the J-XX program in the 1990s. Early prototypes of the Chinese jets underwent testing in the 2010s, but the J-20 we recognize today was modified from initial models to incorporate several upgrades. The official J-20 prototype embarked on its maiden flight in 2014 and entered service with the PLAAF in 2017. Within two years, considerable numbers of Mighty Dragons became operational.
The premiere J-20s that flew with the PLAAF were powered by Russian-designed AL-31 engines. Since the engine did not meet the power requirements set forth by the PLAAF, local companies in China began working on a homegrown replacement. The WS-15 was developed to give the J-20 the thrust, supercruise, and power required to make the jet competitive with its fifth-generation foreign counterparts. While Beijing claims the WS-10 is cutting-edge, the extent of the engine’s true capabilities remains highly classified. As detailed by a defense analyst at Jane’s, “There are lingering questions over whether China has managed to achieve the thrust required on the J-20 on current payloads with the locally produced WS-10 engines.” Another expert from the Yuan Wang military think tank in Beijing mirrored this rhetoric and described the F-35’s XA100 engine as far superior to China’s WS-10.
In terms of advanced sensors and avionics, experts believe the Chinese jet is on par with competitors. In fact, the fighter’s sensor suite parallels the F-35’s Electro-Optical Targeting System. Chinese sources allege that the Mighty Dragon can fly at speeds in excess of Mach 2.55 (times the speed of sound.) However, Western analysts are unsure whether or not the fighter has supercruise capabilities. US officials are confident that the Chinese jet is capable of beyond-visual range engagements, which would make the J-20 a more potent threat to American jets than previous aircraft.
Earlier this year, newly released footage appeared to display the J-20 carrying eight external air-to-air missiles. If the fifth-gen Chinese jet possesses “beast mode” like the F-35, its ordnance capabilities could also pose a more significant threat to US fighters if a full-blown war ever occurs. However, until the Mighty Dragon is combat-tested, the fighter’s true specs and abilities will remain unverified.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.
Image: Mike Mareen / Shutterstock.com
