The Chengdu J-20 (Chinese: 歼-20; pinyin: Jiān-Èrlíng), also known as Mighty Dragon (Chinese: 威龙; pinyin: Wēilóng),is a twinjet all-weather stealth[11] fighter aircraft developed by China’s Chengdu Aerospace Corporation for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The J-20 is designed as an air superiority fighter with precision strike capability; it descends from the J-XX program of the 1990s.The aircraft made its maiden flight on 11 January 2011, and was officially revealed at the 2016 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition. The aircraft entered service in March 2017, and began its combat training phase in September 2017. The first J-20 combat unit was formed in February 2018. The J-20 is the world’s third operational fifth-generation stealth fighter aircraft after the F-22 and F-35.The new J-20 has a canard-delta configuration, blended fuselage with low radar cross-section, and large canted twin tails. This Chinese fighter has two large internal weapon bays for long-range air-to-air missiles and two small sidebays for short-range air-to-air missiles. Missiles are stored in these weapon bays in order to reduce the radar cross-section. It also has large fuel tanks for long-range missions. It carries more fuel and weapons than the American F-22 Raptor. Furthermore this aircraft is capable of high speed operations. As of 2016 it is unknown what engine this new stealthy aircraft is using right now. Some sources reported, that its engine might be of a Russian origin. These might be the AL-31 turbofan engines, originally developed for the Soviet Su-27 air superiority fighter. It was planned that the J-20 will be equipped with indigenous WS-15 engines, however these are not yet ready. It is worth noting, that one area, where China is particularly weak is jet engines. It is speculated that China may be as much as 10 years away from producing original indigenous engines for their stealth aircraft. The J-20 is not the only fighter aircraft program, that is running in the Chinese aviation industry. In 2012 China revealed another stealthy aircraft – the J-31. It is smaller than the J-20 and is about the same size as the F-35 stealthy multi-role fighter. Currently Chinese government pays enormous attention and devotes high level of resources towards production of advanced fighter jets, that could be on a par with the most capable US and Russian fighters.
Chengdu J-20 ‘Mighty Dragon’ Stealth Fighter Jet Review | WHY IS IT DISLIKED?
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