J-20 China's Answer to the F-22

In the 1990s, the Peoples Liberation Army Air Force was looking for a new fifth gen fighter. During the early 2000s a competition was run, known in the West as the F-XX program. The winner of this program was Chengdu, who’s design - the J-20 Mighty Dragon - is now widely recognised as China’s preeminent air superiority fighter. Today, we take a closer look at the design.

HISTORY

The emergence of the F-22 Raptor in the 1990s changed the landscape for fighter development. While it remained a mystery as to its full capability, from outward appearances it was clear that stealth was a primary concern. Other nations took note, and during the 1990s several other similar concepts would be proposed.

In China, the Peoples Liberation Army Air Force had the ambitious vision of producing a similar air superiority fifth gen fighter. However, this would take time. At the time, China was still a developing nation. Despite rapid economic growth, their manufacturing processes needed to mature; it was during these early days that Chinese goods earned a reputation for being unreliable. However, over the following decade this would all change.

To produce a fifth gen fighter, the PLAAF began a competition - known as the F-XX program - to gauge what potential designs may viable. The winner of the F-XX program was Chengdu Aerospace Corporation, with their concept, Project 718. This was announced in 2008, and by 2009 the PLAAF had confirmed that a working Chengdu concept would soon be ready.

Chengdu had a good reputation in China; in the 1990s they had developed the J-10 (a simple but capable fighter design) and by 2003 they had produced the JF-17, a fighter leaps and bounds ahead of the J-10 which was created to compete with the F-16.

In December 2010, the new concept aircraft (the J20) underwent a series of high-speed taxi tests. Three months later, in early 2011, the first prototype aircraft took its maiden flight, and by May 2012, a second prototype had taken flight. Both of these would be powered by the Saturn AL-31, but the long-term plan included powering the aircraft with natively built engines.

Two years later - May 2014 - a third prototype would arrive. This aircraft would see major changes to the airframe, clearly showing some level of improvement. It included new stabilisers, diverterless supersonic inlets (which aid with stealth), new underwing fairings, stealth coating and other innovative technology. It was also sported combat ready infrared sensors, and an integrated targeting pod.

As is typical of China, there was very little information surrounding the aircrafts development process. However, it was noted that by 2015 there was already an initial production variant of the J-20 being ferried around at various bases.

Four years after its maiden flight, the J-20 would make its public debut at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in 2016. Unlike other fifth gen concepts we have covered in previous videos - like Turkeys TF KAAN or South Koreas KF-21 - the development process of the J-20 was remarkably fast. During the 2016 public debut, it was reported that eight aircraft had already been spotted operating at several PLAAF bases, and that a completed production variant was already finalised and awaiting assembly.

This extremely fast development process was not a rumour. In early 2017 Chinese media claimed that the J-20 was now in service with the Air Force, and by the end of that same year, the military themselves confirmed as much. With the original batch of aircraft rolling off the production line, Chinese media reported in 2018 that already there were upgraded variants under development, and in 2019 further media claims circulated stating that the military was backing a twin-seat variant of the aircraft, and that native Chinese built engines would replace Russian engines in these new jets. They were correct. In 2020, a prototype in a new configuration confirmed this report. This new aircraft featured a raised cockpit, larger nose cone, new intakes, new engines, thrust vectoring, and what appeared to be small modifications to the rest of the airframe. This aircraft has retained the nickname J-20B - a name originally given to an early concept.

The military confirmed the J-20B production would start immediately. The biggest change being the integration of a modified WS-10 engine - a domestic Chinese engine to replace the existing Russian engines.

The following year, 2021, another prototype emerged. This prototype had several notable differences, including modifications to the airframe, what looked like new engines, and most importantly a twin seat cockpit. This aircraft - now referred to as the J-20S - would perhaps be the most important development in the program to date. The integration of a twin seat setup marked a definite change in direction for the program. Up until this point, due to lack of detail and ambiguity, it was assumed that the J-20 was still intended to serve as a competitor to the F-22, but now the addition of a second crew member suggested a shift towards multirole capabilities.

In 2023, it was revealed that the WS-15 - a long awaited upgrade to the WS-10 engine - was ready to enter production. This is a major development, since the Chinese had struggled to create a consistently reliable afterburning engine. The WS-15 has supposedly overcome these challenges. The Pentagon reported in October 2023 that further upgrades for the J-20 were underway, notably including thrust vectoring WS-15 engines, improved stores capacity, and drone teaming control systems.

CURRENT PROJECT

Just like the conceptual Shenyang J-35, we have seen the J-20 move from being a F-22 inspired air superiority fighter, to something closer to the F-35, with a focus on multirole abilities and interlinking with an internet of external technologies. This change in outlook appears to be happening across the world. It is obvious that for a time - particularly from the late 1980s onwards - there was a heavy focus on air superiority fighters; with high agility, helmet mounted cueing systems, high AOA capability, and so on. This is all still highly relevant, but since the early 2000s it has become obvious that fighter aircraft may encounter greater threats than previous air superiority fighters. Namely, there is always uncertainty surrounding new surface-to-air, drone, or digital and electronic weapons an adversary may have. Thus, more emphasis has been placed on the need for inter-system networking and electronic warfare systems.

Today the Chinese program is obviously a multirole fighter program. The twin seat variant - J-20S - is almost certainly being developed to operate alongside various drone programs, including China’s primary loyal wingman program known as AVIC Dark Sword. In Chinese media, it was suggested that the new aircraft be used to network with the GJ-11 combat drone. Using a twin seat configuration, the Weapons System Operator would oversee the handling of several native Chinese systems, including datalink, drone communication and tasking, and electronic warfare.

The number of J-20s in service is unknown, however, reports over the years by the US military and other analysts offer some idea. In December 2021, Chengdu publicly revealed that mass-scale production was underway. Incredibly a USAF analyst reported just two months later - in January 2022 - that open-source information indicated that over 70 aircraft may already be in service, and by August another USAF analyst said they believed 150 aircraft had now been delivered, and by December this number had reached over 200. In 2023, it was claimed that up to 150 aircraft could be produced per year from that time onward, making it arguably the most rapidly produced fifth gen fighter - save for perhaps the F-35. The most recent estimate suggests that the 300th airframe will be delivered sometime after July 2024.

This incredible production speed was supposedly made possible by a type of ‘pulse assembly line’, according to the Chinese military.

SPECS

So, what about the aircrafts design itself? As it currently stands, the aircraft is claimed to incorporate both radar absorbent materials, and low visibility coatings. Mesh coverings, sawtooth edges, serpentine inlets, and other design choices also create a smaller radar cross signature. Initially, critics claimed that the use of canards would reduce stealth ability, however designers noted that this was unfounded, and that the flight control system could alter canard deflection to reduce reflections. It was also shown that a retractable Luneberg lens was mounted underneath the aircraft, which would allow for amplification of return signals to disguise true radar signature.

Claims have been made by several individuals over the past few years that the J-20 is not a threat. Notably, India’s Air Chief Marshal claimed that their Sukhoi 30-MKI could detect a J-20 several kilometres away. However, this claim was ignored by many experts, who noted that in such a case of detectability the J-20 was almost certainly using radar deflectors to be visible in a non-combat airspace.

In terms of other tech, nothing is officially known, however images and reports paint a bit of a picture. Chinese reporters claim that the aircraft uses an upgraded version of the J-16s AESA radar, and this would not be surprising given its development speed. Outwardly it appears that designers based some of their tech from the F-35. For example, the aircraft uses an infrared search and track system (the EORD-31) and an electro optical targeting system under the nose (the EOTS-86) while around the aircraft are six EO sensors. These EO devices combine infrared data with radar signals to produce a fused sensor image, again similar to that found on the F-35. Likewise, the J-20 uses a helmet mounted display, likely integrated with a cueing system, and a fully digital cockpit featuring four liquid crystal touchscreens.

In terms of armament, the aircraft appears to be built around native weapons systems. Rather than relying on import weapons, the J-20 fields a variety of domestically produced air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions. Notably, the active PL-12 - made to compete with the AMRAAM and Russian R-77 - as well as the newer PL-15 and PL-21, which are both active radar guided missiles. For close range it would likely use the PL-10 – China’s equivalent to the AIM-9. Not much is known about armament beyond this; there is some evidence suggesting that initial variants of the J-20 did not integrate a cannon. Likewise, there is some evidence suggesting the aircraft may use small precision bombs, and anti-radiation missiles.

In total the aircraft is said to have a stores capacity of 24,000 pounds, featuring four external hardpoints. However, it is clear that the PLAAF intend this for stealth, and thus the aircraft would rely primarily on its internal weapons bay capacity, details of which are unknown. It has been shown that the aircraft can carry external drop tanks in a similar manner to the F-22, although these would likely compromise the aircrafts radar image.

According to Tsinghua University, the aircraft - or at least the Alpha variant - features a service ceiling of 66,000 feet. This is slightly above that of the F-35, but not by much. Likewise, the aircrafts combat range is 2000 kilometres, significantly more than the F-35 and F-22, however this could be an exaggeration. The aircraft features supercruise, although details remain unclear. Top speed of the J-20A is reportedly Mach 2.0; faster than the F-35s Mach 1.6, and slower than the F-22s Mach 2.25 top reported speed. The J-20 is however a larger aircraft than its American counterparts; the F-35A is just over 15 meters in length, while the F-22 is just over 18. The J-20A is over 21 meters.

As mentioned earlier, initial versions of the aircraft used the Russian Lyulka Saturn AL-31, before adopting the domestically produced WS-10, and finally upgrading to the WS-15 some time since 2020. These new WS-15 engines offer major changes to the specs of the aircraft; providing faster supercruise, better high and low speed performance, and with improved thrust vectoring agility.

CONCLUSION

The Chengdu J-20 remains an interesting aircraft. Many believe its abilities are exaggerated, while others say that rapid technological advancements have allowed the Chinese to develop something capable of matching other fifth gen designs. Time will tell.

From a purely technological standpoint however, the J-20 project is impressive; with almost 300 aircraft built in the span of a few years, and with constant upgrade programs using domestic systems. Pure numbers indicate that at the current rate, Chengdu could have completed 1000 J-20 airframes by 2030. These are numbers equal to that of the F-16 or Flanker program. This is important to note, as it suggests a high level of trust in the program, which most militaries would not commit to unless they knew the program could deliver as promised. In the case of the PLAAF, decision makers would have to be sure that the J-20 would outperform any modernised Flanker derivatives that could have received funding in its place. Evidently, they believed the J-20 will outperform these modernised Flankers, which by proxy indicates that they believe it will also outperform most western fourth and four-plus generation aircraft.

The past decade has shown that China’s manufacturing abilities are rapidly improving, to the point where products, which were once cheap knockoffs, now outperform their competition. Likewise, militarily the Chinese navy and Air Force have both achieved what appears to be rapid growth and technological improvement. Now only time will tell how far projects like the J-20 will go.