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China’s stealth fighter jets now seeing duty in all 5 theatre commands
- Domestically produced J-20 stealth fighters are flexing muscles in contested territorial regions
- Official praises performance of warplanes, as China continues to expand air force
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China’s military is now operating its home-grown stealth fighter jet in all five of the country’s theatre commands, according to an air force spokesman.
“J-20 fifth-generation fighters are operating in the east, south, west, north and central [theatre commands], are increasingly used by forces, and are flying farther and farther,” Senior Colonel Shen Jinke said on Thursday.
The warplane was being deployed in the East China Sea, the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, Shen said at a press conference promoting the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition to be held in Zhuhai in November.
When it made its maiden flight in 2011, the J-20 “Mighty Dragon” was considered a symbol of China’s efforts to modernise the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). With the jet’s introduction, China became the second country after the United States to operate a stealth fighter capable of supersonic cruising speeds.
The design of the J-20 is comparable to the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor used by the US Air Force.
“The domestically made J-20, J-16, B-6K bomber and YY-20 [tanker aircraft] flew proudly in the Taiwan Strait and strengthened our ability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Shen said.
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Jack joined the Post in 2020 after studying journalism at the University of Hong Kong. Before that, he read law in London and Hong Kong, where he assisted with research in Chinese legal institutions and civil dispute resolution.
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