China’s J-20 Stealth Fighter: A Threat Or A Flying ‘Paper Tiger’?

China’s J-20 Stealth Fighter: A Threat Or A Flying ‘Paper Tiger’?

Industry analysts and military experts have long debated the true threat Beijing’s premiere J-20 stealth jet actually poses to existing fifth-generation fighters. Last week, the head of the U.S. Air Forces in the Pacific (PACAF) told reporters that the J-20 is not “anything to lose a lot of sleep over,” indicating his assessment that China’s “Mighty Dragon” is not as formidable as Beijing would like to portray. However, while some aspects of the J-20 have been made public, a lot remains unknown regarding the fighter’s makeup and potential capabilities. Perhaps the mystery surrounding China’s fifth-generation fighter is the Mighty Dragon’s most concerning attribute.

What is the J-20?

Since the early 1980s, the U.S. has retained its status of having the most superior fleet of airframes in the skies. As the only country equipped with fifth-generation stealth fighters, no other air force could compete. The introduction of the Chengdu J-20 fighter – which some consider the globe’s first non-American stealth platform to enter service (some say Russia’s Su-57 is not truly stealth) – altered this reputation. The platform emerged from Beijing’s J-XX program in the 1990s and was officially endorsed by the People’s Liberation Army’s Air Force a decade later. Although the Mighty Dragon officially entered service with the PLAAF in 2017, the airframe only began to serve in considerable numbers by 2018. This year, Beijing has deployed the J-20 throughout the South and East China Seas, suggesting its confidence in the Mighty Dragon’s capabilities.

In August, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the self-governing island of Taiwan. China responded by launching military drills, showcasing its J-20 fighter among other airframes in a not-so-subtle attempt to intimidate the U.S. from advocating for Taiwan. While some of the fighter’s apparent characteristics should be cause for concern, much information regarding the jet’s full power is murky at best.