Production of China’s J-20 Stealth Fighters Expands: New Jets Inducted Into Air Force’s 'Ace Unit'

Approaching its third year in active service, the Chengdu J-20 was the first fifth generation fighter to be declared combat ready outside the United States and has been in production on a growing scale in China ever since. While the threshold for what is considered ‘mass production’ remains unclear, a growing number of sources are reporting that this has been crossed - with well over 100 fighters thought to have been built although not all of these are currently in frontline service. The aircraft have seen a number of upgrades since first entering service and continue to be updated, with new electronic warfare systems, stealth coatings, distributed aperture systems and WS-10C engines all integrated over the past two years. The J-20 is a twin engine heavyweight air superiority fighter with a comparable role to the American F-22 Raptor, although the newer fighter’s computer architecture, electronics and avionics are considerably more modern than its U.S. counterpart.

The J-20 has reportedly recently been inducted into service in the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s ‘Ace Unit’ - according to a statement by Air Force spokesman Shen Jinke released on January 19th. The ‘Ace Unit,’ the Wang Hai Air Group, dates back the 1950s when it flew Soviet MiG-15 and MiG-17 fighters, and has reportedly caused 59 losses of enemy aircraft in its history. The J-20 has been allocated to a growing number of major frontline positions as the PLA’s faith in the platform and experience operating it grows. These have included deployments under the Eastern Theatre Command in July 2019, on the frontlines of any conflict with Taiwan or U.S. forces in Japan, and deployment under the 9th frontline brigade at Wuhu to replace the elite but older ‘4+ generation’ Russian Su-30MKK fighters earlier that year. Under the Eastern Theatre Command, J-20s are deployed across the Sea of Japan from American and Japanese F-22 and F-35 fifth generation fighters, and while the latter is still very far from fully combat ready the Raptors can potentially seriously challenge Chinese control of the air. The J-20 appears to be the first of many Chinese next generation fighter programs underway, and as the scale of production continues to grow and the design continues to be refined with new technologies, a number of sub variants including twin seaters and strike platforms are expected to be enter service.