Key Points and Summary on the J-20 Fighter Family – China’s J-20 “Mighty Dragon” has evolved into a formidable family of stealth fighters, with new variants like the J-20A and the two-seat J-20S showcasing significant advancements.
-The J-20A features modified air inlets designed for the powerful, domestically produced WS-15 engine, a crucial development that frees China from its reliance on Russian-made engines and likely enables supercruise capability.
J-20 Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-The J-20S adds a second crew member for complex missions like electronic warfare or commanding “loyal wingman” drones.
-With China reportedly able to produce up to 100 J-20s per year, the growing fleet represents a serious challenge to Western air superiority.
Meet the J-20 Stealth Fighter ‘Family’
The Chengdu J-20 fighter made quite an impression when it made its first flight debut with the People’s Liberation Army in 2011.
Its introduction into service in 2017 was a significant event, making China the second country, after the United States, to field a stealth aircraft.
Compared to comparable jet fighters, it is also relatively large, featuring a twin-engine design with forward canards to enhance maneuverability, a concession to the lower engine output of early-build J-20s.
Since its introduction into service, several variants of the jet have been built, the J-20A and J-20S.
Compared to the J-20 base jet, the J-20A features different diverless supersonic inlets, the jet’s engine air intakes. The optimization benefits the jet’s WS-15 engine, a domestically designed Chinese engine that offers better performance compared to the engines fitted to earlier J-20 variants.
Additionally, the J-20A features an enlarged fuselage section, providing more volume for both fuel and avionics.
The J-20S is another variant of the jet fighter, with a twin-seat, two-man cockpit arrangement. This second seat is for a Weapon System Officer, also known as a WSO, who is responsible for operating the J-20S’s weapons in place of the pilot.
Aside from the second seat, however, the J-20S is broadly similar to the J-20 base model, retaining the latter’s canted V-shape tail, canards, internal weapons bay, and stealthily contoured nosecone and fuselage.
Jet Engines — Soviet, Russian, and Chinese
The original J-20 fighter first flew with Saturn AL-31 jet engines, a Russian jet engine design first developed for Soviet fighters.
The Chinese aerospace sector’s reliance on legacy Soviet and later Russian engine designs was necessitated by difficulties in developing high-performance domestic designs. The Chinese-made WS-10C engine later addressed this issue, and today’s WS-15 jet engine builds upon it.
China J-20S Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
However, aside from flying faster, one of the expected benefits of the jet engine is increased power output, which allows for the addition of more electricity for more powerful electronics, including radar. However, increased power output would also be beneficial for coordinated flight with China’s loyal wingman drones, essentially small, unmanned, and attritable planes that would fly alongside J-20s, undertaking high-risk missions in lieu of the manned fighters.
Range is also a crucial metric, particularly when considering the vastness of the Indo-Pacific theater. The vast distances of that area of the world necessitate platforms with great range to navigate the wide stretches of water that separate the network of islands and atolls that dot the region’s surface.
And while individual fighters would lack the range to cross the Pacific in its entirety, let alone even half, a boost in range in comparison to adversary fighters would be a distinct advantage. It is also one of the criticisms of the American stealth fighters, the F-22 Raptor and F-35.
J-20 fighter from China. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The range of the latest American fighter, the F-47, a sixth-generation fighter, is also a point of open debate, albeit a speculative one.
NGAD F-47 Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
F-47 Fighter from U.S. Air Force. Image Credit USAF.
In 4 Words: Stealth Fighter Fleet Growing
Parsing the statistics of individual jets’ engines and postulations about range or power output paint only an incomplete picture. Just as relevant, if not more so, are industrial output questions. According to some estimates, China can produce around 100 J-20s per year, with a fleet currently numbering around 800.
Debate rages about the individual jet’s characteristics, pilot training, and performance in combat.
But on the industrial output side of the equation, China can build more jets more quickly than virtually any other country currently does.
MORE: America’s Attack Submarine Crisis
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
Military Matters
Russia’s Su-57 Felon Stealth Fighter Is a Waste of Rubles
