BEIJING – China deployed its Chengdu J-20 stealth jet in February -claiming it is the most advanced fighter plane in all of Asia. Themulti-role fighter jet’s deployment is being seen by analysts as China’sshow of strength to counter the US, Japan and India.
According to reports in the Chinese media, the J-20 has a long list ofadvanced features and is capable undertaking air-to-air and air-to-groundmissions. Equipped to cruise at supersonic speeds, the J-20 reportedlyfeatures two small bays for air-to-air missiles while a single large bayallows for positioning of a wide variety of missiles. The jets maximumtakeoff weight is anywhere between 34,000 kilos and 37,000 kilos.
Its electronic systems too are state-of-art and is highlighted by activeelectronically scanned array, a chin mounted infrared/electro-optic searchand track sensor, etc. Other in-depth details about the jet have not beenmade available but security experts believe that J-20 can still be comparedwith the best-of-the-best in Air Force. In fact, with J-20, China hasbecome only the second country with a fifth-generation fighter in service.The US is the other country with its F-22 Raptor.
In fact, Yoichi Shimada, a professor of international relations at FukuiPrefectural University in Japan, was recently quoted by South China MorningPost as saying that the quality of China’s military hardware is constantlyimproving. “It is not just the size of the spending that is cause forconcern; the quality of the Chinese military is improving veryconspicuously,” he said. “The fundamental nature of the Chinese regime isaggressive and that needs to be a concern for other countries in theregion.”
The decision to deploy the J-20, many say, comes on the back of Indiadeploying its Sukhoi-30MKI fighters at the Tezpur and Chabua air bases inAssam. And it is not just India but countries like the US, Japan and othersin south-east Asia which are keeping a close watch on what Beijing doesnext.