BEIJING – China’s J-20 stealth fighter jet, one of the few fifth-generationjets in the world, has been deployed to the South China Sea and is armedwith live weapons to patrol the disputed waters.
“We just received a group of jets from Russia and inaugurated the J-20 lastyear, and now we can put them into a real combat mission in the South ChinaSea,” says Xu Guangyu, senior adviser to the the China Arms Control andDisarmament Association, as quoted by the Global Times Friday.
At the end of 2017, Russia completed the delivery of 24 Su-35s Beijingordered in 2015 for about $2 billion. Aside from the J-20, the Su-35 “ismore advanced that other Chinese fighter jets at this moment,” Xu said.
“The appearance of advanced People’s Liberation Army fighter jets capableof attacking surface combat vessels in this region is sort of a reactionto the provocation by the US,” Xu continued.
In January 2018, a US Navy destroyer sailed a bit too close for comfortlink>to anisland in the South China Sea disputed by China and the Philippines.
Analysts say the J-20 may have a limited impact on the situation in theSouth China Sea, the Asia Times notes, as the aircraft are not designedfor maritime patrols but air superiority over land held by an enemy. Inaddition to “production bottlenecks” limiting the total productionof J-20s, “the high temperatures, humidity and brine corrosion there willrender the J-20’s stealth coating ineffective after prolonged exposureto such an environment,” the publication notes.
The J-20s and Su-35s can be stationed on China’s collection of “unsinkableaircraft carriers” thanks to Beijing’s prolific island-construction andland reclamation efforts in the South China Sea, which has included theconstruction of airstrips and hangar facilities.
”The J-20 will also change the history of the air force in theAsia-Pacific region. In the past, only the US and its allies like Japanwere capable of arming stealth fighter jets,” military analyst SongZongping explains. “But now, their monopoly in this region has been brokenby China’s J-20.”