BEIJING – China has put into combat service its new generation J-20 stealthfighter, a warplane it hopes will narrow the military gap with the UnitedStates, the Chinese air force said on Friday, making it operationally ready.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is overseeing a sweeping modernization of thecountry’s armed forces, the largest in the world, including anti-satellitemissiles and advanced submarines, seeking to project power far from itsshores.

In a short statement, the air force said the J-20 had been commissionedinto combat units.

The J-20 will further raise the air force’s combat abilities and help theair force better carry out its “sacred mission” to defend the country’ssovereignty, security and territorial integrity, the air force said.

State media said early last year that the aircraft had entered service. Theaircraft was shown in public for the first time in late 2016 at the Zhuhaiairshow and was first glimpsed by Chinese planespotters in 2010.

However, questions remain whether the new Chinese fighter can match theradar-evading properties of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor air-to-aircombat jet, or the latest strike jet in the U.S. arsenal, Lockheed’s F-35.The F-22, developed for the U.S. Air Force, is the J-20’s closest lookalike.

China showed off another stealth fighter it is developing, the J-31, at theZhuhai airshow in 2014, a show of muscle that coincided with a visit byU.S. President Barack Obama for an Asia-Pacific summit.

China hopes the J-31, still in development, will compete with the U.S.-madeF-35 stealth aircraft in the international market, according to state mediareports.

China’s air force is taking an increasingly active role in powerprojection, with exercises over both the disputed South and East China Seasand near to self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own.