A Chinese-made stealth fighter that some say resemble the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor debuted this week at the Zhuhai Air Show, the nation’s best-known aerospace event. The J-20 jet performed a surprise ground-rattling flyover during Tuesday’s opening day and also caught the attention of media outlets around the world. The first public showing of the twin-engine jet sparked new speculation about China’s ability to upgrade its technology to the point of winning comparisons to other military superpowers. As with most of China’s aircraft certification programs, the J-20 project remains mostly secretive, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that photos of test flight operations several years ago were the only evidence the fighter was nearing completion.
It’s not clear exactly when the fighter will go into service, but 2018 was a possible time frame reported by the BBC, which also noted that the public won’t get a closer look at the J-20 as it won’t be on display at the country’s largest aviation exposition. A smaller version of the jet, the J-31, debuted at Zhuhai in 2014 and is expected to be certified for export, while the J-20 remains China’s own stealth fighter. Australia’s news.com reported that the jet isn’t all Chinese-designed, as the challenge of developing an engine to power such aircraft led engineers to turn to Russia for the technology.
