India to face political implications of
China’s new stealth fighter jet
02-Nov-16
China on Tuesday
unveiled its J-20 stealth fighter jet at its biggest air show. The new stealth
fighter will have major political implications for India as it is the first
indigenously-made fifth-generation Chinese aircraft which Pakistan has shown
interest in acquiring.
Two J-20 aircraft which
made waves in the Chinese media in the last few years flew at the Zhuhai city
air show where the Pakistan air force is also taking part flying with its J-17
Thunder jets which are jointly manufactured by China.
Pakistan, the largest
importer of Chinese arms has said earlier that it is in talks with China to buy
the FC-31 – an export variant of the same aircraft. The FC-31 was briefly flown
in the 2014 Zhuhai airshow.
The stealth aircraft is
regarded as the major breakthrough for China which is otherwise mostly reliant
on Russian aircraft including advanced versions of Sukhois.
The J-20 aircraft will
fly over the weeklong show each day after taking off from an airfield in nearby
Foshan, but visitors will not be able to view the aircraft close up on the
ground.
An official in the
People’s Liberation Air Force (PLAF) told media in Zhuhai the aircraft will not
be displayed in public because the “J-20 contains many of China’s top
technologies in stealth aircraft plus other military secrets”.
“The secrets include the
J-20’s body shape, the proportion of its wing and body and other secrets as
aircraft experts can easily calculate its stealth parameters from its
exterior,” Hong Kong-based South China Morning Postquoted the unnamed PLAF
official as saying.
The J-20 earlier made
waves earlier as its picture covered in tarpaulin at an airport in Tibet. The
J-20 has already created a buzz about its likely deployment on the India-China
border though Chinese experts say it is unlikely.
A write-up in the China
Military Online in September stated that “it is said that J-20 will be put into
service soon but the China-India border is apparently not the ideal place for
its deployment”.
“In addition, the
world’s highest airport there does not have a complete set of supporting
facilities and such shortage will impede the function of J-20”.
Experts added that if
China is to deploy J-20 targeting India, it will do that only when the
maintenance and operation of the aircraft in plain bases become mature.
J-20 will not be
deployed in Daocheng Yading airport (Tibet) as it is too close to the border,
and it is vulnerable to India’s first-wave hit.
Original post: dailytimes.com.pk
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