China’s J-20 Stealth Fighter Dominates in Supersonic Combat

Published on August 4, 2017

Global Times says in its report “Official media’s ‘official revelation’ of J-20’s detailed parameters? Military experts: Misreading” today that there has been a recent article in a WeChat account under PLA Daily titled “Leader pilot of fighter jets echelon: J-20 dominates in supersonic combat” that reveals the specifications and performance of China’s J-20 stealth fighter jet:

Wingspan: 12.8 meters

Height: 4.45 meters

Empty weight: 17,000 kg

Max. takeoff weight: 37,000 kg

Engines: two WS-15s

Max. speed: 3062.7 km/hour (Mach 2.5)

Range: 6,000 km

The article quotes Zhang Hao, leader pilot of the fighter jet echelon led by J-20s in the parade, as saying in an interview, “(J-20) not bad subsonic too, but once at supersonic speed, it dominates.”

It says that due to its stealth and high speed and maneuverability, J-20 has won 10 to 0 in lots of drills where it competes with non-stealth fighters.

It seems that the speed Mach 2.5 is true as WS-15 is regarded as the best engines for fighter jets. There has been report that China has developed a new and better material for aircraft engine.

Some Chinese military experts do not believe that the above is China’s official disclosure of J-20’s specifications and performance as such details must be China’s top secret. Even the US that advocates transparency, does not make official disclosure of the details of its top fighter F22.

However, this blogger believes that since China’s J-20 is the best, revealing its great capabilities will be a strong deterrence to those who intend to attack China. China’s enemy may develop better fighter jets to defeat J-20 in the future, but China is also developing a next generation of fighter jet much better than J-20. China must have the self-confidence that it is able to develop the best weapons in the world.

Source: Global Times “Official media’s ‘official revelation’ of J-20’s detailed parameters? Military experts: Misreading” and “Pilot: J-20 especially strong in maneuverability: It dominates in supersonic air combat” (summary by Chan Kai Yee based on the reports in Chinese)

Source

Chengdu J-20: Details