J-20
It was expected China would produce up to
three of the stealth planes every month, but only a handful so far exist
By ASIA TIMES STAFF JANUARY 29, 2018
5:21 PM (UTC+8)
China’s advanced multirole J-20 jets have been hard to
find since they entered into service with the People’s Liberation Army Air
Force almost one year ago, and it isn’t just because they are super stealth
fighters.
Embarassingly, the country’s leading aerospace plant is
struggling to meet orders for the plane that was trumpeted as China’s answer to
the US F-22 and the Russian T-50 PAK FA, with only a handful having so far been
produced due to undisclosed manufacturing glitches.
Hong Kong-based Kanwa Defence Review, citing sources
within the PLAAF, as well as recent satellite imagery, said it was likely to be
some time before any more fighters exited the Chengdu Aerospace Corp factory in
western Sichuan province, even as orders piled up.
All the PLAAF can do in the meantime is maintain and
service the existing J-20 inside two hangars at the Dingxin airbase in the
northwestern province of Gansu, the publication noted.
The J-20 was hailed by China as a technological marvel
when it was first unveiled officially in 2016, able to transform the PLA from
“a predominantly territorial air force to one capable of conducting both
offensive and defensive operations”. It was expected that up to three of the
highly-manoeavrable fighters would be produced each month.....Read rest of article: HERE
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