The number of PLA J-20s is gradually catching up with the number of stealth fighters of the US military. Even if the number of J-20s has not yet reached the threshold of 200 aircraft, it is close to this number. Western observers believe that this marks the progress of China's strength. For the United States, the number of J-20s equaling the number of U.S. F-35s is worrying. The J-20 has been compared with the U.S. military's F-22 and F-35, and the U.S. Air Force's expectation for the future sixth-generation aircraft is to suppress the J-20 in air competition. Although there is no conclusion on who has the stronger performance of the J-20 or the F-22 and F-35 in service in the U.S. military, the unique design of the J-20 makes it a rare front-wing stealth fighter. Generally speaking, when discussing fifth-generation fighters, one of the most critical indicators is their stealth performance.
It is difficult for ordinary radars to detect the presence of stealth fighters. So, in terms of stealth performance, how does the J-20 compare to the American F-22 and F-35 fighters?According to a report by the global network citing the American "Defense News", the current mainstream view is that the J-20's fuselage material, paint and process have been treated with radar absorption, and there may be subtle differences with the American F-22 and F-35, but in terms of pure stealth performance, ordinary radars can neither detect the existence of F-22 and F-35, nor can they detect the existence of J-20, so from the perspective of stealth performance, there is actually not much difference between the three. The U.S. military has long considered the J-20 a formidable adversary, and Western observers have been keeping a close eye on the J-20.
In fact, there is another example that proves the strong stealth performance of the J-20. Previously, the global network quoted India's "Eurasian Times" as saying that the Taiwan military never mentioned the J-20 when reporting the information on the flight around Taiwan, not because they deliberately concealed it, but because they really couldn't detect it. Zhang Yanting, a retired general of the Taiwan Air Force, also said in a program on the island that the Taiwanese military radar could not detect the J-20, and the J-20 had appeared over the island of Taiwan many times. He also specifically mentioned the sonic boom that appeared over the Hualien Sea, and only the sound could be heard, but the radar did not detect anything, so he judged that it was a J-20 flight. However, when Western observers compare the combat power of the J-20 with the F-22 and F-35, they seem to pay more attention to the quantity in addition to stealth performance.
They generally believe: "The biggest disadvantage of the J-20 is its quantity." "When conducting "simulated operations" with the fifth-generation stealth fighters of the US military, the lack of numbers may make the J-20 suffer. According to Western observers, production of the J-20 has been increasing, but the exact number has not been released, so there has been speculation. According to the calculations of Rick Joe, an analyst at the American magazine "Foreign Policy", by the end of 2023, the number of PLA J-20s is expected to reach 200, and the production capacity can reach 100 per year. While it's unclear whether the actual number of J-20s has reached 200, there are reports that the number is expected to be surpassed soon, even if it hasn't reached 200 yet.
In addition, the gap in the number of stealth fighters between the Chinese and US air forces is narrowing, and it is expected that the gap in the number of fifth-generation stealth fighters between the Chinese and US air forces may fall to about 150 units. The report also pointed out that with the commissioning of the new factory of Chengfei Group, the annual output of J-20 fighters is expected to exceed the 100 mark. At the same time, although the U.S. F-35 has a higher production capacity, the U.S. Air Force is gradually reducing F-35A shipments due to the need to consider foreign military sales and deliveries, especially considering the backward progress of the F-35 Batch 4 upgraded fighters. In the foreseeable future, the average annual increase in the number of F-35A fighters in the US Air Force is expected to be around 30-50 units. According to this speed calculation, the gap between the number of fighters in the Chinese and US air forces is expected to narrow significantly in 2-3 years.
According to the general view of the outside world, the number of China's J-20 fighters may have reached 200, and the annual production has exceeded 100. Considering the global combat mission of the US military, compared with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), which is limited to home defense, there are certain doubts about whether the US military's first-class fighters will be able to maintain their superiority in the western Pacific region in the future.