BEIJING: China’s J-20 stealth fighter will act as the ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’ of the J-16 and J-10C jets for the other two to release their massive payload of ordnance, with the team of three utilizing each fighter’s core strengths.
The trio’s teaming of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF) frontline multirole aircraft and their tactical arrangement was stated by a J-16 pilot at the recently concluded Zhuhai Air Show. This has confirmed the long-running belief amongst media, experts, and Chinese military watchers.
With tensions rising again in the Taiwan Straits between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan, the United States (US), and Japan, the information gives a possible glimpse of how a military intervention and air campaign might play out.
The PRC had used the J-20 for the first time in the live-fire military drills around Taiwan in August in retaliation to US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island.
This was followed by the J-20 being publicly displayed at the airside in the Zhuhai Air Show, where two jets landed and parked for a few hours. J-20s have never been displayed up close and have only undertaken fly pasts and aerobatic displays. The latest information about the ‘trio teaming’ clearly bares China’s complete confidence in its homegrown product and operational readiness.
Speaking to China Central Television (CCTV) on November 8, J-16 pilot Zhang Yang said, “The J-20, J-16, and J-10C are the three current main fighter jets (of the Chinese air force).
The three models are utilized together, mainly with the J-20’s great capacity of situational awareness guiding the two other models, while the J-16 and J-10C exert their firepower superiority.”
He also praised his fighter’s (the J-16) versatility of possessing a greater range, payload capacity, and powerful radar.
“On the battlefield, it can seize air supremacy and assault ground and sea targets. It can be used for attacks and defenses, and it will definitely exert its powerful combat capability in future combat scenarios.”
Yang’s claim is conceivable when considering the facts around the J-20 and available information and assessments about Chinese military doctrine and politico-military thought. Like the F-35, the J-20 is electronically more advanced than Generation 4++ jets. –Agencies
