ANALYSIS – Based on reports from the Zhuhai Airshow in China, it appears that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aviation forces may now possess upwards of 200 new 5th generation ‘Chengdu’ stealth jet fighters in their inventories.
Chengdu means ‘Mighty Dragon.’
Considering that China first flew its J-20 about 12 years ago, reaching a fleet of two hundred aircraft since then is an achievement.
This number of new Chinese J-20s far outstrips the U.S. fleet of 120 combat-ready stealth F-22 Raptors.
However, the F-22s are on their way to retirement in the early 2030s, so this makes the J-20 more comparable to the U.S. and allied F-35 Lightning II stealth jet fighters.
The J-20 can reportedly reach a maximum speed close to Mach 2 (1,535 miles per hour) with a ceiling of 60,000 feet and a range of nearly 700 miles.
It also reportedly has a stand-off missile launch capability to keep it out of range of enemy air defenses.
Andreas Rupprecht, an expert on the Chinese armed forces, was one of the first civilians to come to this conclusion on the size of China’s J-20 fleet.
His ‘amateur’ sleuthing was based in part on photographic details from the air show.
Air Data News reports:
The finding was possible due to high resolution images taken at the event and which allowed to notice that two of the fighters had inscriptions “CB0369” and “CB0370” on the front part of the fuselage. According to Rupprecht, the code would mean that they are aircraft of the 4th production batch (CB03), number 69 and 70, that is, there are at least 70 fighters already delivered in this batch alone.
The other production batches (CB00, CB01 and CB02) had 18, 45 and 56 aircraft completed, according to reports, which would total 189. Added to the 18 initial pre-production fighters, we would then have 208 J-20s already delivered.
Meanwhile, experts believe that China stole plans for the F-35 from Lockheed Martin. The Pentagon admitted in its China military power report in 2019 that the Chicoms regularly engage in cyber spying against the U.S. to steal defense technology.
Edward Snowden revealed in leaked documents in 2007 that Lockheed Martin was aware of a data breach regarding the F-35.
In 2017, the Chinese reportedly struck again, hacking an Australian defense contractor working with the F-35 program.
The J-20 and F-35 do have numerous design similarities, especially when looking at the front of the two aircraft.
But some of the most concerning allegedly stolen F-35 tech involves the Lockheed Martin sensor suite called the Electro-Optical Targeting System mounted on the “blended wing-body front end.”
This is the eyes and brains of the F-35.
According to Brent Eastwood in 19fortyfive:
This is the essence of the F-35’s targeting that enhances the pilot’s situational awareness and allows laser-guided munitions to be effective. Having this technology under the nose of the fighter would enable the J-20 Mighty Dragon to have a substantial upgrade over its own indigenous system. It would help the J-20 increase its multi-role capabilities to strike ground targets and intercept other fighters.
Sadly the U.S. taxpayer has long been indirectly financing China’s massive military buildup, and this includes letting China steal our latest defense technology.
The only positive note to this story is that for now, the U.S. has a lot more F-35s than China. And adding allied aircraft, that number mushrooms well beyond that.
Air Data News reports:
Currently, the US Department of Defense has at least 450 F-35 fighter jets in operation in three variants, the F-35A (USAF), F-35B (Marines) and F-35C, used by the Navy and Marines alike.
Smaller and more versatile, the F-35 is expected to reach a fleet of 2,500 aircraft in the 2040s, the height of its operational career. In addition, the USAF is developing the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, which will give rise to a 6th generation fighter and which promises to establish a new level of technology in air combat.
Let’s hope the U.S. and its allies can develop and employ their 6th generation jet fighters faster than China can steal their plans and build their own.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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We need to put this kind of information behind a firewall that fries the attacking computer. Let them download encrypted viruses!
See we helped China defeat US
Agreed! Great comeback!!!!!
If we’re not giving it to them freely (Clinton), they are hacking it from us. If this keeps up, we’re screwed!
Stolen? Sure is wasn’t a gift from Xi Jinping Biden and his regime?!
Nothing was stolen…The Chinese buy the technology from either the defense officials or Politian’s, with money and girls, we read about it all the time, and with absolutely no consequences to the deep state or democrat traitors or the Chinese agents!
You have nobody to blame but yourselves Military!!!! You have allowed them into our colleges media Labs etc….. oh and policing NY. SMH
At the risk of losing a dumb question, since the Chinese are more than adapt at stealing technology, their own capabilities aside, how come it seems that “salting” technology to be stolen with hard to notice errors. Let the Chinese chase their own tails up blind alleys, does not seem to come to the minds of the West.
“stolen from the US”?
Funny
China OWNS BIDEN, the globalist puppet and the globalists want to destroy the world with billions of people so they’ll have FEWER SLAVES to lord over and they’re on the side of the CCP
If you are JUST learning that MOST technology used by China is stolen or extorted from elsewhere, you are at least a full generation behind the curve.
Chinese didn’t have to steal anything, since SlickDick Willie Clinton DEMONcrats have been giving them anything they want in exchange for a personal donation!