China’s Stealthy 5th-Gen J-20 .. A Jet Without a Mission?

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

China’s J-20

Maneuverable, high-speed, air-dominant F-22 competitor, advanced, AI-enabled forward sensor node, bomb truck supporting land and amphibious assaults, stealthy air supremacy platform able to destroy enemy air defenses and advanced air-to-air attack platform …. are all possible missions for China’s fast-growing fleet of J-20s.

Despite the fact that open sources say there are now more than 208 operational J-20 5th-generation stealth jets, the fighter has been conspicuously and curiously absent from view.

There have been little actual “sightings” of the J-20, and some wonder if the aircraft could be a stealthy bomb-truck and ground and surface attack aircraft without a clear or defined mission.