China Adds New Weapons to Stealthy 5th-Gen J-20 to Rival F-22

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force appears to be massively upgrading its now operational fleet of 5th-generation stealthy J-20 aircraft with additional thrust and maneuver capability,  F-22-like supercruise speed, new air-to-air weapons and a two-seat variant of the aircraft. 

The Pentagon’s annual report, called Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China states.

“The PLAAF is preparing upgrades for the J-20, which may include increasing the number of air-to-air missiles (AAM) the fighter can carry in its low-observable configuration, installing thrust-vectoring engine nozzles, and adding supercruise capability by installing higher-thrust indigenous WS-15 engines,” the report states. 

n November 2022, high-resolution photos published in several news publications and public sources revealed over 208 J-20 fighters have been built, 

Certainly Chinese papers write about the J-20s maturation, demonstrations and technologies such as its WS-15 domestically-built engine, yet apart from a few training missions, the J-20 has not been airborne much near areas where it might be seen up close. This was the thinking of one prominent Chinese expert researcher and former high-level US military official who suggested that perhaps the J-20 was kept from flying within Taiwan’s ADIZ to prevent it from being seen by Taiwan’s air defenses, surveillance planes or fighter jets at close range.

 Two-Seat Variant of the J-20

The Pentagon report also cites the emergence of a Chinese two-seat J-20 configuration, suggesting it might introduce new kinds of missions possibilities.