China Flies First-of-its-Kind 2-Seat 5th-Gen J-20 Aircraft

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

J-20 2-Seat

In what appears to be a first-of-its-kind pioneering effort, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force is now operating a “2-Seat” variant of its 5th-generation stealth bomber, a development which raises interesting and significant questions about AI and the future of manned flight. 

Would it be better to use an AI-enabled machine as a co-pilot? This is something the US Air Force is experimenting with, yet perhaps also a second set of human eyes and decision-making faculties can offer better and more unique contributions to air war, provided of course AI is still leveraged to the maximum ability. 

What would this mean? A stealthy, 5th-generation F=14 Tomcat-like two-seater to ensure collaborative human decision making? Will this add weight, drag and redundancy and compromise mission speed and efficacy? The question is worth exploring. 

Reports in The Drive, Air Force Magazine, Shepard Media and the Chinese-government-backed Global Times all show images of the new aircraft, long rumored to be in development by the People’s Liberation Army – Air Force.

Explaining that the new two-seat J-20 will likely be referred to as a J-20B, J-20AS or J-20S, the Drive says the pictures of a two-seat “tandem cockpit” J-20 in yellow primer paint emerging from Chengdu Aerospace Corporation’s plant and flight test airfield.

What does this mean? A 5th-generation stealthy “top gun”-like F-14 Tomcat? Maybe. However, unlike the famous 1980s era Tomcat which emerged prior to the large-scale explosion of AI-enabled computing, a 5th-gen fighter carrying a two-man crew raises some interesting questions and dynamics. The F-14 Tomcat came to exist well in advance of today’s AI-empowered sensing, computing, targeting, networking and information analysis.

At the beginning of 2021, the Chinese Global Times newspaper quoted unnamed military analysts citing the merits of a two-seat J-20.

“The twin-seat variation of the J-20 could be used for electronic warfare, command of wingman drones or bombing, and the domestic engine means the J-20 is no longer reliant on Russian engines,” the Chinese government-backed Global Times stated in the previous report, citing military analysts.