Stealth Air-War to the Death: US F-35 vs. Chinese J-20

By Brent M. Eastood, PhD, Former Army Infantry

(Washington DC) Its a stealth on stealth in this deathmatch. Let’s take a look at a scenario in which the F-35 Lightning II could take on China’s J-20 Mighty Dragon. Both fighters are the pride of their fleets. The F-35 has greater numbers compared to the J-20. U.S. allies are buying F-35s rapidly and thousands will be built in the future.

But China is pumping out J-20s too. It is conceivable that both airplanes would fly against each other in battle someday.

Which one has the edge?

Rolling Out the J-20

The fifth-generation Chengdu J-20 entered service in numbers with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) in 2018 after its first introduction in 2016. There may be as many as 150 employed by the PLAAF.

Seems Like an F-35 or F-22 Knock-off

It would be able to respond to crises in the Taiwan Strait and portions of the East and South China Seas where China has territorial claims. The J-20 looks like the F-35 and F-22 with similar features including the forward fuselage, air inlets, exhaust nozzle, and engine intake.

The consensus from China watchers is that they used various types of cyber espionage to steal designs from the United States.

Like the U.S. military’s monetary investment into the F-35, China has spent lavishly on the J-20 program – an estimated $4.4 billion with each J-20 costing about $120 million.