11 photos of the J-20, China's first stealth fighter jet that 'could soon surpass' the F-22 Raptor

China announced in February that its new J-20 stealth fighter jet is going into combat service, with the hopes that the aircraft will narrow the military gap with the US. 

First shown to the public at the Zhuhai airshow in late 2016, the J-20 is an advanced multirole fighter expected to carry out both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat roles, according to CSIS.

The J-20's capabilities are still not fully known, but it's often compared to the US' F-22 Raptor and Russia's Su-57. 

While most analysts agree that the F-22 is, at the moment, still superior, the chief editor of Military Watch Magazine, Abraham Ait, recently wrote in The Diplomat that it "could soon surpass the US F-22 Raptor."

Here's what we know:

SEE ALSO: We asked a military analyst how the F-22, Su-57, and J-20 stealth planes match up

SEE ALSO: 13 photos of the Su-57, Russia's first stealth fighter that can outmaneuver the F-22 Raptor

First spotted by Chinese observers in 2010, the J-20 was later shown to the public for the first time in 2016.

The J-20 was initially equipped with fourth-generation WS-10G engines, which were based off Russian AL-31s. But it has reportedly since been equipped with true fifth generation WS-15 Emei engines comparable to the F-22's F119 engines.

Several reports even suggested that the J-20 had been equipped with WS-15 Emei engines during military drills at the Zhurihe base in 2017.

Source: The Diplomat, AsiaTimes

The WS-15 engine is rumored to have a maximum thrust of 44,000 lbs, compared to the Raptor's 35,000 lbs of thrust.

Source: The Diplomat, Business Insider, AsiaTimes

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Contributer : Tech Insider https://ift.tt/2Eo0Yy5

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