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‘China close to development of 5th-gen. stealth fighter’

‘China close to development of 5th-gen. stealth fighter’

Posted January. 06, 2011 12:00,   

한국어

China will soon test the J-20, a fifth-generation stealth fighter, in Chengdu, Sichuan province, the South China Morning Post said Wednesday.

The Chinese daily said a takeoff test had been conducted at an aircraft design institute in Chengdu last week.

Ping Ke Fu, vice general editor of the Canadian magazine Kanhua Defense Review, told the newspaper that if weather conditions allow, a test flight will be conducted in several days. The jet lags behind the F-22 of the U.S. and the T-50 of Russia in stealth capability but will show significant capacity, he predicted.

The J-20 can go on a long distance mission via airborne fueling and carry many weapons, including cruise missiles. Ping said “The development of the J-20 means the era of the Chinese Air Force copying from others has ended.”

The newspaper said the development of the J-20 exceeded many experts’ expectations. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates had said Beijing will not have a fifth-fifth generation fighter jet until 2020.

Chinese military expert Zhung Xiozuan told the People’s Daily, the official publication of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, and its sister paper on international affairs Global Times that the J-20 will become operational by 2018 after undergoing a test phase.

“The emergence of the J-20 is alarming the world,” Zhung said. “The independent development of a fifth-generation fighter jet means that China has joined the league of top players in the global aviation industry.”

Photos of what are claimed to be those of the J-20 are circulating in Chinese Internet sites. The official Xinhua News Agency filed a report Wednesday titled “Foreign media’s diverse speculations on China’s new fighter jet.”

American and Russian media also carried reports on the new Chinese fighter jet.

The Xinhua report, however, neither confirmed nor denied the development of a fifth-generation fighter jet by China.

Ni Rue Xung, a Shanghai-based military analyst, told the Post, “This plane appeared at the aircraft design institute in Chengdu, which military experts regularly monitor.”



mungchii@donga.com