The J-20 is an advanced multi-role combat jet aircraft developed and produced by Chengdu Aerospace Corporation of China. Also called “Mighty Dragon,” it took its maiden flight on January 11, 2011 and was introduced into service on March 9, 2017. The J-20 is flown by China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and has three primary variants: The single-seat J-20A, the single-seat J-20B, and the two-seat J-20S. The aircraft can perform a variety of mission sets, including air superiority, strike, close air support, ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) data collections, and electronic warfare. Chengdu has produced more than 200 airframes thus far, primarily single-seat variants.
The J-20 is considered a fifth-generation military aircraft. It is a twin-engine, supersonic, low observable (“stealth”) platform that comprises advanced avionics, state-of-the-art sensors with data fusion capabilities, and can deploy precision guided munitions. The airframe has a unique form that fuses the canard delta design with a lifting body through the incorporation of leading edge root extensions on its foreplanes. The design enables high maneuverability at low and medium subsonic speeds, and high efficiency and positive control at supersonic speeds.
The jet features a frameless canopy for optimized visual situational awareness, a touchscreen glass cockpit, and fly-by-wire flight controls. Its empennage consists of two outward-canted vertical stabilizers and it has two outward-canted strakes on its rear underside. It is powered by two afterburning turbofan engines that each produce up to 33,000 pounds of thrust with afterburner.
The J-20 has a range of 3,400 miles, a service ceiling of 66,000 feet above sea level, and it climbs at 60,000 feet per minute. It boasts +9/-3 g limits and has a top speed of Mach 2.0.
