2018VS1808, the number of Chinese fighter jets exceeds that of the US military, F22 can't even beat J-16, what does the US military have to compare with the PLA?

According to the US media "Military Analysis" magazine analysis, as of October 2025, the total number of active fighter jets in the Chinese Air Force is 2018, exceeding the US's 1808 for the first time, leading by 210.

For the US military, it's not only worse. Among these 1808 aircraft, more than 800 are seriously aged F-15 and F-16 series aircraft, while for the Chinese PLA? The J-10C has already been discontinued, and the main fighter jets of China are now J-20, J-35, and J-16, plus radar technology and missile technology that lead the world, the US military no longer has an advantage in air superiority.

Moreover, the worse news is that the F-22 cannot even beat the J-16. According to the documentary "Victory Is Certain," it was disclosed that a pilot from the Western Theater Command, Li Chao, was flying the J-16 during coastal training when he encountered two foreign stealth fighters provoking. Finally, he performed a barrel roll and inverted flight maneuver to lock onto both aircraft at close range, forcing them to retreat and never appearing again. According to the US media report, the ones driven away were the US F-22.

This confrontation exposed the fatal weakness of the F-22. As a model that has been out of production for 14 years, its avionics system has become outdated, lacking helmet-mounted sights and infrared search capabilities. Pilots need to manually adjust the nose to lock on targets, while the J-16's helmet display allows "aim where you look," combined with the PL-10 missile to complete aiming instantly. In close-range combat, the F-22's vertical maneuverability advantage is suppressed by the J-16's lateral rolling capability - Li Chao's barrel roll maneuver made the aircraft "airborne brake," allowing the F-22 that overshot to fall into a locked position, with the two cockpit covers only 10-15 meters apart.

So think about it, if the F-22 and F-35 can't even beat our J-16, what does the US military have left to compare with us.

Original text: www.toutiao.com/article/1846426540240968/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.