According to a report by the U.S. media outlet "Military Observation," the aviation brigade of the Northern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has recently been equipped with the new J-20 fighter jets. This makes it the 14th aviation unit among the five air force theater commands of the PLA Air Force to be equipped with the J-20.

01. The J-20 has been deployed to the 14th Air Force Brigade!

The U.S. media noted that as the annual production of the J-20 exceeds 120 units and its total scale is approaching 1,000 aircraft, the number of stealth fighters in the PLA Air Force will surpass the total deployment of the United States and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region before 2030, completely reshaping the aerial power dynamics in the Asia-Pacific. The aviation brigade that has recently been equipped with the J-20 is the X Aviation Brigade of the Northern Theater Command. Previously, this unit was equipped with the J-10C fighter jets, and the upgrade to the J-20 can be described as a significant improvement.

▲The J-20 has already been widely deployed across the military

The U.S. media pointed out that compared to the previously used J-10C, the operational range of the J-20s of the X Aviation Brigade exceeds 2,000 kilometers, covering the Korean Peninsula, western Japan, and key sea lanes in the Yellow Sea. It has become a core deterrent force for the PLA Air Force in the North China direction, effectively countering potential threats from the U.S.-Japan stealth fighter fleet.

The U.S. media noted that the Northern Theater Command now has three J-20 aviation brigades, with a total of 72 J-20 stealth fighters. If we add the J-20 units from the Southern and Eastern Theater Commands, the total number of stealth fighters directly facing the U.S., Japan, and South Korea along the coastal front lines of the PLA would exceed 200, a scale that far surpasses the total number of stealth fighters deployed by the U.S., Japan, and South Korea in the Asia-Pacific region.

Especially for Japan, the deployment of the J-20 also poses a direct pressure. The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force plans to equip 147 F-35s, but currently only 38 are in service, with 80% deployed on Kyushu Island. The total number is even less than that of a single PLA Air Force theater command unit.

According to previous simulations by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), if the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force mobilizes F-35 squadrons to interfere in the Taiwan Strait, the J-20 could launch PL-15 missiles against the Japanese stealth fighter forces first, taking advantage of the "first detection" advantage, under the assistance of the PLA's anti-stealth system, delivering a lethal strike.

02. U.S. Media: Total will exceed 1,000, procurement volume is 5 times more than the U.S. military

The speed at which the PLA is equipping stealth fighters is astonishing. Since mass production began in 2016, the output and number of J-20s have increased year by year. According to calculations, after the J-20 reached full production capacity, its annual production has reached 120 units, a pace that has exceeded that of the United States. Currently, the annual production of the F-35 is also over 100 units, but due to the need to deliver to foreign customers and the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, the actual number of new aircraft received by the U.S. Air Force each year is only in the dozens.

Therefore, the U.S. media stated that the total procurement and deployment quantity of the J-20 in the Chinese Air Force is 2.5 to 5 times that of the U.S. Air Force, and this figure does not include the J-35. After the J-35 is fully mass-produced, the PLA can obtain an average of 140 to 160 stealth fighters per year. It is expected that by 2029, the total number of fifth-generation aircraft, including the J-20 and J-35, in the PLA will exceed 1,000, surpassing the U.S. military with a decisive numerical advantage.

What is more concerning for the U.S. military is the progress of China's sixth-generation aircraft. Last December, the prototype of the sixth-generation aircraft developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group and Shenyang Aircraft Corporation entered the flight test phase, and it is expected to be commissioned before 2030, further ahead of the U.S. in terms of development progress.

After all, the U.S. sixth-generation aircraft project has been nothing more than a PowerPoint presentation. The U.S. Navy's FA-XX has remained silent, while the U.S. Air Force's NGAD project had to be suspended entirely during the Biden administration due to cost and R&D route differences. It was later renamed "F-47" after Trump's election, but to date, no prototype capable of flight testing has even been completed.

▲China has already taken the lead in the sixth-generation aircraft project

The U.S. media expressed pessimism about this, stating that the U.S. sixth-generation aircraft project has fallen behind China. Therefore, it can be said that since the emergence of China's sixth-generation aircraft, China has achieved a complete technological breakthrough and firmly seized the initiative in the competition for advanced aircraft technology with the United States.

Some content sources of this article: 1. U.S. official: U.S. military is deploying F-35 and other aircraft to the Middle East, Caijing News

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7521090992348119571/

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