J16 demonstrated strong capabilities, successfully gaining the upper hand in its confrontation with the U.S. stealth fighter, which is why the U.S. military no longer dares to easily test it.

In the East China Sea, a thrilling aerial standoff occurred. At that time, a J-16 fighter performed a high-difficulty "barrel roll" maneuver, flying upside down over the heads of two foreign stealth fighters, so close that the Chinese pilot could clearly see the expressions of the enemy pilots who were shocked.

Recently, CCTV also released related information. A pilot from the Western Theater Command named Li Chao, who was piloting the J-16 in China's coastal airspace, locked onto two foreign stealth fighters at once. He completed the "inverted loop over the top" maneuver at an extreme distance of 10-15 meters, eventually forcing the enemy to flee in a panic. This aerial confrontation, called by military observers as a "fourth-generation half counterattack against fifth-generation aircraft," revealed the helplessness of U.S. stealth aircraft before China's well-established air defense system.

The stealth aircraft driven away might have been the U.S. F-22 or F-35C. After this incident, this type of aircraft has not appeared again near China's coast. This raises a question: Why did the United States stop sending fighter jets to test the strength of the Chinese Air Force afterwards? Because it was unnecessary.

Firstly, the逆袭 of non-stealth aircraft: The J-16 breaks the stealth myth.

The J-16's victory in the East China Sea confrontation is not just a single aircraft's victory, but a victory of China's entire air defense system.

The confrontation reported by CCTV took place during the coastal training period in 2024. Two foreign stealth fighters approached rapidly from the open sea, attempting to adopt a posture that is difficult to detect, hoping to conduct reconnaissance and infiltration secretly.

At this time, pilot Li Chao of the J-16 was really outstanding, with a very high level of tactics. He didn't hesitate at all, directly pushed the control stick, making the aircraft almost vertically shoot up, and then performed a high-difficulty "barrel roll" maneuver - flying upside down over the heads of the enemy aircraft.

At that time, the distance between the two aircraft's canopy was only 10-15 meters, so close that Li Chao could clearly see the expression of the enemy pilot who was surprised.

This extreme maneuver allowed the J-16 to take up an attacking position, with two stable lock signals appearing on the fire control radar screen - meaning that if it entered actual combat, the two foreign stealth aircraft had no chance of escape.

Military experts said that the key reason why the J-16 can deal with stealth aircraft is that it is equipped with an active phased array radar.

This radar uses gallium nitride technology, with a power density three times higher than traditional gallium arsenide radars, allowing it to lock onto stealth targets at a distance of 150 kilometers.

Thirdly, let's talk about the power of the overall combat system: China's anti-stealth system has already shown good results.

China has established an integrated anti-stealth system covering the air, land, sea, and space, making the advantages of U.S. stealth aircraft disappear completely.

CCTV reported in detail on October 3, 2025, the powerful capabilities of China's integrated air, sea, and space combat system. Through this system, China has established a strong integrated offensive and defensive system that can cope with stealth aircraft and high-end weapons such as aircraft carriers.

The J-16's advantage stems from the overall combat system's superiority over a single aircraft. On the ground, meter-wave radars can penetrate the stealth aircraft's coating to capture signals; the active phased array radar on the KJ-500A can detect 360 degrees; satellite systems can track the flight path of targets for a long time.

Even if the F-35C uses electronic jamming to escape the lock, the J-16's electronic warfare equipment can immediately counter it, forming a complete operational chain of "once detected, locked; once locked, suppressed."

J-20's suppression: The nightmare of U.S. stealth aircraft.

Compared to the J-16's confrontation with non-stealth aircraft, the pressure brought by the J-20 to the U.S. is even greater.

CCTV's military channel "Lijian" program recently rarely publicly disclosed details of the East China Sea standoff. One day, a group of foreign aircraft suddenly changed their flight direction, rushing into our country's airspace.

The "Wang Hai Detachment" of the Eastern Theater Command's air force immediately dispatched several J-20 aircraft carrying real ammunition, taking off urgently to intercept these foreign aircraft. Both sides engaged in aerial combat, nearly colliding several times, competing for advantageous positions. The enemy aircraft tried to play tricks, adopting a "hard-to-detect" flight posture, planning to secretly conduct reconnaissance and infiltrate.

At this point, the J-16 pilot Li Chao was no nonsense, with extraordinary tactical ability. Without hesitation, he pushed the control stick, making the aircraft almost vertically shoot up, and then performed a cool "barrel roll" maneuver, instantly flying upside down over the heads of the enemy aircraft.

Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun's report almost revealed the mystery, citing Japanese government sources confirming that the Ministry of Defense has basically identified the "foreign aircraft" mentioned in CCTV's report as the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-35A fighter jet.

Early warning aircraft gap: The critical shortcoming in Sino-U.S. system confrontation

The gap in early warning aircraft development between China and the U.S. has become a fatal shortcoming in system confrontation.

The U.S. Air Force and Navy Aviation currently have about 100 early warning aircraft, including more than 20 E-3 series large early warning aircraft and more than 70 E-2 series carrier-based early warning aircraft.

However, the aging E-3 series urgently needs to be updated, with a serviceability rate of only 59%.

The E-10 series early warning aircraft project, once highly anticipated, failed in the 2010s, and subsequently launched E-7 series also stopped development due to various reasons.

This stagnation directly led the U.S. Air Force to urgently purchase seven E-2D carrier-based early warning aircraft in the 2026 fiscal year to fill the gap. In contrast, China is currently developing three types of early warning aircraft simultaneously: KJ-3000, KJ-700, and KJ-600, forming a relatively complete early warning aircraft system.

KJ-3000, based on the Y-20B, is said to have detection range and target tracking capability reaching world-leading levels.

Meanwhile, China's independently developed KJ-600 carrier-based early warning aircraft has also been publicly unveiled to meet the needs of the naval aviation forces.

Training and will: The difference in pilot quality.

In the East China Sea confrontation, the training level and combat will of Chinese pilots were significantly superior to those of the U.S. pilots. When pilot Li Chao recalled the scene of the J-16 and foreign stealth aircraft engaging, he said, "As long as we hold that position, everything will be safe and secure." Behind his words is the strict and hard training of Chinese Air Force pilots and their unwavering determination within their hearts.

In a CCTV program, our pilots said a powerful and blood-curdling statement - "We must have the spirit of 'fighting with bayonets in the sky,' which quickly went viral on foreign websites and topped the hot search list.

A foreign netizen commented, "Using the most advanced fifth-generation aircraft for face-to-face dogfights? This kind of determination to defend territorial airspace to the death, which enemy would not fear?"

In contrast, U.S. pilots have seriously insufficient training hours. Data shows that U.S. pilots' flight hours are only one-third of those of the Chinese Air Force, directly affecting their ability to respond in actual combat environments.

Facing the formidable strength of the Chinese Air Force, the U.S. military has had to re-evaluate its military deployment in the Western Pacific.

CCTV recently publicly released a piece of news that China's J-16 heavy fighter aircraft confronted the U.S. F-22 stealth fighter in the East China Sea and successfully drove away two F-22s. After this incident, the U.S. military noticeably restrained itself in this area, and provocative behavior greatly decreased.

In fact, there had been a confrontation in the East China Sea before, where the U.S. aircraft suffered a defeat in front of the J-20. Since then, the U.S. has increasingly lost confidence in the F-35. You see, in the U.S. military's 2026 fiscal year budget plan, the original procurement volume of the F-35 was 74 aircraft, but it was suddenly cut down to 47, especially the F-35A model, which was reduced from 48 to 24.

The U.S. Air Force's current F-22 fighter has been in service for 15 years, and its technical comprehensiveness is far inferior to that of the J-20. Due to its own technical defects, the F-22's cruising combat radius is less than half of that of the J-20.

If both planes fall into combat, the F-22 would lose in a prolonged battle. To compensate for the numerical disadvantage, the U.S. plans to develop an "autonomous collaborative aircraft" (CCA) drone swarm for 800 million dollars.

However, according to the actual situation on the battlefield in Ukraine, the survival probability of drones in such high-level air combat is less than 20%.

Additionally, there was a previous aerial confrontation in the East China Sea. At that time, the E-3 "Looking Glass" early warning aircraft provided support and assistance to the F-35A fighter. Unexpectedly, within the range where the early warning aircraft should have been able to detect the enemy aircraft, it never discovered the J-20 fighter.

This incident gave the U.S. a solid lesson, directly accelerating the speed of retiring the E-3 early warning aircraft.

Now, the Chinese Air Force is no longer just waiting to intercept, but actively preventing the enemy from approaching; it is no longer relying on a single aircraft to respond, but using multiple aircraft models working together to form a system to suppress the enemy. The skies over the East China Sea are no longer a place where U.S. stealth aircraft can show off their skills freely.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7558104688067887667/

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