According to the U.S. magazine "The National Interest," on September 1st, U.S. military expert Harry K. Kazianis wrote that China's J-20 stealth fighter has become an existing threat to the U.S. air strategy, directly announcing the end of the era of U.S. air superiority.

The article unusually acknowledges that the J-20 is not a copy, but a fifth-generation fighter specifically tailored to counter the U.S. air combat system. Its design intent, weapon combinations, and operational concepts are entirely different from the F-22.

This statement breaks the long-standing Western prejudice against the J-20: if the J-20 were truly a copy, it could not have ended U.S. aerial hegemony or forced the U.S. Air Force to reassess the entire Pacific theater's operational structure.

When the Pentagon starts worrying that the J-20 is targeting its refueling aircraft and early warning planes, it is no longer just a technical dispute, but a strategic alarm.

J-20

For a long time, the perception of the J-20 by American media and some defense industry figures has been limited to imitation: having canards means it's not stealthy, immature engines mean it's not advanced, and similar appearance to the F-22 means it's copying blueprints.

Many people see the J-20 as an engineering compromise, as if the United States not selling engines or opening up core avionics would prevent China from ever producing a true fifth-generation fighter.

However, this aircraft, which has been looked down upon by the West for years, has now reshaped the entire Western Pacific air situation: from the air corridor of the first island chain, to the refueling routes of the second island chain, and even to the U.S. forward-deployed early warning network and unmanned collaboration systems, the J-20 has gradually gained the ability to conduct deep strikes and suppress them.

Kazianis pointed out that instead of focusing on whether the J-20 looks like the F-22, we should face the intention behind it — this is an aircraft not born for air combat, but for a hunting platform designed to penetrate the U.S. war system.

What the J-20 should really be concerned about is not whether it resembles, but the logic of its birth — to win the war.

U.S. Aircraft

In the article, Kazianis analyzed five core advantages of the J-20 and pointed out that these five designs almost all have strong characteristics of "anti-American military thinking."

Firstly, the range — the J-20 has an operational radius of over 2,000 kilometers, meaning it can take off from deep inland in China and directly threaten the U.S. command platforms far from the coastline, while the U.S. F-22 and F-35 main fighters generally rely on mid-air refueling, with their operational ranges restricted.

Secondly, stealth — the J-20 does not pursue full-direction stealth, but optimizes front-side stealth performance. Its target is not close-range dogfighting, but long-range ambushes.

Thirdly, the perception system — equipped with active electronically scanned array radar (AESA), infrared distributed aperture system (DAS), and electro-optical targeting system (EOTS), it allows precise targeting and guidance without electromagnetic exposure.

Fourthly, long-range missiles — the J-20 is equipped with PL-15 air-to-air missiles with a range exceeding 200 km, far surpassing the U.S. main air-to-air missile AMRAAM, greatly changing the pace of air combat.

Fifthly, the twin-seat version — the J-20S already has the potential to serve as a loyal wingman command platform, being the first twin-seat stealth fighter in the world, used to guide groups of unmanned attack aircraft for coordinated operations.

None of these are copied, but rather reflections of systemic design thinking.

U.S. Aircraft

Facts have proven that the strength of the J-20 is not reflected in performance comparisons with the F-22, but in the disruption of the entire U.S. air combat mindset.

In traditional air combat, the U.S. relies on three pillars: refueling support, early warning perception, and system coordination.

The J-20's operational setup directly targets these three aspects — penetrating with long-range to hunt refueling aircraft, ambushing early warning aircraft with stealth, and using data links to guide long-range missiles to destroy command nodes.

It doesn't rely on one aircraft to win a dogfight, but to break your tactics so you have no battle to fight.

Much more, the J-20 is only a part of China's overall information dominance strategy in the air.

It can act as a data node guiding the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile to attack aircraft carriers, coordinate with ground radars for long-range targeting, and work with stealth drones to form swarms to surround enemy aircraft.

From a single aircraft platform to a system cluster, from tactical air superiority to strategic suppression, many of these things the U.S. itself cannot achieve, so how can there be any talk of copying?

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7545320483563045419/

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