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First footage of China's fifth generation fighter

TASS publishes first video footage of China's J-20 fifth generation fighter that was shown to the visitors of Airshow China 2016
First footage of China's fifth generation fighter
© TASS/Ruptly

MOSCOW, November 1. /TASS/. China's J-20 fifth generation fighter has been showcased at Airshow China 2016.

The warplane performed its first test flight in 2011 and it's expected to become operational within the Chinese Armed Forces in 2017-2019.

The Chinese Chengdu J-20 “Mighty Dragon” is a fighter jet referred to the fourth generation under China’s classification and the fifth generation under the Western category system. 

Some media sources have reported that Russian-made AL-31FN engines are mounted on the J-20 and the Chinese Army has purchased decommissioned engines of this type in large numbers.

Most of J-20 performance characteristics are kept in secret. The fighter jet features a large number of elements similar to or fully copied from the Russian-made Mikoyan MiG 1.44 technology demonstrator plane and the US F-22 and F-35 fifth-generation fighter aircraft.

The aircraft has a canard configuration: it features a pair of ventral fins and the closely spaced engines (similar to the MiG 1.44), while the canopy and the nose are identical to the same elements on the F-22 aircraft.

The air inlets are arranged similar to the air intakes on the F-22 plane. The J-20 has an all-moving vertical stabilizer and the geometry similar to the F-35 fighter jet’s fin.