The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has received the first J-20A 5th generation fighter jet.
Two J-20A spotted at Dingxin (Photo: Facebook / Modern Chinese Warplanes)
The Chinese J-20A 5th generation fighter jets have started to enter in service of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), the Modern Chinese Warplanes Facebook page reported. A photo of an aft body of the aircraft with a side number, testifying its identity to a particular unit of the Chinese Air Force, as well as a satellite image of the J-20A were also published on the Facebook page.
According to an author of the post, the fist J-20A aircraft has already entered in service of the 176th brigade of the PLAAF, which along with 170th, 171th, 172th and 175 brigades is a part of the training and testing center of the Chinese Air Force. Reportedly, other six J-20As will be handed over to the PLAAF in the middle of this month.
At the same time, there are no official reports about handing over the new fighter jet to the Chinese Armed Forces.
The J-20A is a heavy multifunctional fighter jet of the 5th generation. Development of the aircraft was started in 2002, the first prototype flew in 2011. Exact details about the fighter jet have not been reported, but, according to a number of suppositions, it is equipped with the Russian AL-31FN engines and, probably, with the AL-41F1S (117S) engine.
An aft body of the J-20A with a side number (Photo: m.hsbaodi.com)
Here’s a link for your better reference upon the 5th Gen Chengdu J-20 stealth jet fighter instead of just one facebook page :-)
http://defence.pk/threads/chengdu-j-20-5th-generation-aircraft-updates-discussions.111471/page-463
Chinese still haven’t mastered propulsion technology. It will take them a while to do that. That’s their weak point not like electronics.