Chinese State Media Claims New Stealth Fighter Proved It Can Sneak Attack Taiwan
Philip Lenczycki on January 18, 2023
Communist China’s newest stealth fighter eluded detection by Taiwanese military radar during a recent aerial skirmish against undisclosed foreign aircraft, Chinese state-run media reported late Tuesday night.
Two J-20 fighter jets from the Wang Hai Group of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) allegedly intercepted and “expelled” two foreign aircraft at an undisclosed location recently during an “emergency” mission, Chinese state-run media outlet Global Times reported. Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense, which publishes daily bulletins tracking PLA flight paths around Taiwan, failed to report the J-20 stealth fighters, according to Global Times.
“The J-20’s stealth capability is its biggest advantage. It means that the enemy radar can see nothing, but we can already launch attacks,” pilot Wei Xin told CCTV.
Brandon Weichert, a U.S. Air Force consultant, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that it is “entirely believable” that Taiwan was unable to detect the J-20, claiming that the U.S. military is also unable to detect China’s new warplane.
“It’s something that the Air Force has been trying to work on for the better part of a year and it hasn’t overcome the deficit due to budgetary constraints,” Weichert said. “It operates the E-3 spy plane, which is completely obsolete when compared to the suite of capabilities the Chinese have in the J-20.”
“The Australians do have the E-7 which can detect the J-20, but the U.S. Air Force has not resourced getting this capability sufficiently enough and the regional allies cannot meet the increased demand,” Weichert told the DCNF. “So, it’s a huge and ongoing gap that China will exploit at every opportunity.”
The J-20 was first officially unveiled in August 2021, according to Zhejiang Daily News, and sports a “low-observable” design which allegedly allows the aircraft to “bypass radar and electronic countermeasures with low to zero visibility,” the Washington, D.C., think tank, Center for Strategic and International Studies, has reported.
Beijing’s new J-20 stealth fighter reportedly flew undetected by Taiwanese radar during an interception of foreign aircraft in January 2023. [YouTube/Screenshot/SouthChinaMorningPost]
In an alleged recent nighttime aerial encounter involving foreign aircraft of an undisclosed nation facing off against J-20’s cousin, the J-16 fighter jet, the PLA warplane reportedly also demonstrated stealth capabilities by “shutting off all active electronic devices and flying low” to sneak up behind the foreign aircraft, Global Times reported.
J-16 fighter jets have increasingly been involved in a series of engagements with Western air forces, according to multiple sources. For example, a J-16 allegedly intercepted an Australian P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft in June 2022 and discharged metal shards into the P-8’s engine, Australia’s defense minister, Richard Marles, said at the time.
A spokesman for United States Indo-Pacific Command, which is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, declined to comment on “intelligence matters” and referred the DCNF to the 2022 Department of Defense (DOD) report concerning China’s “military and security developments.”
The Chinese Embassy and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office did not respond immediately to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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