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| Senior US Air Force Official Reveals Facts of F-35's First Clash with J-20 in the East China Sea |
International Military - F-35 is a fighter aircraft belonging to the United States (US). Where the F-35 fighter aircraft is a manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Then quoting from Defense Security Asia, a senior US Air Force official acknowledged that the fifth and most modern F-35 fighter plane had crashed. Where a US F-35 fighter plane collided with a Chinese fighter plane.
A US F-35 fighter plane collided once with China's most modern fighter, the J-20. According to sources, the J-20 fighter, often called the Mighty Dragon, collided with a US F-35 fighter in the East China Sea. This marked the first clash between two advanced fighter jets from two rival nations, the US and China.
The acknowledgment of the collision of the two countries' advanced aircraft was conveyed by the Commander of the US Pacific Forces, US Air Force General Kenneth Wilsbach in a discussion at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies recently. "It's too early to say what exactly China wants to do with the J-20, what we can observe is that it is a superiority aircraft.
"What we can observe is that he is flying well. Recently, we had a collision where we (F-35) were flying close to a J-20 in the East China Sea and we were relatively interested in the control and command of the J-20 aircraft. ," he said.
The US Air Force general also said that it was too early to decide what China actually wanted to do with its J-20 aircraft. "We see the planes flown professionally but it's too early to decide what they want to do with the J-20, whether it's like the F-35 capable of multiple missions or more to the F-22 which is more of an air superiority aircraft with air to land capability. ," said the US Air Force general.
Then, he also talked about China's AEW&C aircraft, the Shaanxi KJ-500, which is the third generation AEW&C aircraft used by the Chinese Air Force and developed by Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation.
"The KJ-500 AEW&C aircraft play a critical role in the J-20's ability to launch long-range attacks." "Among their long range missiles (J-20 and other Chinese warplanes) such as the PL-15 which is said to have a range of more than 107 Nautical Miles (200km) assisted by the KJ-500 aircraft."
"Being able to interrupt the connection between the J-20 and the KJ-500 was something that caught my eye," Wilsbach said. Wilsbach's statement probably meant that the KJ-500 aircraft identified and assigned a target to the J-20 aircraft to be destroyed by the PL-15 missile.
The Chinese military is now increasing production of its fifth generation aircraft, the J-20 Mighty Dragon as soon as the stealth aircraft are equipped with the locally produced WS-10C engine. The WS-10C engine is said to be on par with and no better than the Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 engine used by the F-22 Raptor.
Before using the local WS-10C engine made by local company Shenyang Liming Aircraft Engine Company, the J-20 used the Russian-made Saturn AL-31F engine. Military observers in China proudly claim that the WS-10C engine called Taihang has the same capabilities as the engine used by the US stealth aircraft, the F-22 Raptor.
The J-20 Mighty Dragon was developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Group Co Ltd under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. Recently, there were reports saying that China began deploying J-20 aircraft to its southern jurisdiction which includes the South China Sea, after the production of the aircraft was increased when equipped with locally made engines.
At this point, international military observers estimate that between 50 and 60 J-20 aircraft are already in service with the Chinese Air Force. It is said that China's J-20 fighter has installed locally made engines meaning its production is expected to increase even more.