Footage of the Communist Air Force’s J-20 fighter jet conducting flight training.
Communist J-20 stealth fighter
Taiwan has installed its own passive radar system to detect stealth fighters in Penghu, highlighting the growing threat of the Communist J-20.
However, a commentary in Forbes magazine points out that for now, the Communist Party’s stealth fighters are so small that even if a few are lost in combat, they could render the front-line fleet useless. That said, in case a conflict breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan could indeed defeat the Communist J-20s.
The twin-engine J-20 is the Communist Party’s first and only stealth fighter currently in service. So far Chengdu Aircraft Industry (Group) has delivered no more than 40 J-20s to the Chinese air force.
Andreas Rupprecht, a German expert specializing in the Chinese Air Force, noted that the 40 J-20s are deployed in three units, with the Air 9 Brigade in Wuhu being the only combat unit, while the 172nd Cangzhou Brigade in Hebei and the 176th Brigade in Dingxin, Gansu, are both Air Force flight test training units.
It is unclear exactly how many J-20s are deployed in each brigade, but if they are distributed evenly, there are about 13 or so of each. In other words, unless the Chinese Communist Air Force uses training facilities to maintain front-line strength, there will only be a dozen J-20s available in the event of actual combat. In addition, not all J-20s are ready to go on mission. Stealth fighters require intensive maintenance, and if the J-20 were as delicate as the USAF’s F-22, it would probably have a mission execution rate of only about 60 percent.
Taiwan has deployed anti-stealth passive radar system in Penghu – https://t.co/nSzBbPCBgG pic.twitter.com/RD2uxumnoo
- Alert 5 (@alert5) March 29, 2021
This means that the passive radar on Penghu, along with other Taiwanese anti-stealth systems, will face no more than eight J-20s at a time, and only four can be replaced immediately in the event of a loss. However, it is impossible to say with any certainty how many J-20s would have to be shot down by Taiwanese fighter pilots or air defense units before the Air 9 Brigade would become ineffective. However, history probably still provides a rough clue.
In 1945, the Mexican 201st Fighter Expeditionary Squadron and the U.S. Army Air Corps joined forces and fought side by side in the Pacific theater. It disintegrated, however, after losing 14 of its P-47s, or about half of its fighters. The allied forces did not bother to reorganize their fleet and attacked Japan directly.
Analysis shows that if Taiwan could shoot down or seriously damage half of the J-20s of the Communist Air Force’s Air 9 Brigade, it might be able to knock the Chinese stealth fighters out of the war. After all, if the Communists were to attack Taiwan, it is unlikely to drag on for more than a few weeks, and if they cannot take Taiwan as quickly as they would like, they simply will not have time to equip new squadrons of fighters.
However, the analysis stresses that these speculations could also change as the Communist Air Force receives more J-20s and the Anshan Air First Brigade is being equipped with J-20s.
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