Chinese j 20 a formidable foe?

 

J 20 a formidable foe, a threat to IAF?

Chinese J 20 or mighty dragon is a controversial 5th gen fighter, we call it controversial as unlike the American 5th gen fighter philosophy which believe is all aspect stealth & prioritise the LO or low observability, Chinese stealth design is limited to frontal section stealth & certain key elements in design like use of CANARDS show that Chinese philosophy is not of pure stealth. Like the Russians with their su 57, Chinese also seem to have traded stealth for different performance aspects. It seems it is not a true 5th gen fighter which can be compared to f22 or f 35.

That being said , it still is first Asian fifth gen fighter. Thanks to the soviet support, Chinese heavy r&d investment and their eat cheat steal tactics, Chinese have achieved a design which even if not the best is still functional. Does this mean Chinese j20 is a "GAME CHANGER" & will destroy IAF in an engagement?

No, as i did my "RAFALE A GAME HANGER?" post where i explained why RAFALE be it the most advanced aircraft in asia is still not a GAME CHANGER because of factors the same applies to j 20 as well. J20 is yet not a perfect machine and has a slew of problems, the biggest issue i am sure is the Chinese inability to make the engines, also the stealth coating or RAM is yet very doubtful & we dont have any evidence of its performance. The engine is surely underpowered & chinese will take more than a decade to master the engine technology still.

Now coming to the weapons package, it uses a variety of chinese a2a missiles and bombs, even if we believe its electronic are on par with other western russian fighters, one area chinese are still unproven is their weapon systems. The missile performance  by Chinese are highly exaggerated.

3rd major problem is numbers, just like rafale chinese j 20 are not in adequate numbers to make a clear dent. 

The ability of China to use its airforce numbers against India is yet very limited. The advantage they hold is that they can produce fighters & replace their losses which is one luxury India doesnt have.

So all in all Chinese are a threat to India for sure but J 20 is not yet ready.

- HITESH ADHIKARI