Combat aircraft

reportedly with regular detachments for

weapons testing with the FTTC at Dingxin.

These trials have so far included external

loads tests with four large drop tanks

and, reportedly,  rings of both the new

PL-15 AAM and the short-range PL-10.

Other tests included a deployment to the

civil airport at Daocheng-Yading in mid-

September 2016 for high-altitude testing.

After the surprise appearance of ‘2101’

many had expected a steady  ow of

additional LRIP machines. However,

from February until early July nothing

appeared; nearly all news on the  ghter

dried up. There were a few uncon rmed

reports and rumors of new aircraft rolling

o the line, but no hard facts were posted.

The reason was likely CAC’s decision

to build a high wall around its outer

perimeter to keep the spotters out.

Things changed slightly in mid-June

2016, when at least four LRIP J-20As were

spotted at Chengdu. According to reports,

two of these LRIP aircraft were still in

yellow primer and regularly maintained

outside Factory 132 in Chengdu, even

being seen with their radomes removed.

The other two aircraft sported a new low-

visibility gray scheme with toned-down

national markings — a  rst for a Chinese

 ghter. A blurred image con rming these

reports appeared on July 1, reportedly

taken during some sort of celebration

at CAC. Since that date was the 95th

anniversary of the founding day of the

Communist Party of China (CPC), a new

 urry of rumors began. In the following

weeks several CCTV reports discussed

the J-20 program. They even noted the

new markings and hinted at weapons

tests, including PL-15 launches. All these

reports were interpreted as a prelude of

something interesting to come.

As such, 2016 was extremely successful

for CAC. If available reports are correct,

at least seven LRIP J-20As were

manufactured by year-end, four of which

are still at Chengdu. Interestingly, while

117S from Saturn (UMPO or NPO Saturn)

and the AL-31FM1/-2/-3 from Salut (or

Salyut) have competed to provide an

upgraded and further developed version

of the original engine for the Su-35, the

Su-57 and for export. In the end, Saturn

won the chance to provide engines for

domestic use on the Su-35 and the Su-57.

It was perhaps a logical decision that the

losing engine contender would become

an export-oriented product. Furthermore,

CAC was already an established customer.

A new, specially tailored engine based on

the M2 and  nanced by China may well be

the J-20’s powerplant. It seems plausible

that CAC chose a similar approach for the

J-20 as it had for the J-10, especially since

Salut was always its preferred supplier of

engines for the J-10A (AL-31FN) and the

later J-10B/C (AL-31FN Series 3).

In terms of thrust, data provided for the

regular FM2 suggests a  gure of around

142kN, or roughly the same as the 117S

used in the Su-35.

Recent milestones

Following the maiden  ight of prototype

‘2016’ on September 18, 2015 and the  nal

prototype ‘2017’ only a few weeks later

on November 24, the year ended with

another milestone, when the  rst LRIP (or

batch 00) aircraft — numbered ‘2101’ —

appeared in late December. It  ew for the

 rst time on January 18, 2016.

In the meantime a lot has happened but

not much has been made public. With the

arrival of new LRIP aircraft, all previous

prototypes (‘2011’, ‘2012’, ‘2013’, ‘2015’,

‘2016’ and ‘2017’) were transferred to the

CFTE at Xi’an-Yanliang for further tests,

Above: The  nal

J-20 prototype,

numbered

‘2017’, made its

maiden  ight

on November

24, 2015. This

aircraft features

a cockpit canopy

subtly di erent

from those of

its immediate

predecessors.

Below: The  rst

LRIP (or batch

00) aircraft —

numbered ‘2101’

— completed its

maiden  ight

on January 18,

2016.

J20 | FIGHTER FOCUS

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