SCMP: American stealth fighter

According to a source military news belong to SCMPThe encounters between the two countries’ fighter jets reflect the level of tension in the US-China relationship.

Earlier, the commander of the US Pacific Air Force – General Kenneth Wilsbach said that recently, the country’s F-35 stealth fighters had at least one encounter with the Chinese J-20 stealth fighter. Country in the East China Sea.

General Wilsbach also revealed that the US side was surprised by the appearance of the J-20 in the region.

General Wilsbach did not mention when the encounter took place, but SCMP sources said the encounters occurred more frequently from the second half of 2020, when tensions escalated between Beijing and Washington in the days the last term of former President Donald Trump.

SCMP’s source said: “Beijing sent KJ-500 electronic reconnaissance aircraft and multiple J-20 aircraft to conduct long-range patrols in the East China Sea in March 2020, when the Chinese military raised its war alert level. fight to prevent the US side from organizing surprise attacks during the pandemic COVID-19 rife”.

However, the Pentagon later denied speculation about this risk. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley called his Chinese counterpart Li Zuocheng twice in October 2020 and January 2021 to clear doubts between the two sides.

In an online discussion with military aviation experts – posted on the Youtube channel of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Research, Mr. Wilsbach highlighted the US Air Force’s observation of the “air superiority” of the aircraft. J-20 in encounters.

Talking about this issue, General Wilsbach said: “It is too early to say exactly what they plan to do with the J-20, whether it will be like the F-35 or not… as it is an air superiority fighter with ground attack capabilities. .”

General Wilsbach also emphasized “important role” of China’s KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft, with “long-range reconnaissance capability”.

Also follow SCMP, The Command of the Eastern Military Region of China started to staff the J-20 from July 2019. And the Chinese Air Force has now commissioned more than 50 J-20s, since this fighter line was put into mass production from 2020.

However, according to General Wilsbach, the US Air Force still holds deterrence power and air superiority in the Asia-Pacific because the Pentagon has deployed more than 200 F-35s to the region.

Zhou Chenming, a research fellow at the Yuan Wang military consultancy in Beijing, said that General Wilsbach’s observations of the J-20 and KJ-500 planes showed that the US Air Force had encountered Chinese fighter jets. National many times.

Mr. Zhou said: “The important role in the joint operation of the J-20 and KJ-500 aircraft is to prevent the US Air Force from accessing the East China Sea.” in the event of a Taiwan-related tension.