Yesterday (11/01) it was 10 years since the Chinese stealth fighter Chengdu J-20 made its first flight. The fighter that today is part of the few 5th generation fighters in the world has undergone some modifications over time, and others may happen in the future, all this so that the vector has successes in its useful life.
During these 10 years the J-20 fighters had their engines modified. The Russian AL-31 turbofan engines came out and the Chinese WS-10C engines were used in the J-10A fighter. This version has some differences to the engines used in the Chengdu J-10C fighter, a single-engine aircraft.
It is not known how many J-20 fighters are already flying today, but according to the The Drive website, there are about 50 units. It was still announced that possibly production is 48 units per year, however, it is not known if this number has been reached.
After these 10 years of the J-20, the future of the Chinese fighter tends to be promising, because China has invested a lot in the war sector. One of the factors that is linked to a possible two-seat J-20 fighter, as we can see in the video.
However, the video is not a guarantee that a two-seat J-20 will be manufactured, even because the information related to China is not very detailed.
If that happens, it would be a differential to the other 5th generation fighters that fly today, such as the North American F-22 Raptor and F-35, as well as the Russian SU-57 that are single-seat. A 5th generation fighter with dual-purpose capability would have a different use, for example as a training platform.
More recently the J-20 fighters have been seen close to the border with India, this was precisely at a time when the two countries were in great tension.
This action by China in sending the new J-20 fighters to a region of tension can be seen as a big Chinese bet on the stealth fighter.
