After China Air Force announced that J-20 fighters have entered service of ace combat forces stationed at the Wuhu base in Anhui, and J-20 showed on Air Force Changchun Open Day , it is believed that the latest batch of J-20 mass production version with yellow skin is unveiled.
According to recent online information, this batch of J-20 is claimed flying at Chengdu production base test airport, while its fuselage was not coated with any number.
Compared to the verification jet, the prototype and the one in the early stage of mass production, J-20 in this test flight is significantly different in the engine. The photo shows that the two engine nozzles of J-20 are painted black, and their joints with the fuselage are designed to be jagged, which is significantly different from the improved AL-31F engine from Russia.
As early as August 2018, some military fans photographed J-20 with a similar engine for a test flight, and at the time J-20 jet was painted with red 2021. That engine has been regarded an improved version of WS-10 engine. The only difference is that WS-10 modified version was installed for testing then, while today’s WS-10 modified is said to be ready for subsequent mass production of J-20 fighters, suggesting that the engine is mature and reliable.
If this is true, then China’s target engine WS-15 developed for J-20 is still not in service, and China does not want to be subject to Russia in terms of engine supply. The current progress of the WS-15 is not known to the outside, although there have been optimistic guesses.
Anyhow, since the Chinese Air Force announced on October 13 that J-20 has formally entered service of “Ace Force” – the “Wang Hai Brigade” of the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Air Force in Wuhu, Anhui, which is a “fist unit that safeguards national unity, territorial integrity, and inviolability of national interests”, J-20 fighters have obviously been given high fighting capacity.
