The number of J-20 fighters will exceed 300 in five years, which will be equipped with WS-15 engines, making their performance surpass F-22, according to Professor Jin Canrong, deputy dean of the School of International Relations of Renmin University of China, on May 31.
Professor Jin Canrong also has a “special identity” – He is ridiculed as the political commissar of the Strategic Fooyou Agency (SFA), a legendary and unproven institution, mainly used to spread false military statements to the West. The director of SFA is rumored to be Rear Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong, who suddenly disappeared from public view in September last year.
While Zhang Zhaozhong is a military expert, Jin Canrong is an international relations scholar. Jin graduated from Fudan University with a major in international politics. His main research fields are the American political system and political culture, American diplomacy, Sino-US relations and major power relations, Chinese diplomacy, and strategy.
Jin Canrong describes himself as a “veteran military fan”. In his speech on May 31, Jin mentioned that the Chinese military’s modernization has achieved major results, eliminating the generation gap with the US military, and the focus of the next five years is to increase numbers of advanced weapons.
Jin Canrong said that in the past 20 years, China’s military equipment has made extraordinary achievements. The only shortcoming is that the number of equipment is not enough. “Our country’s weapons and equipment have no generational gap with the United States, and the systematicity has been solved, but the quantity is not enough, and there will be large-scale replacements in the next five years.”
He revealed that the Chinese Air Force currently has nearly 200 J-8 jets and more than 300 J-7s. “I believe that in the next five years, all of these aircraft will be replaced with J-20, J-16, J-10C, and possibly FC-31. At this time, the China military’s combat effectiveness will increase by leaps and bounds!”
A report issued by the American Research Institute in early April stated that the satellite photos taken in early April showed that the Chinese Air Force had already received the second brigade of J-20 stealth fighter jets, and it is speculated that there are currently about 100 J-20 stealth fighters in China.
According to the production capacity of Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, another 200 J-20s are expected to be equipped to the Chinese air force within five years, and an average of about 50 of them will be produced each year in the next five years, reaching a total of 300 fighters, which is basically consistent with Jin Canrong’s view.
In the face of the suppression of 500 fifth-generation aircraft in the surrounding areas, in the future, the demand for J-20 of China will be about 400 to 500, and it takes about ten years in total to produce them.
As for the engine, a J-20 fighter with WS-10 “Taihang” engines was unveiled earlier this year. Prior to this, J-20 fighters had been using Russian-made AL-31F series aero engines.
It is reported that the WS-15 engine has entered the flight test stage. It is speculated that the life of the WS-15 engine is nearly 8500 hours, the maximum thrust is expected to reach more than 90 kN, and the maximum afterburner thrust can reach 150 kN, which is at the same level as the F-119 on the F-22, the world’s first five-generation aircraft, and is the guarantee for J-20 to achieve supersonic cruise and super-conventional maneuvering.
It’s also reported that Jin Canrong once publicly disclosed the DF-17 hypersonic missile, which was later displayed at the National Day parade in 2019.