The “Chengdu-Shenyang competition” was a hot topic among military enthusiasts back then, especially during the “Ninth Five-Year Plan” period. After the confirmation of the J-10 project, China initiated the deliberation on the development plan for the next-generation fighter and invited top domestic institutions to participate in the discussion. At that time, the situation in China was such that Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, relying on the production of the J-7 fighter and the development of the J-10 project, made significant breakthroughs in academic capability, future direction understanding, and innovation.
Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, on the other hand, was continuously exploring the potential of the J-8 fighter and had a strong preference for the Su-27 fighter due to its early exposure. It can be said that both sides had their own advantages, especially Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, which directly benefited from the ready-made results of the Su-27, while the J-10 project of Chengdu Aircraft Corporation was not highly regarded by all parties at that time. The selection of the next-generation fighter became the first formal competition between Chengdu Aircraft Corporation and Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.
By the time the development work officially commenced, it was already the “Tenth Five-Year Plan” period. At that time, the J-10 fighter had already achieved results, and the Chinese government and society began to take notice of Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, especially when the J-10 fighter was equipped with the first domestically produced high-performance airborne phased-array fire control radar, which was much better than the Su-27’s “inverted Cassagrande” antenna. Moreover, in terms of aerodynamic layout design and overall innovation, the J-10 fighter seemed to embody a “Western flavor,” which greatly pleased the military. Furthermore, after the maiden flight of the J-10, Chengdu Aircraft Corporation had already been brewing more advanced improvement technologies, such as DSI (divergent-strut inlet) intake, differential thrust vectoring, and flight control program coding, far ahead of Shenyang Aircraft Corporation’s “chewing” of the Su-27.
In the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period, the fifth-generation fighter program was officially launched. After Chengdu Aircraft Corporation accumulated profound research and development expertise through the development of the J-10 and the joint development of the “JF-17 Thunder” fighter with Pakistan, it launched the J-20 fighter. Shenyang Aircraft Corporation’s competing project was a three-wing layout fighter with a strong Su-27 and Su-30 style.
During the deliberations, there was intense back-and-forth between the two sides. With the dominance of the Su-27 and Su-30 in the domestic heavy fighter field, whether the J-20, as China’s first heavy fighter development project, had enough experience was a cause of concern for many. At that time, Shenyang Aircraft Corporation temporarily had the upper hand and almost managed to defeat the J-20 fighter. However, under the scrutiny of a highly talented leader (presumably former Chinese President Jiang Zemin), the Air Force decisively abandoned Shenyang Aircraft Corporation’s project and instead entrusted Chengdu Aircraft Corporation with the development of the fifth-generation fighter. It can be said that if not for this leader’s decisive action, the course of the nation might have been drastically different at that time.
This is said because at that time, China’s national strength only allowed for the development of one fifth-generation fighter. Choosing wrongly would have led to the same mistake as present-day America, where the military-industrial complex suffers a setback. From the perspective of future generations, China’s aviation enterprises and resources have now been integrated, and internal technology sharing has eliminated the so-called “North-South competition.”
However, it still needs to be emphasized that the choice of the J-20 was indeed correct. Once Shenyang Aircraft Corporation’s project passed, for us, it would most likely have been a “domestic Su-57,” and its stealth capability would definitely not have been comparable to the F-22 and F-35. Additionally, the national research and development capabilities would have been similarly “neutered.”