Four J-20 fighter jets fly in formation at Airshow China 2022 on Friday to celebrate the 73rd birthday of the PLA Air Force. Photo: Cui Meng/GT

China’s most advanced J-20 fighter jet reportedly flew with a pair of newly developed engines for the first time recently, attracting news coverage from overseas media outlets, some of which claimed that with the latest update, the Chinese stealth aircraft has caught up with and surpassed its US counterparts.

 

A J-20 stealth fighter jet recently made its first flight while being equipped with a pair of domestically developed WS-15 engines, taiwan.cn, a news website affiliated with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, reported on Monday, citing media on the island of Taiwan.

 

With the new engines, the J-20 would receive a significant boost in thrust, allowing it to basically surpass its US counterpart, the report quoted a former external affairs official on the island of Taiwan as saying.

 

These reports came after US media outlets including thedrive.com on Thursday first covered the flight in late June, citing unverified pictures and videos circulated on social media, which allegedly showed a J-20 taking off from a test airfield in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, with two WS-15 engines instead of the previous WS-10 engines.

 

Neither the Chinese military nor the aircraft’s developer has confirmed the event to the general public as of press time.

 

The first J-20s were powered by Russian AL-31 engines, later at Airshow China 2021, J-20s equipped with domestically developed WS-10 engines delivered public flight performances, marking the mass production of J-20s with this type of engines.

 

It has been long expected that the J-20 would eventually convert to engines of a next generation, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Monday.

 

When equipped, the engines are expected to provide a larger thrust, leading to longer range, faster speed and super-cruise capability among many tactical advantages, the expert said.

 

Wang Ya'nan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times that China used to trail leading countries like the US in terms of aircraft engine technologies by decades, but it is catching up fast.

 

More powerful engines with vector thrust control and variable cycle engines are also likely under development, Wang said.