PLA says J-20 tracking foreign military aircraft in East China Sea ADIZ

Beijing has acknowledged at least one sortie by a Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter into China's ADIZ to identify and track foreign military aircraft. China's ADIZ is controversial as it overlaps the ADIZs of other neighbouring countries, especially Japan. (Janes)

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has announced that it has dispatched a Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter into China's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) to ‘track' foreign military aircraft. This includes potential stealth aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.

The PLA Daily announced on 15 August that a PLA Air Force pilot, Yang Chunlei, had flown a J-20 into the ADIZ in July. This is the first tacit acknowledgement by Beijing that it is conducting J-20s sorties into the ADIZ with the purpose of monitoring military aircraft from other countries. The Chinese state-owned website, China Daily, suggested that the J-20 is being used to detectLockheed Martin F-35s operated by the United States, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), and the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) in the region.

“It means that the J-20 is fully capable of searching and identifying the stealth fighter planes of other countries. This means that the J-20, China's fifth-generation stealth fighter, has demonstrated very good performance, signalling that China has further strengthened its comprehensive defensive capabilities,” the website said on 15 August.

The website also mentioned that the J-20 is equipped with airborne active phased array radar (APAR) that has a longer range of detection. According to Janes, the J-20 is possibly equipped with a Type 1475/KLJ-5 100 kW APAR. This radar is manufactured by China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC).

According to the China Daily