PLAAF J-20 pilot allegedly scored 17:0 in training exercise

The PLAAF announced in 2019 that the 9th Air Brigade assigned to the 3rd Air Division had become the first service unit to be equipped with the new J-20 stealth fighter.

According to several media outlets, Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) pilot flying a J-20 Mighty Dragon stealth fighter from 9th Air Brigade at Wuhu scored 17:0 in aerial victories against opponents during a training exercise.

The Global Times says: ‘Facing interceptions from multiple directions, Chen Xinhao, a young pilot attached to the Wang Hai Air Group under the PLA Eastern Theater Command, coordinated with his teammate and took down 17 opposing fighter jets with no damage taken, despite being heavily outnumbered, the PLA Daily reported on Monday.’

The PLA Daily said that, Chen had only recently switched to flying this new type of warplane and had just flown with it for 100 hours.

Although the PLA Daily report did not specify what fighter jet Chen was flying during the drill, Xi’an-based defense magazine Ordnance Industry Science Technology also said on Sep. 14, 2020 that Chen very likely used the J-20. “Even though the PLA Daily used an illustration of Su-30MKKs in the report, given the capability of this kind of fighter jet, it cannot win this kind of landslide victory,” it said. 

The PLAAF announced in 2019 that the 9th Air Brigade assigned to the 3rd Air Division had become the first service unit to be equipped with the new J-20 stealth fighter and released the first videos J-20s conducting real-combat scenario exercises.

The Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon is a single-seat, twinjet, all-weather, fifth-generation fighter aircraft developed by China’s Chengdu Aerospace Corporation for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The J-20 is designed as fighter with precision strike capability; it descends from the J-XX program of the 1990s.

The J-20 made its maiden flight on Jan. 11, 2011, and was officially revealed at the 2016 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition. The aircraft was in military service by March 2017, with the aircraft officially entering combat training phase in September 2017.

Photo credit: emperornie via Wikipedia