During the visit of United States President Barack Obama for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, China flaunted its new and sophisticated stealth fighter aircraft at the Zhuhai airshow. In the course of the airshow, the Chinese Defense companies and the People's Liberation Army unveiled its latest armed forces weaponry.
In the ongoing International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, China conducted the first demonstration flight of its new indigenously manufactured fourth-generation stealth fighter jet. According to Airforce-Technology, the J-31 is the second domestically-built aircraft after the J-20 and has design features and equipment comparable to those of the US F-35 Lightning II joint strike after.
Zhuhai airshow's J-31 stealth fighter jet was developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), which is China's top aircraft maker, and domestically built by Shenyang Aircraft. The new fighter plane made its debut at the biannual international airshow.
The flight demonstration of the J-31 stealth fighter jet makes China the second nation after the United States to have two fighter aircraft designs in field testing at the same time. As reported by the South China Morning Post, the solo fly-past at the Zhuhai airshow also marked the sixty-fifth founding anniversary of China's air force.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has been pushing to boost China's 2.3 million-strong armed forces. The fighter jet's demonstration underscored China's rising military strength in Asia. Meanwhile, ABC News AU reported the nation's top aircraft maker, AVIC, has refused to comment about orders for the aircraft.
"We were told not to do any promotion for the plane," AVIC spokesperson Fu Mingyao said with no further elaboration.
In a US Department of Defense report about China's military developments this year, the Pentagon said the stealth fighter aircraft is vital for China's air force to evolve from a mostly territorial armed forces to developing the ability to launch both offensive and defensive operations.
A retired US Air Force Lieutenant General Tom McInerney said that China's stealth fighter jet will not match the US strike fighters in performance but stressed that its successors will and should be a concern as China has become a looming economic and military power.
Experts have also said the development of Zhuhai airshow's stealth aircraft enable China to better project its power as it takes on a more assertive stance in the East China and South China seas.
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