The US Marine Corps did not mince words when deploying F-35s to Japan, saying that the "arrival of the F-35B embodies our commitment to the defense of Japan and the regional security of the Pacific."
Tensions among the US, US allies, and China have been
for years as China builds artificial islands and outfits them with radar outposts and missile launchers in the South China Sea, home to a shipping corridor that sees $5 trillion in trade annually.
One area where the US and China have indirectly competed has been in combat aviation.
In November, China
, a large, stealthy jet that some have compared to the F-22 Raptor. But according to experts, the J-20 is not a fighter, not a dogfighter, not stealthy, and not at all like the F-22 or F-35.
, a senior analyst at the
, told Business Insider that the J-20 is a "fundamentally different sort of aircraft than the F-35."
Davis characterized the J-20 as "high-speed, long-range, not quite as stealthy (as US fifth-gen aircraft), but [the Chinese] clearly don't see that as important." According to Davis, the J-20 is "not a fighter, but an interceptor and a strike aircraft" that doesn't seek to contend with US jets in air-to-air battles.
Instead, "the Chinese are recognizing they can attack critical airborne support systems like AWACS (airborne early warning and control systems) and refueling planes so they can't do their job," Davis said. "If you can force the tankers back, then the F-35s and other platforms aren't sufficient because they can't reach their target."
Without tanker planes to refuel, US jets like the F-35 have a severely limited range. Cpl. Brian Burdett/US Marine Corps
Retired US Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula gave a similar assessment of the J-20 to
in November.
"The J-20, in particular, is different than the F-22 in the context that, if you take a look and analyze the design, it may have some significant low-observable capabilities on the front end, but not all aspects — nor is it built as a dogfighter," Deptula said. "But quite frankly, the biggest concern is its design to carry long-range weapons."
What the J-20 lacks in stealth and dogfighting ability it makes up for by focusing on a single, comparatively soft type of target. Unlike the US, which has fielded extremely stealthy aircraft, China lacks the experience to create a plane that baffles radars from all angles.
A senior scientist at Lockheed Martin told Business Insider that the Chinese made serious missteps when trying to integrate stealth into the J-20.
"It's apparent from looking at many pictures of the aircraft that the designers don't fully understand all the concepts of LO design," the scientist said, referring to low-observable, or stealth, design.
Instead, the J-20's design makes for a plane that's somewhat stealthy from the front angle, as it uses its long range and long-range missiles to fly far out and hit tankers and radar planes that support platforms like the F-35 or F-22.
"They're moving into an era where they're designing aircraft not just as an evolution of what they used to have, but they're going into a new space," Deptula said of China's J-20 concept.
This is one of the more popular images of the J-20, but it's a digital rendering.
However, the J-20 may still be a long way off.
In November,
, a research fellow specializing in combat airpower at the
, told Business Insider that the models displayed at Airshow China were
.
"It's possible that the aircraft that were shown are still instrumented production aircraft," or planes with "loads of sensors to monitor performance" instead of in a combat-ready formation, he said.
Former F-35 and F-22 pilot
also questioned China's progress in an interview with Business Insider, saying "it's really, really, really hard to make an effective nose-to-tail platform in the fifth gen."
Far from feeling threatened by the J-20, Berke seemed vindicated that the US's potential adversaries have worked so hard to counter emerging US capabilities like the F-35.
"If the things we were doing [with the F-35 and F-22] weren't relevant, effective, the competition wouldn't be worried about trying to match it," Berke said.
