500 J-20s and Counting: China's Stealth Fleet Overtakes the F-35A

Military Watch Magazine confirms it: the PLA Air Force's fifth-generation J-20 fighter fleet has now broken past 500 aircraft. Eighteen air force brigades have received the type. At roughly 28 jets per brigade, that puts the confirmed total at 504, with another 40 to 60 aircraft in training use.

J-20 is now the largest single-country fighter jet procurement since the Cold War.

New deliveries often surface in outside reporting only months or years after the fact. That means the real number could already sit closer to 600. Either way, the milestone carries weight globally. The J-20 has become the largest single-country military fighter procurement since the Cold War ended.

Put the numbers side by side and the picture sharpens fast. Since mass production began in 2011, the US Air Force has taken delivery of roughly 430 to 450 F-35As, the land-based variant that lines up most closely with the J-20's role. Count the F-35B and F-35C variants too, and Lockheed Martin's overall delivery total does grow larger.

But that comparison hides more than it reveals. The three F-35 variants share little beyond their avionics, and each runs on a separate production line. F-35 deliveries are also scattered across more than 20 countries. Judged at the level of a single air force, the F-35A has already been overtaken. The Chinese Air Force alone now fields more J-20s than the US Air Force has F-35As.

J-20 dominates the F-35A in both total orders and delivery speed.

Look at production trends and the gap only widens. J-20 annual deliveries are now estimated at 100 to 120 aircraft. F-35A annual deliveries, by contrast, have slipped to just 24 to 40, hobbled by technical problems and cost-control struggles. The only jet that can match the J-20's pace is its own stablemate, the J-16, which has likewise delivered close to 500 units.

The F-35 program's troubles run deeper than slow output. Its critical "Technology Refresh 3" upgrade has run into severe technical bottlenecks in recent years, and that has directly disrupted production and delivery pipelines. Some newly built F-35s have reached customers in an incomplete state. Specifically, certain jets left the factory without a full active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar or the complete suite of advanced sensors.

In other words, a considerable share of these supposedly fifth-generation stealth fighters have arrived at the US Air Force, the program's primary customer, functionally unfinished. For a considerable stretch after delivery, they cannot carry out the full combat missions their design specifies. Their initial role has been forced down a notch, in most cases limited to basic flight training or restricted system testing. That falls well short of the initial operational capability expected of a mature, fully equipped fifth-generation fighter.

F-35 upgrade delays are stalling deliveries across the entire production line.

None of that has ever happened on the J-20 production line. Every J-20 that rolls out comes fully equipped, complete avionics suite, complete AESA radar. Not one has ever shipped as a half-finished product.

Mature manufacturing means every jet ships complete, no missing parts.

The contrast is stark. One side delivers over a hundred complete aircraft a year. The other sees shrinking deliveries, with jets sometimes leaving the factory missing components. That gap in industrial capability and program management deserves more scrutiny than the raw headline numbers.

Why has J-20 production reached such heights?

Domestic engine production cleared the biggest bottleneck first. In 2020, the J-20 switched from the Russian-made AL-31FM2 to the domestically produced WS-10C, and output saw its first wave of expansion. In December 2025, the first batch of J-20As fitted with the WS-15 engine was confirmed in test flights, delivering clear gains in power generation, maintenance needs, range and flight performance. Once propulsion stopped depending on outside suppliers, the production line could run at full speed.

Domestic engine breakthroughs unlocked the J-20's production surge.

Cost control matters just as much. Analysis cited in the report notes that the J-20's operating cost runs comparable to the fourth-generation J-11. That stands in sharp contrast to the US military, where the F-22 was retired early over prohibitive operating costs and the F-35's per-flight-hour cost remains stubbornly high, driven further up by upgrade delays and rework.

If a fifth-generation fighter can run at fourth-generation cost, procurement scale can expand dramatically. The Y-20 transport tells a similar story. After switching to the WS-20 engine, its output accelerated too, with external analysis putting active service numbers above 100, closing in on the US military's fleet of 146 C-17As within just a few years. Domestic aero-engines are unlocking production on both the large-aircraft and fighter-jet fronts at once.

Lower maintenance and operating costs made mass deployment possible.

Role diversification adds a third driver. The J-20 is no longer just an air-superiority fighter. The twin-seat J-20S variant has already been unveiled, built to serve as an airborne command post and drone-control platform. A single J-20S can direct multiple GJ-11 stealth drones in coordinated operations, elevating the J-20 from an air-combat platform to an aerial combat node. That shift naturally drives demand higher.

New variants turned the J-20 from fighter jet into combat node.

A January report from the UK's Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) puts the number even higher. It estimates the Chinese Air Force will field roughly 1,000 J-20s by 2030. Set against the global picture, that figure is striking: the US Air Force's combined F-22 and F-35A fleet currently stands at only around 800.

The F-22 side of that fleet has long struggled with a mission-capable rate hovering below 60% due to maintenance issues, meaning perhaps fewer than 120 are truly ready for deployment at any given moment. The J-20 benefits from newer design standards and lower maintenance complexity. With its production line still climbing, the fleet's overall serviceability rate far outpaces the F-22's.

Training drills keep expanding the J-20's tactical role.

One more comparison stands out. At the current pace of 100 to 120 aircraft a year, the J-20 fleet could indeed surpass 1,000 around 2030. China's sixth-generation fighter is expected to enter service in the early 2030s, which means J-20 production may gradually shift toward the sixth-generation program once it peaks.

That "fifth-generation lays the groundwork, sixth-generation takes over" rhythm stands in sharp contrast to the production gap the US experienced between the F-22 and F-35. The F-22 line shut down back in 2009, and it took nearly a decade before the F-35 reached mass-delivery capability. Between the J-20 and China's sixth-generation fighter, the transition looks almost seamless.

Ten years ago, when the J-20 first took to the skies, outside observers were still asking whether it could even be built at scale. Ten years on, the answer speaks for itself: a fleet exceeding 500 aircraft, annual production above 100, and continuously refined A and S variants. China's aviation industry has made a leap over this decade that no slogan could capture as clearly.

The Art of Stopping War

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The smoking gun has just surfaced online. Screenshots circulating on the internet show a People's Liberation Army Attack-11 'Xuanlong' ('Mysterious Dragon') UAV firing a PL-15 medium-to-long-range air-to-air missile.

Attack-11 fires PL-15: stealth striker turned air combatant.

The Smoking Gun

Outside observers had already connected the dots. Judging from public models, airshow displays and related information, they had concluded that the Attack-11 can carry air-to-air missiles and perform air combat missions. These images, at minimum, corroborate that assessment at the evidentiary level.

The real significance runs deeper. The disclosure signals that the Attack-11's mission orientation is no longer limited to the traditional role of exploiting its own stealth for air-to-ground and anti-ship strikes. The drone is beginning to evolve into an air combat platform with manned-unmanned cooperative combat capability.

The Attack-11 UAV first stepped into public view at the 2019 National Day military parade. The AVIC 601 Institute developed the aircraft, and Hongdu Aviation Industry Group produces it.

The airframe is a pure tailless flying wing, with no conventional vertical stabilizer or horizontal tail. Stack on stealth coatings, internal weapons bays, stealthy intakes and treated engine exhaust nozzles, and the aircraft delivers superb infrared and radar stealth.

The spec sheet is compact but telling. According to relevant materials, the Attack-11 is 12.2 meters long and 2.7 meters high, with a wingspan of 14.4 meters. Its frontal radar cross-section measures less than 0.01 square meters. A single small turbofan engine drives the drone at high subsonic speed, out to a maximum range of 4,000 kilometers.

A frontal radar cross-section of less than 0.01 square meters means the aircraft shows up on an adversary's radar screen almost like a small bird or a faint patch of clutter. That amounts to extremely strong low observability.

Combine that with the favorable aerodynamics of the tailless flying wing, the Attack-11 can sustain a long cruise radius without ever engaging its afterburner. It can slip deep into an opponent's defense zones and remain hard to detect. That is the foundation for executing a wide range of high-risk missions.

Hidden bays carry air-to-ground or air-to-air — stealth preserved .

The Arsenal Inside: Internal Bays, Flexible Loadouts and the PL-15's Reach

The Attack-11 plays in a different league. Measured against the Attack-1, Attack-2 and Attack-3, unmanned attackers defined mainly by integrated reconnaissance and strike, it clearly belongs to a higher class of unmanned combat platform. Stealth lets it slip deep into an opponent's defenses for reconnaissance, precision ground strikes, suppression of enemy air defenses and anti-ship operations. Data links then tie it to manned fighters, letting it join air combat missions as their 'loyal wingman.'

The real firepower hides in its belly. Two internal weapons bays on the underside of the fuselage can be loaded with multiple types of weapons to match the Attack-11's multi-mission profile. Public information so far points to a strike and anti-ship loadout of six small-diameter precision-guided glide bombs plus one heavy precision-guided glide bomb, or eight medium precision-guided glide bombs. For air-to-air missions, each of the two internal bays carries a single PL-15 medium-to-long-range air-to-air missile.

The internal bays do double duty. They guarantee the munitions load while keeping externally mounted weapons from wrecking the stealth shape. That gives the Attack-11 a sound balance between firepower and stealth.

The missile itself deserves a closer look. The PL-15 medium-to-long-range air-to-air missile was developed and produced by China Airborne Missile Academy(CAMA). Public data describe a round 4 meters long, 203 millimeters in diameter and 210 kilograms in weight. It runs a dual-pulse solid rocket motor, reaches a maximum range of 200 to 300 kilometers, and carries a fragmentation warhead fitted with a radio proximity fuze.

The guidance system stacks layer upon layer. The missile applies a composite regime of 'inertial guidance plus BeiDou satellite guidance plus two-way data-link correction plus active radar terminal guidance.' Its active electronically scanned array radar seeker brings formidable detection and anti-jamming capability, a low probability of signal interception and a strong element of surprise. The dual-pulse motor design adds a second ignition in midcourse flight, stretching the PL-15's effective range. High terminal kinetic energy persists at medium-to-long distance, keeping the no-escape zone large.

Those specifications put it at the front of the pack. The technical benchmark ranks among the leaders in the international family of comparable air-to-air missiles. In overall performance it stands level with new-generation medium-range missiles such as the US-made AIM-120D, and some key parameters tilt further in its favor. That gives the Attack-11 a reliable munitions foundation for beyond-visual-range air combat.

One Fighter, Three Drones: Manned-Unmanned Teaming Goes Operational

In actual combat, the Attack-11 unmanned aerial vehicle carrying PL-15 medium-to-long-range air-to-air missiles teams up with advanced domestic two-seat fighters such as the J-20 and J-16 for manned-unmanned cooperative operations. CCTV's earlier public footage has already confirmed the arrangement.

CCTV's official briefing lays out the formula: one J-20 or J-16 fighter coordinates with three Attack-11 drones simultaneously in combat.

Teamed with stealth drones, fighters see farther, strike deeper.

The division of labor is sharp. The manned fighter handles battlefield situation assessment, mission authorization and core decision-making. The Attack-11 drones shoulder the high-risk work: firepower strikes, electronic support, decoying and reconnaissance.

That split frees the manned fighter from stacking every task onto its own platform. Datalinks pull the Attack-11 into a larger combat network, further widening the sensing range and firepower coverage of the friendly air combat system. The edge matters most against high-value airborne targets such as large enemy electronic warfare aircraft, transports, early warning planes and tankers.

With the Attack-11 scouting ahead and pushing firepower forward, manned jets can lock onto and strike enemy soft-spot targets at greater range. Valuable pilots no longer have to run major risks punching through an opponent's defenses.

Zoom out, and 'loyal wingman'-style manned-unmanned teaming is exactly the direction the world's major military powers are now exploring. The United States is advancing concepts that pair stealth drones such as the XQ-58A "Valkyrie" with manned fighters. Several European countries run similar cooperative combat programs.

China, by contrast, has taken the idea off the drawing board. CCTV's public footage, airshow displays and this live-fire launch screenshot show the country has pushed this form of operations from conceptual vision to actual application.

That leap reflects the overall progress of China's aviation industry across drone platforms, datalinks, sensors and munitions systems. It also signals that this combat system has reached considerable maturity.

The New Shape of Air Combat: From Manned Platforms to System Confrontation

So the real significance of this footage of a Attack-11 launching a PL-15 medium-to-long-range air-to-air missile is not the confirmation of a long-standing claim. The footage matters because it spotlights a shift in the very shape of the air force's future air combat.

In the past, the core of the air force's air combat still revolved around the contest for air superiority, with manned fighters at its heart.

In the future, the roles split. Manned fighters will command and decide, while drones take on tasks such as forward firepower strikes, electronic warfare, and reconnaissance. Multiple advanced unmanned combat aircraft can even join together into distributed operational nodes that support the manned fighters, boosting the air force's combat effectiveness.

This shift from 'manned platform at the center' to 'manned-plus-unmanned system confrontation' is likely to become an important direction in the evolution of the future air combat landscape.