The long rumored two seater J-20 stealth fighter, the J-20S, has finally made its debut. On October 27th, a video circulating on the Chinese internet showed that the J-20S had already started its slide. There are also reports that the J-20S has completed its maiden flight.

On October 28th, according to the news from the comprehensive network, the video and pictures released by Weibo's "Flying Military Iron Vest" show that the J-20S is covered in yellow primer and the cockpit of the aircraft adopts a serial design; The radar cover is not obvious, it seems that there is no radar installed; The nose of the aircraft has an airspeed tube that collects flight data. Overall, except for the difference in the fuselage, there is not much difference between other parts and the J-20.

AVIC previously disclosed the existence of the J-20S for the first time in a promotional video, and high-definition promotional posters of the J-20S also appeared at this year's Zhuhai Air Show. This J-20S can be described as an informal debut, which has attracted high attention from the public opinion.

Due to the use of domestically produced WS-10 improved engines in the J-20, there has been no revolutionary breakthrough in performance. Therefore, the range and flight performance of the J-20S may not be as good as the J-20, and the development purpose of the J-20S is likely not to participate in air combat.

Recently, Russia, Britain, and France have been deploying stealth fighter jets in a combination of manned and unmanned modes. For example, although the Su-57's service progress and performance are not as good as the J-20, it is quite aggressive in combining stealth drone operations (S-70 Hunter). Even India recently released a video of its SWiFT stealth drone scaled down validation aircraft taxiing.

The appearance of the J-20S this time is believed by the outside world that China's actions in coordinating "manned+unmanned" stealth aircraft for combat are intense, indicating that the Chinese Air Force is about to enter the physical verification stage in this regard.

Speculation suggests that according to the status of the J-20S, the combination of the J-20S and the Attack-11 stealth unmanned aerial vehicle may appear in the Air Force sequence for as little as two or three years, and as much as five or six years.

Another point is that the J-20S can be said to be the world's first and currently the only two seater stealth fighter. The US military had planned to switch to a two seater fighter based on the F-22, but due to various reasons, it was not feasible.

Source: Guoke Huanyu