Chengdu J-20 six years away from service

摘要

China's Chengdu J-20 fighter could enter operational service by early 2018 and join a rapidly improving military also to soon be equipped with its first aircraft carrier, the US Department of Defense says in its annual assessment of Beijing's defence capabilities. Noting that the J-20 remains in a prototype phase, the DoD's acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia David Helvey says Washington would "like to be able to continue to monitor it, to understand exactly what China may intend to use it for".