• Staff Reporter
• 2012-12-24
• 08:54 (GMT+8)

The J-18 stealth fighter of the People's Liberation Army Air Force. (Internet Photo)

China has attracted the attention of the international defense community after developing a third stealth fighter with the capability of vertical take-off and landing, reports our Chinese-language sister newspaper Want Daily.

The J-18 would be the country's third stealth fighter prototype after the J20 and J-31, the latter of which completed its test flight on Oct. 31. The development of the J-18 was first reported by Tokyo-based Asahi Shimbun last year, which revealed that the plane had already completed its test flight at a secret base in Inner Mongolia.

Defense News, based in Washington DC, said this 4.5-generation fighter designed by China's Shenyang Aircraft Corporation is nicknamed "Red Eagle."

The development of the fighter was confirmed by Jane's International Defense Review earlier this month. According to the monthly magazine, the J-18 is mounted with two vector jet engines for horizontal thrust, though it is still unknown whether this new fighter adopts the lift style of the US F-35 or Russian Yak-141.

The range of the J-18 is estimated to be 2,200 kilometers with a speed of 2.5 Mach. Defense News described the J-18 as having super-stealth characteristics and is equipped with a laser active phased array radar.

Military website Asian Defense stated that the ability of the Chinese to design and produce its own 4.5-generation stealth fighter has changed Russia's attitude towards selling fourth generation fighters to China, and is why Russia eventually agreed to sell 48 Su-35 fighters to China with advanced 117S engines. A meeting was also called by the US Department of Defense last year to increase the number of F-22 and F-35 fighter jets in Asia to counter the threat of the China's new range of stealth fighters, the website added.

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20121224000026&cid=1101