PLA Shows Off Its J-20 Stealth Fighter As Chinese, Russian Troops Hold War Games

China on Monday dispatched its advanced J-20 stealth fighters for the first time as it began a joint five-day military drill with Russia in the Northwest region of the country.

Besides the fighter plane, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) also deployed many of its newest weapons, including the Y-20 large transport planes, during the exercise, the first since the COVID-19 outbreak, reported The South China Morning Post.

Over 10,000 troops will take part in the Zapad/Interaction-2021 exercise held at the Ningxia Hui autonomous region where innovative combat tactics like emergency troop and heavy weapon drops, long-range strikes by J-16 fighter bombers, and the use of drones, will be displayed.

Liu Xiaowu, commander-in-chief of the Chinese troops, told state broadcaster CCTV that 81% of weapons being used in the drill were “brand new."

"That includes the J-20 [stealth fighter jet], KJ-500 [airborne early-warning and control aircraft], and J-16, while surveillance and combat drones and new armored vehicles will also [be involved],” he said.

The J-20 is considered the most advanced fighter jet in the country's arsenal with advanced long-range strike capability with sophisticated artificial intelligence capability.

This is the first time the PLA has sent the J-20 in joint drills with another country. "The appearance of the fighter planes in the drills shows that the military cooperation, exchange, and mutual trust between China and Russia have reached a very high level, since the J-20 is one of China's most advanced hardware," Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert, told the state-backed Chinese news outlet Global Times.

Meanwhile, analysts see China's deployment of advanced weapons as a warning not to cross the Chinese border to extremist forces.

Zhou Chenming, a researcher from the Yuan Wang military science and technology institute in Beijing, told The South China Morning Post that the "high-profile deployment of new-generation J-20 and Y-20 aircraft and other sophisticated weapons, and the scale of the joint exercise, also aims to deter extremist and terrorist forces in Central Asia."

According to the Global Times, the PLA will also deploy artillery, including the country's latest 155mm-caliber self-propelled howitzers, 122mm-caliber multiple rocket launcher systems, and 120mm-caliber self-propelled mortars. Thousands of artillery shells will also be launched in the exercises.

The PLA and Russian military would test out new combat tactics and weapons in the drill, including saturated firepower attacks, and surprise airborne and swarming drone assaults, said the report by The South China Morning Post.