China shows off J-20 jet’s missiles

SHANGHAI: China has shown the missiles in its advanced J-20 stealth fighter jet to the public for the first time at its largest airshow, the Global Times newspaper reported on Monday.

Two J-20 fighter jets opened their missile bay doors during a flypast on Monday, revealing that each jet had four missiles in its fuselage and one on either side of the aircraft.

Citing Chinese experts, the newspaper said the demonstration, which came on the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Air Force, displayed the J-20’s superiority to the top US fighter jets, the F-22 and F-35, as well as the PLA’S growing confidence.

It also quoted military expert Song Zhongping as saying the four missiles in the J-20’s fuselage were long-range air-to-air missiles, while the two on the sides were short-range combat missiles meant for aerial combat.

At the airshow, China also demonstrated a new laser defence weapon system which could intercept many kinds of aerial targets such as drones, guided bombs and mortars.

The system, demonstrated at the air show in the southern Guangdong province’s Zhuhai city, could be easily deployed on the Tibetan plateau bordering India and at the islands in the disputed South China Sea, Global Times reported.

The vehicle-based LW-30 laser defence weapon system was developed by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.