Maiden test flight claimed for Chinese stealth fighter
11 Jan 2011
Beijing: Only a few days after images were released claiming runway taxi tests for a Chinese prototype stealth fighter, fresh reports now claim that this prototype, dubbed the J-20, has made its maiden test flight. The flight has been sweetly timed to coincide with the visit of the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, to China.
In the past, even as he was clamping down on an out-of-control F-22 Raptor stealth fighter programme, Gates had downplayed Chinese capabilities in this area.
According to eyewitness accounts posted by Chinese bloggers, the J-20 took off from an airstrip at the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute just before 1 pm local time and flew for about 20 minutes.
Chinese website Huanqiu.com and others carried images Tuesday of what they said was the first flight of China's J-20 stealth fighter.
Photographs of the twin-engine plane in flight appeared on several unofficial Chinese defence-related websites.
Accounts of Tuesday's flight couldn't immediately be directly verified as China's defence ministry, air force and the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute, as per previous practise, all declined to comment.
