EDITORIAL: China’s J-20S: How Beijing Is Undermining U.S. Air Superiority

When Quantity Becomes a Strategic Asset

While the United States relies on a handful of F-22s—fewer than 200 aircraft—and a fleet of F-35s still in development, China aims to have a fleet of 1,000 J-20s by the early 2030s. This massive fleet will be integrated into a layered defense system that includes surface-to-air missiles, satellites, and electronic warfare. The J-20S does not need to be superior to every F-22 in one-on-one combat. It simply needs to be good enough—and, above all, numerous enough—to overwhelm the enemy’s defenses. In a conflict scenario involving Taiwan, U.S. forces would find themselves facing a wall of steel: hundreds of stealth fighters, supported by drones, hypersonic missiles, and electronic warfare systems. Even with better-trained pilots and technically superior aircraft, the U.S. Air Force would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. And this is precisely where Beijing’s strategic genius lies: transforming a slight qualitative inferiority into overwhelming quantitative and systemic superiority.

We like to reassure ourselves by saying that our pilots are better, that our radars are more advanced, that our missiles are more accurate. But what good is having the best aircraft in the world if you don’t have enough of them? What good is having the best technology if the enemy overwhelms you with a barrage of drones and missiles? China has understood something we’ve forgotten: wars aren’t won with technological marvels, but with forces capable of adapting, overwhelming, and holding out. The J-20S embodies this philosophy. It isn’t perfect. It doesn’t need to be. It just needs to be good enough to make any U.S. intervention costly, risky, or even impossible. And that is a revolution.

A Warfare Systems Officer Changes the Game

The real game-changer for the J-20S is its second seat. Unlike Western two-seat variants, which are often limited to pilot training, the J-20S uses this second crew member as a capability multiplier. From the rear of the cockpit, the weapons systems officer (WSO) can control drones, manage electronic countermeasures, coordinate strikes, and analyze data in real time. This division of labor allows the pilot to focus on air combat, while the WSO optimizes network engagement. The result: an aircraft that is no longer just a launch platform, but a true tactical command center. This is a capability that neither the F-22 nor the F-35 can match today—and one that gives China a decisive advantage in contested environments, where information superiority makes the difference between victory and defeat.

Imagine for a moment: a swarm of drones launched from a J-20S, overwhelming the defenses of a U.S. aircraft carrier. Electronic decoys jamming radars. Hypersonic missiles striking from unpredictable angles. All of this coordinated in real time by a crew trained to exploit every flaw, every weakness. This isn’t science fiction. It’s Chinese doctrine. And while we’re still debating the usefulness of “loyal wingman” drones, Beijing is already deploying them. While we’re dithering over the future of our fighter jets, China is taking action. The J-20S isn’t a threat for tomorrow. It’s already a threat today.

The Strait: A Testing Ground for Future Air Warfare

If a conflict breaks out around Taiwan, the J-20S will be on the front lines. Its role? To neutralize American AWACS and refueling aircraft—the weak links that make any air operation possible. Without these “enablers,” the F-35s and F-22s would lose some of their effectiveness, forced to fight at close range without the support of detection and refueling systems. China designed the J-20S for precisely this scenario: to dominate Taiwan’s airspace from the very first hours of the conflict, pushing U.S. forces out of striking range. With missiles like the PL-21, capable of striking at ranges exceeding 300 km, the J-20S could engage U.S. fighters before they even reach the combat zone. This strategy would make any intervention costly, if not impossible, without overwhelming numerical superiority—a superiority that the United States can no longer guarantee.

Taiwan is not just an island. It is a test. A test to see whether America is still capable of imposing its will in the face of a determined, innovative power willing to do whatever it takes to prevail. The J-20S is the weapon that could tip the scales. And the most terrifying thing is that we have no clear response. No counterstrategy. Just the hope that our pilots, our technologies, and our alliances will hold their ground. But hope has never won a war. Only preparation, innovation, and determination can do that. Three things that, for now, China seems to have in abundance. And what about us?

Stealth, Engines, and Maintenance: Achilles’ Heels?

Of course, the J-20S is not invincible. Its stealth capabilities, while real, remain inferior to those of the F-22. Its WS-10C engines, though improved, do not yet allow it to achieve supercruise like the F-22. And its maintenance, in a protracted conflict, could become a logistical headache. But are these weaknesses enough to reverse the trend? Nothing could be less certain. Because China compensates for its shortcomings through seamless integration of its forces, massive production, and a doctrine tailored to its objectives: access denial. In response, the United States is banking on future technologies—the NGAD, collaborative drones—that won’t be ready for years. In the meantime, the J-20S reigns supreme in Asian skies.

We like to believe that our weaknesses are temporary, that we’ll catch up, that our enemies always have an Achilles’ heel. But what if, this time, we were the Achilles’ heel? What if our certainties, our arrogance, and our inability to face reality were our true weaknesses? The J-20S isn’t perfect. But it’s here. It’s operational. It’s redrawing the map of air power. And meanwhile, we continue to talk about superiority as if it were a given right. As if history hadn’t taught us that empires fall when they stop innovating.

NGAD and Drones: Insufficient Countermeasures

Faced with the threat of the J-20S, the United States is counting on the NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) program to restore the balance. But this sixth-generation fighter won’t be ready until the 2030s. In the meantime, the U.S. Air Force will have to make do with an aging fleet of F-22s and F-35s, facing an ever-growing and increasingly integrated fleet of J-20s. Loyal wingman drones, such as the XQ-58A Valkyrie, could offer a partial countermeasure, but their large-scale deployment will take years. Meanwhile, China continues to produce, deploy, and train. And with each passing day, the gap widens a little more—not technologically, but strategically. Because wars are not won with marvels, but with forces ready to fight.

I am no Cassandra. I do not believe in the inevitability of defeat. But I do believe in urgency. In the need to awaken our consciences, to challenge our certainties, to rethink our approach to air superiority. The J-20S is a wake-up call. A brutal reminder that the world has changed, that the rules of the game have been rewritten. And that if we do not respond—quickly, forcefully, and intelligently—we risk waking up one morning to discover that the skies no longer belong to us. That our aircraft carriers are vulnerable. That our allies are exposed. That our hegemony was nothing more than a parenthesis. A parenthesis that China is in the process of closing.

When the Balance of Power Shifts in the Pacific

The deployment of the J-20S isn’t just about Taiwan or South Korea. It sends a clear message to all U.S. allies in the region: the United States can no longer guarantee their protection as it once did. Japan, Australia, and the Philippines must now reckon with a China capable of projecting its air power far beyond its borders—a China that, thanks to the J-20S, can challenge U.S. forces’ access to critical areas, such as the South China Sea or the Indonesian straits. The result: a challenge to the regional order, an erosion of U.S. credibility, and a growing temptation for some countries to draw closer to Beijing. Because in a world where air superiority is no longer assured, alliances become fragile. And the balance of power, precarious.

The real question is not whether the J-20S is better than the F-22. It is what we are willing to do to maintain our place in the world. Are we prepared to invest heavily in our air forces? To rethink our doctrine? To accept that superiority isn’t decreed, but earned? Because if we don’t do it, others will do it in our place. And history does not forgive empires that rest on their laurels.

Toward a New Era of High-Tech Conflict

The J-20S marks the dawn of a new era: that of networked air warfare, where aircraft are no longer isolated platforms but nodes in an integrated system. An era where victory goes not to the best pilot, but to whoever best masters information, drones, and electronic warfare. An era where quantity matters as much as quality. Faced with this revolution, the United States has a choice to make: adapt or decline. Innovate or resign itself to defeat. The J-20S is a warning. A final call before the shift becomes irreversible.

I do not want to live in a world where China dominates the skies. Not because I am anti-Chinese. But because I believe in the balance of power, in the need for a counterweight to Beijing’s emerging hegemony. The J-20S reminds us that technology, determination, and strategy make all the difference. Three things we once had. Three things we risk losing. Unless we wake up. Unless we understand that air superiority is not an inheritance, but a daily conquest. A conquest that is being fought today. Not tomorrow. Today.

The J-20S has truly changed the game

The Chengdu J-20S is not just an airplane. It is a symbol. A symbol of a China that is no longer content to catch up with the West, but is surpassing it in critical areas. A symbol of an America that, for the first time in decades, must look up and ask itself: what if we are no longer the best? The answer to that question will determine the future of the Pacific, the credibility of American alliances, and perhaps even the world order. Because when the skies are no longer a sanctuary, anything becomes possible—including the unthinkable.

I don’t know if we’ll win this race. I only know that we have no choice. Because losing isn’t just about seeing our planes shot down. It’s about seeing our allies abandoned. Our values trampled upon. Our influence crumbling. The J-20S is more than a fighter jet. It’s a mirror. A mirror that reflects back an image we don’t want to see: that of a giant with feet of clay. So yes, the skies are still ours. But for how long? The answer depends on what we do today. Not tomorrow. Today.

Signed, Jacques Provost