US defense officials “don’t know, frankly, much” right now about the sophistication of China’s J-20 aircraft, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Wednesday. Accordingly, it’s too early to hail this platform as a major, foreboding advance in Chinese aircraft design, he cautioned reporters during a briefing. “The J-20 stories, frankly, that I’ve seen over the past couple weeks . . . have been a little over the top,” he said. He continued, “I would just urge everybody to slow down a little bit on [the] characterizations of the J-20 at this point, given what little we know of it.” For example, defense officials “don’t know” if it features “a fifth gen engine” or if it is “as stealthy as they claim it to be,” he said. Any notion that the J-20’s emergence caught US defense officials by surprise are “off base,” he noted. (Morrell transcript)
A semi-autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone shot down an air-to-air target in a Dec. 8 test supported by the U.S. Air Force, a notable milestone in the development of the loyal wingman-type drones that will join the fleets of the USAF, other American services, and allies and adversaries.
