BEIJING, Jan. 11 -- January 11th marked the 10th anniversary of the maiden flight of China's J-20, a domestically-developed stealth fighter jet nicknamed "Black Ribbon" by military fans.
Here are important events of the aircraft:
At 1:11 pm, Jan. 11, 2011, a black-painted J-20 fighter jet took off from an airport in Chengdu, Southwest China and made its successful maiden flight.
At 10:20 am, Nov. 1, 2016, two J-20 fighter jets made their first public flight demonstration at the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition.
On July 30, 2017, three J-20s in a wedge formation flew over the parade field in the Zhurihe military training base in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at the military parade to celebrate the 90th founding anniversary of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It was the first time for the J-20 fighter jet to appear with combat-readiness posture in public occasions.
On February, 2018, a spokesperson of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) announced J-20s started to serve in the air force's combat units, an important step towards forming full combat capability.
On Oct. 1, 2019, five J-20s in a wedge formation streaked across the sky in a military parade to celebrate the 70th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China in Beijing.
By 2035, J-20s will surely be the best in the back bones of the PLAAF’s family of fighter jets, and will get further developed to be more advanced, according to Yang Wei, chief designer of J-20.
