China Deploys J-20 Stealth Fighters Near India’s LAC Amid Ongoing Tensions

Amid the ongoing military confrontation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between China and India from past five years. China has now deployed its most advanced J-20 stealth fighters at an airfield in Tibet's eastern sector, facing India. As per the reports Recent commercial satellite imagery reveals that the People’s Liberation Army-Air Force (PLAAF) has stationed six J-20 fighters at the Shigatse dual-use airport, located just 155 km from the LAC and near Doklam at the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction. This is in addition to the J-10 jets and a KJ-500 AEW&C (airborne early-warning and control) aircraft already based there.

All Source Analysis, which specializes in geospatial intelligence, in a post on "X", “Multiple (satellite) images collected over the course of the same day indicate these aircraft (J-20s) arrived at the air base on May 27, preceded by the arrival of a Y-20 transport aircraft for the probable deployment of ground crew and support equipment.” 

A senior Indian defense official told TOI that the twin-engine J-20 fighters are likely at Shigatse for high-altitude trials. The PLAAF has regularly deployed J-20s at its western sector airfields, such as Hotan in Xinjiang, around 240 km from the LAC, since the confrontation in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020, as earlier reported by TOI.

In response, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has stationed Sukhoi-30MKI fighters at Hasimara, Chabua, and Tezpur in the eastern sector. Additionally, a squadron of 18 French-origin Rafale omni-role jets is deployed at the Hasimara air base in West Bengal, with another squadron at Ambala for the western front with Pakistan.

China promotes the Chengdu J-20 as its answer to the world’s only fully operational fifth-generation jets, such as the American F/A-22 Raptors and F-35 Lightning-II Joint Strike Fighters. China’s continued efforts to build border infrastructure, strengthen military positions, and deploy additional aircraft at its air bases facing India, across the 3,488-km LAC from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.

Analysis of imagery collected over Shigatse Air Base in China shows the deployment of six likely J-20 stealth fighter aircraft near the Indian border. https://t.co/epfzHD3Daa#GEOINT#China#Shigatse#J20pic.twitter.com/hyijF3T1ao

— AllSource Analysis (@AllSourceA) May 29, 2024

China has sought to offset some of its air combat disadvantages due to high-altitude terrain constraints by deploying additional fighters, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, and drones. This has been facilitated by upgrading airfields like Hotan, Kashgar, Gargunsa, Shigatse, Bangda, Nyingchi, and Hoping. These upgrades include constructing new runways, extending older ones, and building new hardened shelters, fuel, and ammunition storage facilities.

At Hotan, for instance, the PLAAF recently deployed two new JH-7A fighter-bombers and three Y-20 heavy-lift aircraft, complementing the nearly 50 J-11 and J-7 fighters, five Y-8 and Y-7 transport aircraft, and KJ-500 AEW&C aircraft already stationed there.