China has a heavy fighter force, and it is getting heavier. The bulk of Chinese fighter acquisition funding is pouring into production lines for large, long-range aircraft that suit western Pacific distances. But the air force and naval aviation branch fighter fleets are badly fragmented, and no fewer than five major designs are currently in production for them. They are the Avic Chengdu J-10C and J-20A and the Avic Shenyang J-11, J-15 and J-16; the first two are fully indigenous, and the others are developments of the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker. Evidence points to upcoming advances in the form of new J-10 and J-20 versions and, for the navy, an operational development of the Shenyang FC-31 fighter demonstrator. Although China is a great enthusiast for the long-legged Flanker, there is little sign of it working on future versions-yet the possibility of their appearance cannot be ruled out.
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