The recordWhat this system is, where it comes from, who operates it and which of Vigil’s modules it is relevant to — with the evidence each of those rests on.
Record
Conflict relevance
This is the catalogue's single record for this system. It is relevant to the module below; each module's Force Atlas shows how it is used there.
Battlefield role
Air superiority and long-range interception, with reported emphasis on engaging support and enabling aircraft at range.
Strengths
Low-observable design, long range and modern sensors, produced in numbers that have grown steadily. Its existence and production rate are the clearest single indicator of Chinese aerospace industrial capability.
Limitations
Combat performance is entirely untested. Engine development has historically been the programme's constraint, and open-source assessments of its actual capability vary very widely — reflecting genuine uncertainty rather than analytical disagreement. Vigil publishes no inventory figures, basing or deployment information, and treats confident capability claims from any direction with caution.
Campaign relevance
Derived: a participant organisation in these campaigns carries a typed equipment association with this system. That is not the same as documented use of the system in the campaign itself.
- Sustained pressure below the threshold Intensifying since 2020
via PLA Air Force (Documented, high confidence)
Branch & service operators
- PLA Air Force Documented
Assessed as of2026-07Last reviewed2026-07-20