Article Posted on : - Apr 20, 2011

The J-20 stealth fighter. A file photo

BEIJING (BNS): China has test flown its new J-20 stealth warplane for the second time within months.

The new fifth-generation radar evading fighter plane took to the skies from an airfield at Chengdu, in Sichuan province on Sunday, media reports said Tuesday citing photos of the latest test flight posted on various online military forums.

The second test flight lasted for over an hour.

“The J-20 made several passes and waggled its wings (rolling the plane first to one side then to the other) to salute the crowd near the airfield,” reported Global Times quoting an eye witness.

The new-generation warplane had undergone its maiden flight test on January 11 when US Defence Secretary Robert Gates was on an official visit to Beijing. The flight test was later confirmed by President Hu Jintao to the visiting defence official.

The first flight had lasted for around 20 minutes.

The new fighter jet, which resembles US's F-22 Raptor – world's only operational fifth-generation stealth fighter – but larger in size, possesses advanced supersonic cruise ability and powerful air mobility, according to Chinese military experts.

The Chinese plane would be optimally designed for fast, high-altitude interception using long-range missiles, as opposed to close-range dog fighting, they say.

The J-20 is set to undergo a battery of tests prior to being approved for use in the field, a process that usually lasts at least three years, according to the experts.