China debuts scale model of J-20S, world’s 1st two-seat 5th generation fighter jet at Airshow in Zhuhai

China unveiled a scale model of two-seat variant of the J-20 stealth fighter jet, the J-20S, at the exhibition hall of Airshow China 2024, which will be held in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province from November 12 to 17.

Military expert Zhang Xuefeng told the Global Times on Sunday that the J-20S has potential as a command aircraft for coordinating loyal wingman drones.

A scale model of the J-20S has been put on display at the exhibition hall of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). The J-20S is the first two-seat fifth-generation fighter jet made known to the world.

The J-20S is a new generation, medium-to-long range, two-seat heavy multirole stealth fighter jet developed independently by China. It is equipped for medium-to-long range air superiority missions and precision strikes on land and maritime targets, the Global Times learned from the AVIC at the airshow.

Developed from the J-20, the J-20S has enhanced capabilities in terms of situational awareness, electronic disruption as well as tactical command and control. It can carry out manned and unmanned collaborative combat, the Global Times learned.

Previous generations of fighter jets have seen precedence in which single-seat versions developed into two-seat variants, and this was because two-seat warplanes enable senior pilots to train new pilots on the same aircraft, allowing a second pilot to manage complex operations such as radar detection and missile attack, Zhang said.

When it comes to fifth-generation fighter jets, which have rich information and network systems, automatic data processing systems and AI technologies, adding a second pilot to command other aircraft offers significant tactical advantages, Zhang said, noting that the additional pilot could contribute to the command and collaboration between the manned fighter jet and loyal wingman drones.

For example, some loyal wingman drones could act as external sensors for the fighter jet, others could function as weapon launch platforms, Zhang said.

China has displayed loyal wingman drones such as the FH-97A at the Airshow China 2022.

The loyal wingman drone is not only a sensor, but also an ammunition depot, and an intelligent assistant for pilots. It can extend a pilot's situational awareness and scope of attack, and by using the drones in large numbers, each drone serves as an intelligent node in the air combat network, obtain local combat information, and filter and integrate to form a wider battlefield situation, assist pilots to make decisions, and liberate people from dangerous and highly tense combat environments, so that in addition to being traditional pilots, the pilots can become more of commanders of a flight formation, the drone's developer told the Global Times at that time.