中國在周二開幕的該國最大規模的飛機制造商和買家聚會上，首次公開展示了其成都殲-20隱形戰斗機，展示其軍事實力。

在南方城市珠海舉行的中國航展，為北京提供了一個展示其在民用航空領域的雄心及凸顯其國防抱負的機會。中國有望在未來十年內超越美國成為世界上最大的航空市場。

作為珠海航展的最大亮點，兩架殲-20飛機飛掠過齊聚在航展開幕式上的貴賓和數百名觀眾及行業高管的上空，整個表演持續的時間幾乎未超過一分鐘，帶來震耳欲聾的轟鳴聲，激起一片驚呼聲、掌聲并觸發了現場停車場的汽車警報聲。

專家表示，中國一直在改進殲-20的設計，以縮小與美國的軍事技術差距。該機型最早于2010年被飛機觀察者發現。隨著中國在亞洲，尤其是在南中國海和東海采取更加強硬的立場，習近平主席一直敦促軍方加強武裝力量。

“這顯然是中國戰斗力的一大進步。”《航空周刊》（Aviation Week）資深中國觀察家白廣原表示。

這是繼2014年殲-31首次亮相后，中國連續第二次在兩年一度的珠海航展上展示新型隱形戰機。

答案未揭曉

兩架殲-20一起低空飛抵后，其中一架迅速消失在地平線上，而另一架則留下表演了一系列轉彎，并在亞熱帶明亮的天際下，向觀眾展示了它的三角翼。

但分析師稱，這場簡短且相對謹慎的殲-20例行表演——飛行員未打開武器艙門，亦未進行低速掠飛——并未給出多少答案。

“我認為我們所獲信息甚少。我們了解到聲音很大，但不知道其使用的是什么類型的發動機，對其機動性也了解不多。”《飛行國際》（Flight global）的亞洲主編格雷格·沃爾德倫說。 “最重要的是，我們沒有了解到太多關于它的雷達截面的信息。

一個關鍵的問題是，該新型中國戰斗機是否能與洛克希德·馬丁公司的F-22猛禽制空戰斗機或者F-35的隱身性能相媲美。為美國空軍開發的F-22猛禽戰機是與殲-20最為相似的機型。但是，其他人士表示，僅僅展示這種新開發的飛機本身就是一個能說明問題的信號。

悉尼洛伊研究所（Lowy Institute）高級研究員山姆·家雅各布說：“中國展示殲20本身就表現出了極大信心和自豪感。”

目前尚不清楚殲-20在飛行表演后是否會或如何在航展上展出。

根據官方計劃，將與最新式的中國武器系統、雷達和無人機一同展示的飛機包括西安運-20戰略運輸機，以及AG600——航展組織者稱其為目前在產的最大水陸兩棲飛機。

該水上飛機在官方宣傳中被稱為滅火或搜救飛機。但分析人士指出，AG600合用于在爭議地區提供軍事前哨。AG600首次亮相就是在海牙法庭7月針對中國對南中國海部分地區的權利主張作出不利裁決的10日后。

值得注意的是，中國商飛公司研制的150座級客機C919并未參加航展。該機型旨在與主宰著全球大型客機的供應的歐洲的空中客車集團和美國的波音公司競爭。目前，姍姍來遲的C919已經比原計劃推遲了三年。

中國商飛公司在展會上表示，中國東方航空將是C919的首家客戶，并且該機型已經斬獲23架新訂單，使總訂單數達到了570架。C919可能在今年晚些時候或2017年初進行首次試飛。（財富中文網）

翻譯：Charlie

審校：詹妮

China showed its Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter in public for the first time on Tuesday, opening the country’s biggest meeting of aircraft makers and buyers with a show of its military clout.

Airshow China, in the southern city of Zhuhai, offers Beijing an opportunity to demonstrate its ambitions in civil aerospace and to underline its defense ambitions. China is set to overtake the U.S. as the world’s top aviation market in the next decade.

Two J-20 jets, Zhuhai’s headline act, swept over dignitaries and hundreds of spectators and industry executives gathered at the show’s opening ceremony in a flypast that barely exceeded a minute, generating a deafening roar that was met with gasps and applause and set off car alarms in a parking lot at the site.

Experts say China has been refining designs for the J-20, first glimpsed by planespotters in 2010, in the hope of narrowing a military technology gap with the United States. President Xi Jinping has pushed to toughen the armed forces as China takes a more assertive stance in Asia, particularly in the South China and East China seas.

“It is clearly a big step forward in Chinese combat capability,” said Bradley Perrett of Aviation Week, a veteran China watcher.

It was China’s second successive display of a new stealth jet at the biennial Zhuhai show, following the 2014 debut of the J-31.

QUESTIONS UNANSWERED

After arriving as a pair at low-level, one of the J-20s quickly disappeared over the horizon, leaving the other to perform a series of turns, revealing its delta wing shape against bright sub-tropical haze.

But analysts said the brief and relatively cautious J-20 routine – the pilots did not open weapon bay doors, or perform low-speed passes – answered few questions.

“I think we learned very little. We learned it is very loud. But we can’t tell what type of engine it has, or very much about the mobility,” said Greg Waldron, Asia Managing Editor of FlightGlobal. “Most importantly, we didn’t learn much about its radar cross-section.”

A key question whether the new Chinese fighter can match the radar-evading properties of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor air-to-air combat jet, or the latest strike jet in the U.S. arsenal, Lockheed’s F-35. The F-22 Raptor, developed for the U.S. Air Force, is the J-20’s closest lookalike.But the mere display of such a newly developed aircraft was a revealing signal, others said.

“It’s a change of tactics for the Chinese to publicly show off weapons that aren’t in full squadron service yet,” said Sam Roggeveen, a senior fellow at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, “and demonstrates a lot of confidence in the capability, and also a lot of pride.”

It remained unclear whether or how the J-20 would be displayed at the airshow after the flypast.

Aircraft that are officially scheduled to be on display alongside the latest Chinese weapon systems, radar and drones include the Xian Y-20 strategic airlifter, and what organisers say is the largest amphibious plane now in production – the AG600.

The flying boat is officially promoted as a fire-fighting or search and rescue plane. But analysts note the AG600 – first unveiled 10 days after a Hague tribunal ruled against China’s claim to parts of the South China Sea in July – is well suited to resupplying military outposts in the disputed area.

Notably absent from the airshow schedule is the 150-seater COMAC C919 passenger jet. Designed to compete with Europe’s AirbusGroup and of the United States, the rivals who dominate the global supply of airliners, the much-delayed C919 is now running three years behind original plans.

COMAC said at the show that China Eastern Airlines will be the launch customer for the C919, which may take its first test flight later this year or early 2017, and that it had clinched 23 new orders for its C919, taking total orders to 570.