From MiG clones to 5th-generation stealth: China’s combat aircraft fleet explored
September 21, 2025
China’s combat aircraft fleet tells the story of a superpower in transformation. Once reliant on Soviet hand-me-downs and licence-built MiG copies, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and Navy Air Force (PLANAF) now field the world’s second-largest collection of fifth-generation fighters, with more on the way.
This rapid shift highlights not only Beijing’s determination to modernise, but also the pace at which Chinese aerospace technology has caught up with (and in some areas surpassed) Russia, its former mentor.
China’s massive air force is in rapid transition
According to FlightGlobal’s World Air Forces Directory 2025 review of world air forces, China has the third-largest military fleet with 3,309 aircraft in service, representing around 6% of the world’s total.
This places it behind Russia’s 4,292 military aircraft and the United States’ 13,043. According to the directory, the US has 25% of the world’s military aircraft.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force (PLANAF) are rapidly modernising. As China retires its J-5 fighter jets (a MiG-21 Fishbed derivative), it also boasts the second-largest fleet of 5th-generation fighter jets in the world. China is also second only to the United States in developing stealthy, tailless, next-generation fighter jets.
A close-up of the naval J-35, a CATOBAR-capable stealth fighter now entering service with the Chinese Navy. Reports suggest it can carry up to six ultra-long-range PL-15 AAMs, with folded rear fins, in its internal bay. pic.twitter.com/WIQq171ls6
— Air Power (@RealAirPower1) September 13, 2025
FlightGlobal lists China as having overtaken Russia with total combat aircraft, with 1,583 in service compared with Russia’s 1,522 and the US’s 2,679.
One area where China is exceptionally weak for its size is tanker aircraft. Whereas the United States is listed as having 605 tankers (75% of the world’s total), China has only 10 or 1% of the total. Other estimates suggest China has 35 tanker aircraft in service.
China’s obsolete fighter jets
As an air force in transition, China’s air force still has old and out-of-date fighter jets. FlightGlobal estimates China has around 560 Chengdu J-7 Fishcans and Shenyang J-8 Finbacks in service, besides any used for training. These include 30 J-7s and 47 J-8s with the Navy and 387 J-7s and 96 J-8s with the Air Force.
The J-8 is a family of interceptors first conceived in the early 1960s by enlarging the Soviet MiG-21F. Due to China’s troubles during the Cultural Revolution, the type did not enter service until 1980. The MiG-21 was produced locally in China as the Chengdu J-7.
Russia never really operated these old aircraft after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, while India finally retired the last of them in 2025. China continued to produce derivatives of the MiG-21 until 2013, when Bangladesh received its final J-7s from China. China may have continued to receive trainer variants until 2017.
China has an estimated 118 old Nanchang Q-5s in service. This is a 1960s design ground attack aircraft based on the Shenyang J-9, which is inturn based on the 1950s-era MiG-19.
This is JJ-7. The trainer version of the J-7 family. The newest one was delivered to the PLAAF in 2017. This was after J-20 formally entered service. pic.twitter.com/JNnnImRkeY
— SomePLAOSINT (@someplaosint) September 16, 2025
While the fundamental airframe of these jets is very old, it should be noted that China has constantly upgraded them, and so they are not comparable with their Cold War counterparts. Even so, China would be unlikely to use them in frontline roles and is working to replace them.
China’s Su-27 Flanker family derivatives
Russian Su-27 Flankers and its derivatives make up a large proportion of China’s tactical aviation fleet. China placed its final order for Russian fighter jets in 2015 when it ordered 24 Sukhoi Su-35 jets. These were fully delivered in 2019.
That Flanker order will likely be the last time China purchases Russian fighter jets. China is now able to produce its own domestic fighter jet engine, including for the J-15T carrier-based Flanker variant. The J-15T had been a holdout for previously more powerful Russian engines.
China’s fighter jet technology is leapfroging Russia’s, and it’s generally considered that its latest Flanker variants are more capable than their latest Russian Flanker variant counterparts.
The Chinese air force is estimated to have 319 Flankers in service, including Russian/Soviet Su-27/30/35 and China’s Shenyang J-11 and J-16 derivatives. The Navy has around 46 Flankers in service, with some being its more capable J-15T carrier-based variant.
While China has developed its home-grown J-16 multirole fighter jet and 5th-generation J-20 stealth fighter, it continues to produce J-11s and J-16s in large numbers.
China’s home-grown 4th-generation fighter jets
China’s domestically produced Chengdu J-10 Vigorous Dragon medium-weight multirole fighter jet is the flagship of the Pakistani Air Force, and may have been ordered by Egypt.
The delta-wing aircraft superficially resembles an American F-16 Fighting Falcon with canards. While a multirole fighter, it is mostly designed for the air-to-air role. According to a 2008 article by Jane’s, its development was aided by Israeli tech sold after the cancellation of the Israeli IAI Lavi fighter in 1986, although that has never been proven.
The Chinese air force is estimated to have around 243 J-10s in service, while the navy has around 25 examples.
China has at least 100 and as many as 200 domestically-designed Xi’an JH-7 fighter-bombers in service. The type first entered service in 1994 and was built to replace the ageing Nanchang Q-5 ground attack aircraft.
China’s advanced 5th-generation fighter jets
The advanced, stealthy, and long-ranged J-20 Mighty Dragon is the flagship fighter jet of the Chinese air force. The aircraft has been designed for the air-to-air role, seemingly with the stealth and range that would allow it to threaten F-35 and F-22 enablers like tankers and radar aeroplanes.
Estimating the number of jets China has is somewhat difficult due to Chinese secrecy, although China is known to be producing them at a prodigious rate. FlightGlobal’s 2025 estimate lists China as having only 19 examples in service.
This seems like a massive undercount, with other estimates putting the figure at over 230 examples. The Aviationist claimed in September 2025 that China is now ‘confirmed’ to have 300 in service based on a serial number seen at the Changchun Air Show.
The 300th J-20, Sr. No. 63106, has entered Chinese service 🙌 The stealth fighter was recently spotted arriving at the Changchun Air Show 2025, highlighting Beijing’s expanding 5th-gen fleet. pic.twitter.com/Nit70Bubij
— Air Power (@RealAirPower1) September 14, 2025
China’s second 5th-generation fighter jet, the J-35A, was officially unveiled in late 2024 and is now believed to be in serial production. It is unclear if the PLAAF will operate the jet, but it is clear that it is coming with a carrier-based variant to eventually replace the country’s Flanker derivatives.
China has also flown multiple examples of next-generation tailless aircraft popularly labelled “6th-generation” in the media. For now, it appears these aircraft are all prototypes.
China’s strategic bombers
China’s fleet of strategic bombers is exclusively made up of the Xi’an H-6. The H-6s are based on the 1950s-era Tupolev Tu-16 “Badger” strategic heavy bomber. The type apparently remains in production in China, and these have been heavily modified and modernised.
The PLAAF is estimated to have around 120 H-6s in service with various modifications, while the PLANAF has around 30 in service. The type’s range is limited by a lack of in-air refuelling capability. The H-6N variant, first seen in 2019, is capable of in-air refuelling. There are likely over a dozen examples of the H-6N variant in service.
After developing traditional bombers like the Tu-95 and B-52, the USSR and the United States built the variable-sweep supersonic bombers the Tu-22, Tu-160, and B-1. The US then progressed to developing the stealthy B-2 Spirit and is now building the next-generation B-21 Raider bomber.
China is bypassing the supersonic variable sweep wing bomber and is building the stealthy Xi’an H-20 strategic bomber to better counter the US’s massive edge. Meanwhile, Russia, unable to produce a stealth bomber, has placed the old Tu-160 back into production.
It is unclear when the Xi’an H-20 will first fly or enter service, but China’s bomber fleet will be modernised like its tactical fleet.
