Excerpted from the 2024 Annual Report to Congress, P. 151

Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China

Aviation Industry

The PRC is advancing its domestic aviation industry through two major state-owned aircraft corporations, the China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). AVIC designs and produces the PRC’s military aircraft, including the J-20 fifth-generation fighter, the Y-20 heavy transport, and the future H-20 flying wing stealth bomber. In February 2024, AVIC displayed its Z-10 attack helicopter for the first time outside of the PRC at the Singapore Airshow. As of February, Pakistan is the sole known export customer for the helicopter. COMAC produces large passenger aircraft and has begun to export the ARJ21 regional jet to Indonesia, in line with its efforts to expand into the international commercial airliner market. COMAC has delivered its first narrow-body C919 airliner to China Eastern Airlines but cooperation with Russia on the wide-body CR929 may be stalled because of the effects of Western sanctions on Russia. In early 2024, a model of the J-35 stealth fighter appeared on the deck of the PRC’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning—a test bed for PLA carrier capabilities. Although the J-35 is in the development and prototype phase, it could be in operation in the coming years. The PRC’s decades-long effort to improve domestic aircraft engine production is starting to produce results, with the J-10 and J-20 fighters beginning to switch to domestically produced WS-10 engines, although some Russian AL-31F engines may remain in use. As early as 2023, Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group began increasing the production capacity of the J-20 as it is building a new assembly plant to prepare for the subsequent further expansion of production. The PRC’s first domestically produced high-bypass turbofan, the WS-20, has entered flight-testing on the Y-20 heavy transport aircraft and probably has begun to replace previously imported Russian engines. UAV development has proceeded rapidly with new flight tests of experimental craft, such as the Y-5U transport UAV. The PRC’s military aviation industry has continued to export UAVs abroad, including its sale of nine armed drones to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023.