Elite Fighter Unit Guarding Beijing Reequips with J-20 Stealth Fighters: What Are 2nd Air Brigade’s Responsibilities?

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force 2nd Air Brigade has been confirmed to have begun to deploy J-20 fifth generation fighters, marking a major improvement for the unit’s capabilities which will transform how it operates in future. Based at Yulong Airbase in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia under the Northern Theatre Command, the brigade is located approximately 400 kilometres from Beijing, and bears responsibility for guarding the Chinese capital. The J-20’s combat radius of approximately 2000 kilometres allows the fighters to loiter over and around Beijing for considerable periods to fulfil air defence duties in the event of conflict. The 2nd Air Brigade is the third fighter unit deployed near Beijing has been confirmed to have reequipped with the J-20, following the 172nd Air Brigade at the Cangzhou Flight Training Base in Hebei which operationalised the fighters in February 2018, and the 19th Air Brigade at Zhangjiakou Airbase, also in Hebei, which was confirmed to have operationalised the aircraft in February 2025. The deployment of these three brigades has provided Beijing with some of the best fighter protection in the world.

Before receiving the J-20, the 2nd Air Brigade had from 2019 operated J-10C lightweight ‘4+ generation’ fighters. The J-10C is one of three advanced fighters that have been procured in parallel, alongside the J-16 and the J-20, with the former two being fourth generation aircraft that make extensive use of technologies develop for the J-20 ranging from their armaments and sensors to their heads up displays and airframe materials. The J-10C has proven to be a highly capable fighter in air-to-air combat, holding its own against the much heavier J-16 in simulated engagements, and outperforming the Russian Su-35 and French Rafale in simulated and real world engagements. It is nevertheless limited in its ability to defend Beijing in particular by its light weight and resulting limited range and small radar size. With a combat radius well under half that of the J-20, the transition from the J-10C to the new fifth generation fighter is thus particularly transformative for brigade. There remains a significant possibility, however, that it will continue to operate a number of J-10Cs alongside the new fighters, possibly as part of a longer term plan to field a high-low combination.

The 2nd Air Brigade’s responsibilities are expected to extend far beyond the defence of Beijing, with the J-20’s particularly long range, far exceeding that of any Western fighter class, allowing the brigade to bear greater responsibility for operations in the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan, including near potential hotspots such as the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands and the Korean Peninsula. Although the recent inauguration of a new administration in South Korea is expected to continue to calm inter-Korean tensions, and North Korea’s development of an increasingly formidable nuclear missile deterrent paired with rapid conventional modernisation leave its forces in a much stronger position to deter possible Western attacks, as Pyongyang’s treaty ally China nevertheless remains obliged to prepare for contingencies on the peninsula. With J-20s at Yulong Airbase being within range of multiple airbases across Japan deploying F-35 fifth generation fighters, which are operated in separate units by the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, the 2nd Air Brigade’s J-20s are also expected to shoulder a significant responsibility for defending Chinese airspace against the growing Western stealth fighter fleet in the region.

The first ever encounter confirmed to have occurred between the J-20 and the F-35 took place over the East China Sea, highlighting the growing concentrations of both stealth fighter classes operating over the area. Alongside the United States, not only has the Japan Air Self Defence Force procured F-35s at a considerable rate, with plans to field 147 of the aircraft, but European states and Australia have also prioritised Japanese bases for deployments of the aircraft as part of efforts to ensure a Western-favouring balance of power in the region. Comparing the two fighters, the F-35 benefits from electronic intelligence gathering capabilities that are considered unrivalled for a fighter, and when paired with its stealth capabilities and electronic warfare suite, are optimal for countering adversaries’ ground-based air defence networks.In contrast, the J-20 was designed as a much larger aircraft with a far more impressive flight performance, larger weapons payload, and much heavier radar to optimise it for high end air-to-air engagements. The two are considered to be in a league of their own among operational fighters today.

Although the J-20 is currently in production on a very large scale estimated at around 120 fighters per year, production may decline in the early 2030s as China is poised to bring two sixth generation fighter classes into service, both of which were unveiled in December 2024 in flight testing stages. With the United States estimated to be several years behind, this has raised questions regarding the future of the F-35 program, which has significant implications for the balance of power in the East China Sea adjacent to the 2nd Air Brigade’s operating base. As J-20s are produced at a new much higher rate, leading to projections that the fleet will come to exceed over 1000 fighters, it is expected that further brigades near the East China Sea, as well as near Beijing, will quickly also begin to convert to the aircraft. Procurement rates of the J-20 far exceed those of any single fighter class by any one service elsewhere in the world, with F-35 procurements by the U.S. Air Force remaining at just 20-40 percent of J-20 procurements by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.