The People's Liberation Army will operate 1,500 fourth-generation fighters by 2020, reports the London-based Jane's Defence Weekly, citing anonymous sources.

An annual report published by the Pentagon in 2013 indicated that China already has 1,900 fighters, though only 600 are advanced fourth-generation fighters. Most of the fighters of the PLA Air Force and Navy Air Force are outdated second or third-generation aircraft and will soon be replaced in the near future when more and more fourth-generation fighters begin to enter service.

Citing a source, Jane's Defence Weekly said that China in fact has 946 fourth-generation fighters — 300 more than the number estimated by the US report last year. The source said that the number will continue to rise annually and will likely reach 1,562 in the next six years. The number of older Su-27SK fighters will also be reduced from 70 to 28, and China will replace them with the more advanced Su-35S fighters introduced from Russia.

The source added that China will increase its number of J-11A/B figthers — designed and produced by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation based on the Russian-built Su-27. The figure will increase from 230 to 390 before 2020.

Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation is also likely to produce 180 more J-10 fighters for the PLA Air Force six years from now, according to Jane's Defense Weekly, bringing the total to 400 J-10 fighters.

Meanwhile, to devote more time and resources for the production of J-15 carrier-based fighters and J-16 attackers, another source told Jane's Defence Weekly that China will likely reduce the number of its J-11B fighters as well.

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