India's Rafale jets have no chance against China's J-20: experts

BEIJING – India has recently received delivery of five Rafale fighter jets, with a former Indian air chief marshal boasting that the French-made warplanes' capability is superior to China's J-20 stealth fighter jet.

Chinese experts said that the Rafale is only a third-plus generation fighter jet, and does not stand much of a chance against a stealth, fourth generation one like the J-20.

In some combat performance areas, the Rafale is superior to the Su-30 MKI fighter jets, which are in service in the Indian air force in large batches, but it is only about one-fourth of a generation more advanced and does not yield a significant qualitative change, Zhang Xuefeng, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times.

Thanks to its AESA radar, advanced weapons and limited stealth technologies, the Rafale is comparable to other third-plus generation fighter jets used by other countries, but it will find it very difficult to confront a stealth-capable fourth generation fighter jet, Zhang said.

Zhang's statement came after the five Rafale fighter jets took off from France nd arrived in India last week.

In a report by the Hindustan Times, India's former air chief marshal B.S. Dhanoa claimed that the Rafale "is a game changer, and the Chinese J-20 does not even come close." It is common knowledge that a generational gap in fighter jets represents a huge difference that cannot be made up by tactics and numbers in combat, military observers said.

China's J-20 is far superior to the Rafale, they said.