That is what the Chinese members
@Michael @Shanlung @nang2 @chinasun are trying to explain to us again and again. China has a LOT of catching up to do. China's own needs are so massive that for the next ten years at the least, the Chinese manufacturing is going to be busy with producing weapons ONLY for their needs.
They will offer some weapons for foreign buyers but not so much that they will risk their internal orders to be delayed.
Take an example, whether one likes it or not, China is now in a direct competition with the US. There may even be a war on Taiwan between the two. So can China go to war with less military, top end aircrafts, and weapon systems than the US? No, it will lose. So that's their current industry focus.
Just imagine, US air force along has 2500+ combat jets, US Navy also has 3700 aircraft our of which half should be combat jets, then you have US marines also with about 400-500 combat jets of various kind. So China is facing a super power with over 5000 combat jets. Additionally, there are around 5000+ RESERVES. So China has to estimate and war game this massive number. Of course, not all of these will be in a fight but what if a real war starts and goes long term?
So in my opinion, China needs around 4000 combat jets out of which, at least 2000+ will be 5th gen. China still can't beat the US in numbers and reserves because the US has been building reserves since 1980's for a war with Russia. But from what I am seeing is, China wants to outpace the older inventory of US systems by advance TECH. That's why we see J-20, J-35, J-36 and J-50 being in pipes. China is building a future airforce and navy. While the US has a large number of older platforms compared to what China is building.
@Yasser76 @Meengla @pwfi @PAKISTANFOREVER @corven @Pakistan Space Agency @LX1111 your input on above?