The Chinese aren’t getting anywhere near - even if they use free labor the aircraft don’t come free. The J-20 isn’t analogous to the F-35 - it is an expensive aircraft with slightly higher operating costs.With a thousand built so far, is production expected to increase beyond this or is this the anticipated production run rate for the foreseeable future?
Also, are the orders on the books still around 3000 in total; for the US and allies or just the US?
If the Chinese reaches a 1000 J-20 by 2030 (basically where the US is with the F-35 in 2023) and continue at a rate of 140 a year, could have 2400 J-20 by 2040 if they desired, by which time the 3000 F-35s will have been built and delivered. Which brings them close to parity with the USAF.
The F-35 isn’t just built in Fort Worth - there is the European factory in Italy and the Japanese line as well. It wad designed around the F-16 model which today is above 3000. There are redundancies built into the production pipeline now even though key issues exist. The Chinese for all their ingenuity and hard work are one nation - the F-35 is a 8 partner program with others coming online.