plawolf
Lieutenant General
The reason for suggesting that a J11 or J10 unit would get J20s are threefold.
Firstly, these high status units would have some of the best pilots in the PLAAF, and would get the best new recruits to ensure they maintain their qualitative advantage.
From all prospectives, it makes the most sense to have the first J20s being flown by some of the best pilots the PLAAF have.
Secondly, the J20 is going to be a quantum leap in capabilities and complexity compared to even 4th gens like J10s and J11s, so it will be quite an adjustment for pilots used to such advanced fighters to convert to a J20. Imagine how much more of a challenge that will be for J7 or Q5 pilots who only had experience flying 2nd or 3rd gen fighters.
The tactics and skills developed are going to be so different that it will take much longer to bring those pilots up to speed to handle 5th gen avionics and tactics, if they could even so fundamentally change their entire mentally towards air combat.
Lastly, location is also important. The PLAAF has a strong track record to deploying new fighters deep in China's interior first, because China is surrounded by US allies and military bases, and the US is engaging in a high-intensity, long-term spying operation all along China's coast with spy planes, spy ships and drones.
If new fighters are deployed too close to the coastal regions, there is a high risk that US survillence assets would get sensitive operational data about the performance, capabilities and maybe even weaknesses of these new planes, and develop hard counters against them.
The Chinese coastal regions are also much more open socially compared to the interior as a necessary result of the export oriented nature of the coastal economy. That means it's much easier for foreign agents to get close to those military bases without attracting undue attention.
The risks for foreign agents would be exponentially higher deep in China's interior, where foreigners are still pretty rare and far between, where even ethnically Chinese new non-native arrivals are easier to spot and keep tabs on by local security services because of the much smaller numbers of such arrivals compared to the coast, which attracts migrant workers by the tens of millions.
In the event of conflict breaking out, high value assets deployed too close to the coast could also become a tempting target for a Pearl Harbor like surprise first strike by an enemy.
Far in the Chinese interior, those planes could train and test with little risk or restrictions, improving both operational security as well as training efficiency.
In the event of a sudden increase of tensions or even outbreak of conflict, those J20s could deploy from their interior bases and get directly into the fight with at most a few hours delay compared to if they were stationed as close to the coast as possible.
In addition, basing them in the interior means they could deploy to pretty much any Chinese boarder with only marginally differences in redeployment time. Whereas if they were based on the coast, it would take them much longer to redeploy to deal with tensions along the Indian, Russian or Afghan boarders for example.
So, to sum up, basing new fighters deep in China's interior maximises security for the assets, while also giving China the fastest response times to redeploy those fighters to any potential conflict zone rather than just one. So it makes a lot of sense to be following that standard pattern.
By the time those units converted, those types have already been in service for a number of years.
