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05-01-2011, 20:30
China's Stealth Striker
Posted by Bill Sweetman at 12/27/2010 4:57 AM CST
Hot from the fence-line is what looks like the best image yet of China's Chengdu stealth fighter, identified so far as J-20.



Remarkable indeed - and at the rate we're going there will be a three-dimensional animated cutaway of this beast by 2.30 Tuesday afternoon, so we can safely stick to what we can see here without having to speculate too far. (Note: this photo appeared on the China Defense Forum. All I've done to it is rotate it and adjust contrast and brightness.)

The impression here is of a big, long aircraft, 70+ feet from nose to tail, which would make sense for a number of reasons. Rob Hewson at Jane's has reported that Russia has supplied 32,000-pound thrust 117S engines for the J-20, which would be adequate for an aircraft in the 80,000 pound class - with perhaps lower supercruise performance and agility than an F-22, but with larger weapon bays and more fuel.

But ask yourself: why would China need or want a short-range stealth aircraft? Any targets with defenses that call for that capability are a long way from the mainland. Also, the bigger that the aircraft is, the more likely it is that it is a bomber as much as, if not more than, a fighter.

The canard is clearly visible and at this point I'm seeing a "lambda" wing planform, seen on some earlier artist's concept out of China, with a single straight leading edge and a kinked trailing edge. It first appeared on McDonnell Douglas JAST studies in the early 1990s:



The wing shape was also flight tested on the X-36 unmanned demonstrator - and the overall "sit" of the Chinese aircraft makes an interesting comparison to this shot:




So much for this morning - but as the "what" starts to take shape, it gives us context to start thinking about "when" and "why".

Update: The 117S comes with 3D vectoring and the engines appear widely enough spaced for that to work. This might mean that the V-tails could be locked out in normal cruising flight. Also, a couple more photos:






J-20 - Denial Is Not An Option
Posted by Bill Sweetman at 12/28/2010 7:51 AM CST
More photos of the Chengdu stealth fighter prototype, reportedly the J-20, continue to emerge - although they don't add too much as yet to our understanding of the aircraft itself. It will take a little more measurement to pin down the jet's size, and without a plan view we can't say much. (The last time this happened was with the YF-12, and most people were miles away from the real aircraft.)

First, it looks like a delta, not a lambda:



That has some signature implications, with what looks like an almost unswept trailing edge, because edges scatter forward and backwards.

More new photos:







The questions that need to be answered start with the size, because that will start to tell us where this aircraft falls on the bomber/fighter continuum.

The next question: how far along is the aircraft in development and, if it is pursued, when will it become operational? I would submit that the simplistic approach - comparing this aircraft to the YF-22 or X-35 and therefore projecting an IOC well beyond 2020 - is philosophically wrong, dangerous and stupid.

One problem is that we don't have a pattern for Chinese major programs. In the Cold War, the Soviet Union had its own development procedure that often confused us. The first aircraft of any type would be pure prototypes. Once the go-ahead was given for the type to enter service, MiG or Sukhoi would build a small batch of aircraft for service testing under operational conditions. Only then would full-rate production start. What was often confusing was that the service-test jets would be mistaken for operational aircraft.

China has not had many major combat aircraft programs. The most complex is the J-10, which flew in 1998 and is now well established in service with a major upgrade in flight test. The simpler JF-17 has moved even faster. However, this means that Chengdu can draw on a team which has recent experience with two full development programs and an upgrade.

Once big factor will be the engine. China's transition from dependence on Russian-developed high-performance engines is still under way. The key will be seeing whether and when the doemstically designed WS-10 replaces the Russian AL-31 in the J-10 and the J-11 (China's "bootleg" version of the Sukhoi family).

What could change things substantially is Russian-Chinese collaboration. Despite Russian concerns over China's reverse-engineering of its products, the lure of Chinese money and access to China's micro-electronics base is strong. And if Russia has permitted the export of the latest 117S engines for the J-20, it tells us a lot.

Meanwhile at Chengdu, the forward observation team is digging in for the long haul:






05-01-2011, 20:46


Volgens carlo kopp, powned deze chinees onze JSF in alle hoeken en gaten, hahahahah 8 miljard voor een vliegtuig (JSF) die later zelfs door een 3e wereldland neergeknald kan worden door deze chinees.

En maar bezuinigen op onderwijs...........

http://ausairpower.net/APA-NOTAM-311210-1.html

05-01-2011, 20:54
Hij is gigantisch. Is dat een uitklapbaar trappetje aan de zijkant van de eerste foto?

05-01-2011, 20:55

Citaat door timioto:
Hij is gigantisch. Is dat een uitklapbaar trappetje aan de zijkant van de eerste foto?



Nee, dat is een klep die toegang bied aan de 'core' van het vliegtuig.

05-01-2011, 20:57


gekke chinezen, dont fuck whit them !

05-01-2011, 21:03
Wat een lelijk ding.

05-01-2011, 21:08

Citaat door FEMME___:
Wat een lelijk ding.



uiterlijk is niet belangrijk

05-01-2011, 21:09

Citaat door Akkedoh:
uiterlijk is niet belangrijk


Meestal wel.

05-01-2011, 21:10

Citaat door FEMME___:
Wat een lelijk ding.



05-01-2011, 21:10

Citaat door FEMME___:
Meestal wel.



het gaat om een ding, geen mens