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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:
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Tags: ar99, tacair, chengdu, J-20
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tangoviking wrote:
Could be a view in China that for the resources they now put into developing a costly stealth jet it has to be able to provide high endurance for the air defense role I.E long patrol times and larger weapons loads. Because perhaps they do not see the possibility to dramatically mass produce this type of jet today. Seeing how many they would need for national (and regional) operations.
Just 200 of these with Mach2+ capability and long endurance, plus a lot of BVR-missiles onboard, coupled with a sizeable AESA would not be a welcomed opponent for a foreign airforce that has always seen itself as masters of the airspace domain anywhere in the world.
The lower cost, short range single-engine FCA will be next...
12/27/2010 6:17 AM CST
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tangoviking wrote:
Another one Bill.. small but a slightly more lined-up sideview. Sry no credit.
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/1466/35mnl29.jpg
12/27/2010 6:47 AM CST
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tangoviking wrote:
Oh and the canopy is down on that photo. Seems to be a row of people standing in the background too. Test run?
12/27/2010 6:59 AM CST
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Marcase wrote:
Nice catch Bill and tangoviking.
It has indeed a very similar shape to the original JAST design, and if it does has a Lambda-type wing (ie optimized for turn & burn maneuvering) it could be seen as a Chinese PAKFA-type interceptor. Perhaps to provide a long-range land-based CAP umbrella as the aircraft carrier works up.
Big nose for a big AESA btw.
China usually adopts a block approach in (defense) systems, which means successive production runs show steady incremental improvements. So I wouldn\'t be surprised to see a stealthy F/A strike-fighter next and ultimately an FB type bomber.
The PLAAF still lacks enough interdiction strike (Su-30) and strategic bomber aircraft (obsolete Xian H-6/Badger). I expect the Jian-11/Su-27 Flankers production will ramp up soon, so the next logical step would be to extend the deep strike capability after this J-20 has proven itself as a good base platform.
But this is all pure pre-morning coffee speculation of course.
12/27/2010 7:01 AM CST
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Marcase wrote:
Just now wondering if this would be a dynamite sales pitch for an Indian JSF...!
12/27/2010 7:04 AM CST
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andrei_sh wrote:
Funny thing to see is that Russian VVS Red Star insignia on the vertical tails. Any suggestions to explain this, apart from an obvious one that this is a stupid fake?
12/27/2010 7:16 AM CST
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Marcase wrote:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Roundel_of_the_Peoples_Liberation_Army_Air_Force.svg
12/27/2010 7:27 AM CST
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John S wrote:
...and at this point I\'m seeing a lambda wing planform, seen ... with a single straight leading edge and a kinked trailing edge. It first appeared on McDonnell Douglas JAST studies in the early 1990s.
I do believe the F-101 Voodoo predates the 1990s by a few decades.
But it was a McDonnell product, sans Douglas...
12/27/2010 7:29 AM CST
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tangoviking wrote:
@andrei_sh , PLA star. Yellow and Red.
12/27/2010 7:31 AM CST
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Bill Sweetman wrote:
The Voodoo wasn\'t that stealthy... but I wonder whether the JAST wing was inspired by it. It\'s a good way to get proper edge alignments with a lift distribution that\'s a bit like a trapezoidal swept wing.
12/27/2010 7:44 AM CST
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