Posted on 03/21/2006 1:53:09 AM PST by Flavius
J-XX STEALTHY FIGHTER AIRCRAFT Advertise on this site!
According to the reports of the Jane's Defence Weekly, China has already launched its next generation stealthy fighter aircraft programme, and Shenyang Aircraft Industry Co. (SAC) has been selected to head research and development of a new fighter for the PLA Air Force (PLAAF).
PROGRAMME
According to the report from Jane's, development of the subsystems including the engine and weapon suite for the next generation fighter, which was codenamed by the Western intelligence as J-XX, has been underway for some time. Images of the concepts show a twin-engine aircraft sharing some design traits with Lockheed Martin's stealthy F/A-22 "Raptor" multirole fighter such as the internal carriage of its weapons.
Not too much public information about the programme is available at the moment. The aircraft, which could be designated as J-13 or J-14, is still going through initial concept work, the same stage as the USAF Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) programme in the early 1980s, which later led to the F/A-22 Raptor. Sources within China's confirmed that the SAC is looking at a twin-engine, single-seat, single vertical tale fin design, but other design proposals has yet been ruled out.
As China has developed close ties with Russia's aerospace industry and has license produced many planes of formal Soviet designs, it can be predicted that the J-XX would include some, if not many Russian technologies and designs. China has been offered a 'joint development and production' of a new fifth-generation fighter by Russia -LFI. Russia has been trying to sell this concept both to China and India for some time, but neither of them has committed fully yet. According to Russian resources, the LFI will be able to counter U.S. second fifth-generation Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
Stealth and thrust vectoring are two must-have features in all aircraft being designed in the 21st century. If is not clear that how much progress Chinese designers have made in these areas, and Chinese aircraft industry may have to take Western/Israeli/Russian helps to make the J-XX truly fouth-generation (or fifth-generation using the Russian standards). Once introduced, the J-12's immediate rival will be U.S. F/A-22, JSF and India's MCA (Medium Combat Aircraft).
Date Last Updated: 10 July 05
Let's call it the 3-frogs.........
But, turning a mockup into a working desing is still a HUGE leap. Actually having the technology and skill to produce the types of materials needed, the electronics needed, the avionisc, the comm, the stealth, the tracking and acquisition, let alone the armaments to successfully compete with the likes of the F-22 is still beyond them (like 5-10 years).
However, if they produce say, F-15 quality or better aircraft in some numbers (and with this, the J-10, the SU-30's, etc. that they are building by the hundreds they are approaching being able to do that), then they may be in a position to have enough technology and the numbers to overwhelm us. That's my bigger concern.
Left alone and funded long enough, they will compete head to head with our best...I pray that doesn't happen, that we will come to our senses economically and diplomatically to force the issue on our terms as opposed to theirs.
"You must think in Russian"
Great looking plane, now they just need some pilots.
Unfortunately, their best guy Wong Wei (pronounced "W(r)ong Way") still sleeps with the fishes after tangling with our E3 surveillance plane back in April 2001.
Bump!
Not really. After all, Boeing wants to do it's carbon composite manufacturing in China in order to cut costs. What the Clintons didn't give the Chinese, American manufacturers are more than willing to provide in order to keep the prices low at Wal Mart.
It's a matter of time.
The Chinese however don't seem too anxious in mass building any of their current designs (like J-10, etc). They are clearly first trying to amass different skills and technologies, and when the time is right, they will start building like no tomorrow.
They are probably going to navalize their J-10's too soon.
If their pilots are as good as their race car drivers (see A1GP) we've got nothing to worry about, the stealth fighter will be in the wall before turn 2.
"Great looking plane, now they just need some pilots."
Too bad about Wong Wei, but whatever happened to his wingman, Lt Sum Yung Gui?
What is even worse is this is based off of the MiG 1.44 and the Sukhoi SU-47 stealth programs in Russia. The Russians gave China the specs for these programs, and are working together to design the stealth craft.
This is to save time and money, and to foster an even stronger strategic relationship between China and Russia.
Bump!
First things first, the image is a digitally created fake. A sophisticated one and whoever did it was quite skillful, but it is not real. There are however aerodynamic scale models of proposed J-14 variants that are real (but different than this picture) but those photos lack detail and are quite small.
Secondly, even if it were real, those are claiming it is a copy are obviouslly clueless. There is no other existing aircraft that even bears any remote similarities to the aircraft in the picture. The Su-47 was a heavily modified Su-27 airframe with forward swept wings. The Mig 144 project is only superficially similar in that both are twin engined planes featuring canards. Taken that to its natural conclusion, the aircraft in the picture would also be copy of the Gripen, Rafale, Eurofighter, the J-10, and any other aircraft with a canard that has ever flown.
And I don't know why people are still blaming Clinton for everything, p.s. It's been 6 years since he left office.
It is a Sukhoi SU-47 aircraft.
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