Posted on 07/31/2013 4:26:35 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
J-20 may be redesigned as carrier-based stealth fighter
Linglong concept art drawn by an internet user. (Internet photo)
The Chengdu J-20, China's first stealth fighter, may be modified into a carrier-based fighter for the PLA Navy with the new name of Linglong, the nationalistic tabloid Global Times said on July 27.
After the J-15 fighter completed landing and take-off exercises from the deck of the aircraft carrier Liaoning, the PLA Navy reportedly felt this third-generation fighter would be unable to compete with US stealth fighters such as the F-35 and that the J-20, still in development, may become the model for the country's first stealth carrier-based fighter.
A source within the Chinese aviation industry said the J-20 may be modified into a carrier-based fighter with swept-forward wings like the Russian-built Su-47. If this suggestion is accepted by the PLA, the Linglong will probably become the first carrier-based fighter with such a design.
Getting a little ahead of itself, Global Times said the Linglong is definitely the first challenger to US naval aviation since 1944.
We did some forward swept wing trials with the x-29. It had some issues (the computer did a lot of work), but IIRC it performed pretty well in tests, but we never pursued it.
because tests showed that the slightest battle damage in any part of the forward swept part of the wing, it delaminates REAL fast...
Canards weren’t known as stealthy appendages... have things changed?
Will those wings be able to fold for storage space?
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