Posted on 11/14/2014 7:42:30 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
It looks like a hodge-podge of Russian parts bin stuff. Probably nothing stealthy about it at this point.
Well Obama was just in China dropping off more secrets so expect the improvements soon
It is getting to where they all look alike to me.
Have you looked at cars these days?
Good point.
There was a time back in the 50s and early 60s when I could tell every car at a glance. Not only year, brand and model but even what engine they had.
During WWII the planes were very distinctive. The BF-109, FW-190, ME-110, Hurricane, Spitfire, Thunderbolt, Mustang, P-40, P-38, Corsair could all be identified immediately.
I probably would have trouble with a Widlcat and a Hellcat unless they were beside each other. Also a Zero and Oscar looked a lot alike.
The reason they do today may have more to do with espionage than anything else.
At least warships can still be identified as well as they ever could
From a CNN article:
a senior MiG official stated “no, as far as I know they [the Chinese] completed this design themselves, and they seem to have done a good job on their own.”
The MiG official may be correct. An aircraft of this type designed with Russian assistance would probably perform better.
The FC-31’s flight routine shows that it “bleeds” too much energy — so when it enters into a turn it begins to lose altitude. Even during straight and level flight the pilot has to engage the engine’s afterburners in order to keep the aircraft from sinking to a lower altitude. These are defects in the aircraft’s aerodynamic design that a Russian design team would not have made.
READ: China lands first jet on aircraft carrier
Western aerospace analysts point out that the FC-31 flown at Zhuhai is a “clean” jet in that it is not armed, which means that an aircraft configured for a real mission and fitted with weapons would be even heavier and would perform even worse.
The J-31 looks to be a MiG-29 sized YF-22 (not F-22) knockoff with the somewhat more stealthy F-35 inlets and smaller nose. It uses MiG-29 engines (either ones obtained from Russia or knockoffs)
Wildcats had landing gear that retracted into the fuselage, Hellcats’ retracted into the wings ;-)
Right before Midway a det of VT-8 TBF Avengers flew onto the island to bolster it’s offensive punch. There were no diagrams, profiles or models to show the AA gunners and fighter pilots on the island what they looked like, and there was a fear they’d be shot down. What the folks on Midway were told was that they looked like “pregnant Wildcats”. Which worked.
Several Japanese fighters were caught by surprise when they jumped what they thought were Wildcats without noticing the rear-facing turrets with .30 cal Brownings.
A rear gunner on a Dauntless nearly got Saburo Sakai at Guadalcanal. He shot Saburo through the eye but he somehow managed to make it back to Lae.
He did permanently lose sight in that eye tho.
I also read that another Japanese ace had been making a maneuver against Wildcats which always succeeded. He then tried it against a Hellcat not knowing it was not a Wildcat.
He got shot down.
It is rumored that ChiComs has almost talked Russian export control into allowing them to get a newer ‘item 117’ type engine designed for Sukhoi version of Raptor from Saturn Co.
It would make ChiCom fighter much more appealing.
I'd think it was photoshopped, but they've mastered the art of copy and it's not unlike what the Chinese do with the Russian designs they build.
Perhaps they didn't have enough motor for a single, at least not yet, or maybe they prefer a twin engine and went with two, smaller but proven engines instead.
Either way, they've saved a bunch on engineering and caught up quickly. The electronics and software should be relatively easy.
What do you think is holding back the F-35 from entering IOC? Software and electronics.
Other than opposition in high places? Lots of things would be my guess, including software and electronics, and recently some engine problems.
But I would just be guessing. Hopefully, the engine woes have been resolved:
From Lockheed Martin: https://www.f35.com/about/life-cycle/software
Full report that specifies Block 3F for Navy IOC: https://www.f35.com/assets/uploads/downloads/12994/f-35_ioc_joint_report_final.pdf
The Chinese can build an airframe that more or less copies the F-35. They cannot and will not build an aircraft with comparable avionics and software, and certainly not faster than Lockheed Martin can.
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