At 70 feet long, it’s a wonder it got off the ground.................
MiG-25 fighter jet. The Mach-3 jet (NATO designation “Foxbat”) was a mystery craft to the Western powers, particularly the U.S., who were eager to examine the latest, “most advanced” Soviet fighter. The Defense Department had long used the mystery of the MiG-25 as a “boogeyman” to scare the government into funding advanced U.S. weaponry.
The Russian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 interceptor fighter was the subject of NATO military hysteria, until one actually fell into U.S. hands — and turned out to be a turkey. From the Air Force Times LibraryOn September 6, Russian pilot, Lt. Viktor Belenko, landed his MiG-25 fighter (NATO designation “Foxbat” shown below) at an airfield near Hakodate, on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, and asked for asylum, and it was temporarily granted. The Soviet government furiously demanded the prompt return of their stolen plane, and the pilot who took it. And when Japan refused, the Russian Navy, in retaliation, captured Japanese fishing boats and imprisoned their crews, while Soviet military craft menaced Japanese military craft over international waters.
The condescending bluster and arrogant challenges of the Soviets only insulted the Japanese — who dug their heels in more forcefully, and welcomed U.S. requests to examine the aircraft. Then- U.S.-Defense-Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld (who, ironically, is now again the Secretary of Defense) admitted “we wanted the plane. We wanted metal samples; to fly it, take it apart, then fly it again.” He got his wish. The Japanese government allowed the U.S. to disassemble the plane, stuff it in a giant C-5A Galaxy transport, and fly it to a Japanese airbase near Tokyo for a thorough disassembly and inspection. Two months later, it was shipped back to the Russians in pieces.
What was expected to be an intelligence bonanza turned into an embarrassment for the U.S. Defense Department. The MiG’s crude, bulky, stainless-steel construction, poor aerodynamic qualities, limited weapons capacity, short range and utterly archaic electronics discredited Defense Department paranoia over the new aircraft, and over Soviet military technology, generally.
http://www.defence.pk/forums/india-defence/76078-russias-defence-industry-boosted-india-5.html
Anybody who tries to downplay the significance of this is in denial of reality. While we battle over budgets and priorities the Chinese military modernization program is full speed ahead.
I don’t know why, but that picture looks funny to me.
Kinda like photoshopped. It looks a little ‘fuzzy’ around the edges.
Maybe it’s just my dirty glasses.. :)
Taking off is easy, the real question is can it land?
I think that webpage has now been taken down? It appears that the image is one of the fakes running around on the Chinese forums. The same thing happened with some of the initial images of the J-10 some ten years ago. Some people can’t help themselves when it comes to photoshop!
Next question: Did it land on its wheels or under them?
Update from Chengdu as of 1230 local time from Chinese aircraft enthusiasts. Two VIP Boeing 737s have now landed at Chengdu. Cameras have been set up and manned. The J-20 has completed a high-speed taxi. Security is very tight and is now blocking roads and stopping traffic. A J-10 chase aircraft with a possible camera pod has now flown twice on possible weather sorties.
1243 local - J-20 engine running on runway.
J-20 is now flying with J-10 as chase aircraft as of 1250 local.
TJ
And right when DefSecGates was in Beijing!
The Middle Kingdom’s Dragon just bitchslapped Uncle Sam.
I’m going for Chinese noodles tonight.