China skirts queries on Pak's plan to buy stealth fighter

[INDIAPOSITIVE]

Beijing: China's military today skirted questions about the sale of its latest stealth fighter planes to Pakistan, days after a senior Pakistani minister said a proposal was under discussion with Beijing.

Asked for his reaction to Pakistan minister for Defence Production, Rana Tanveer Hussain's comments on Saturday, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman, Geng Yansheng told a media briefing here that a number of Chinese aircraft were displayed at the recently held air show in China's city of Zhuhai.

"If you want to know more about them, please refer to relevant defense industry department", he said.

Hussain was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper that Pakistan wants to buy the fourth generation stealth fighter to boost its defence capability.

The matter was being discussed with Chinese authorities, he said.

"It is for the first time that a senior government functionary has confirmed talks with China over purchase of the longer-range stealth aircraft - an issue that has been a subject of speculation in defence circles since the 10th edition of the Zhuhai Air Show (China) held earlier this month, when the aircraft was unveiled," the paper reported.

The Jane's Defence Weekly also quoted an unnamed Pakistani official as saying that the Pakistan Air Force was in talks with China to buy 30 to 40 of the new fighter aircraft Shenyang FC-31 fighters.

FC-31 being developed by China primarily for the export market and reportedly several countries are interested in the aircraft believed to be comparable to US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

What particularly interests the PAF is that FC-31 prototype (J-31) and JF-17 use the same Russian Klimov RD-93 engines.

Pakistan is increasingly relying on China as a reliable source for its defence procurements.
Hussain said that Pakistan was also interested in Chinese attack helicopter Z-10.
China and Pakistan had earlier co-produced JF-17 Thunder. Pakistan has been eagerly trying to market this fighter aircraft.

"We have nearly confirmed orders from seven countries for JF-17," the minister said.

Pakistan, which is at present producing Block-2 of JF-17 at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra is eyeing orders from countries in the Middle East and Africa.

"The PAF has a requirement of 250 aircraft, but now we have decided that we'll sell some of the JF-17 Block-2 to international buyers besides fulfilling our local demand," he added.

China skirts queries on Pak's plan to buy stealth fighter | Zee News

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

I guess Pakistan needs to wait until the testing gets over..

 

[Jaanbaz]

Is this aircraft really worth the hype? Any expert opinion on this?

 

[Viking 63]

unproven machine, no need to jump the gun.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Is this aircraft really worth the hype? Any expert opinion on this?

There are three points that are causing issues with the aircraft and concerns for potential buyers. First, no one really knows just how stealthy this aircraft is. All we've heard are comparisons to the F-35, but nothing concrete. Remember, stealth is more then just RCS. IR, acoustic, electromagnetic, RCS, visual... each are a competent of stealth and no one is sure how the FC-31 measures up to the competition.

I'm not the biggest fan of the website, but this article raises many good points: China’s Stealth Fighter Could Get a Lot Better — War Is Boring — Medium

Here's a great overview of what makes a stealth aircraft: Stealth design of airplanes / stealth aircraft

Second, the sensors are also unknown and it's still speculatory whether the FC-31 has the same sensor fusion capabilities of the F-35... my belief is that the FC-31 doesn't come anywhere close. No one is even sure if the FC-31 has an AESA radar or long-range camera like the F-35 (the camera doesn't matter too much if the FC-31 is a fighter rather than an attack aircraft like the F-35)

For comparison, these are the F-35's sensor capabilities: Avionics Magazine :: F-35 Integrated Sensor Suite: Lethal Combination

The biggest concern has to be the engine. A clean, unloaded aircraft had trouble in level flight with the test pilot having to engage afterburners just to keep it from pitching down. This is a major red flag that suggests the aircraft is too heavy and its engines, as already known, are under-powered. Even senior members of the PLA are saying the aircraft is too heavy. Forget a combat load, the engines can't even handle an unloaded aircraft!

With J-31 Flight, China Makes a Statement | Defense News | defensenews.com

Is it worth the hype? Not right now, but the aircraft isn't in its final form yet. Work needs to be done. It needs to demonstrate the sensor capability of the F-35, its stealth confirmed, its weight reduced and its engines replaced. Right now it's bad investment.

 

[Pak_Sher]

PAF needs to analyze all capabilities of the J-31 before making any acquisition decisions. A more mature prototype may be a better candidate for evaluation. The J-31 may use the RD93 as the engine like the JF-17 but that should not be the driving factor. PAF operates French, US, Swedish, British, Chinese and Russian Technologies and all aspects should be evaluated before a decision is made.

 

[rockstar08]

unproven machine, no need to jump the gun.

F-22 , F-35 , Su-30 , Su35 all are battle unproven so far

 

[Icewolf]

unproven machine, no need to jump the gun.

But LCA TEJAS is proved machine in battle for Pandora, right?

 

[boomslang]

F-22 , F-35 , Su-30 , Su35 all are battle unproven so far

F-22 is bombing Syria.

 

[Dil Pakistan]

F-22 is bombing Syria.

Do you need F-22 to bomb Syria ?

....and F-22 pitched against what ?

What a shame for F-22

 

[boomslang]

Do you need F-22 to Syria ?

....and F-22 pitched against what ?

What a shame for F-22

It's good 'practice'.

 

[Super Falcon]

Well having stealth fighter jets to any airforce give that airforce extra punch i think we should order 20 in first batch see how machine works after few years when jet get mature and our pilots too with jet order more

 

[Dil Pakistan]

It's good 'practice'.

practice !!! what practice ?

Which other fighter / bomber cannot do this job.....equivalent or may be better.

hunt / kill a pheasant with a cannon and you will call it practice.......no doubt G.W.Bush was your President (twice).

 

[HeadHunter]

Well definitely after indians buying Russian stealth jet PAK-FA ,we must need some stealth jet to counter them .

 

[Basel]

Flying prototype is not pitched to expected buyer instead in air show a dummy refined designed was displayed as proposed FC-31 V2.0 for a future buyer and it clearly shows that RD-93 is not its main engine.