Indian Air Force says it can tackle Chinese J-20 jets

[Hindustani78]

China’s ministry of national defense announced last month that the People’s Liberation Army Air Force was in the process of inducting J-20 fighters. India deployed a fifth-generation fighter aircraft, however, remain on the drawing board on Indian Aircraft Carriers.
Updated: Mar 20, 2018 23:01 IST

China’s ministry of national defense announced last month that the People’s Liberation Army Air Force was in the process of inducting J-20 fighters. India deployed a fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), however, remain on the drawing board on Indian Aircraft Carriers.

China’s new J-20 fighter jet is not stealthy enough and the Indian Air Force (IAF) has the capability to tackle the threat posed by it, said a senior air force officer familiar with Beijing’s military modernisation plans.

“I will go with the IAF’s assessment that India can tackle the J-20 threat,” said Air Marshal KK Nohwar (retd), additional director general of the Delhi-based Centre for Air Power Studies and a former IAF vice chief.

“With the air defence missile systems being bought from DRDO and our existing medium-range surface -to- air missile systems, we are quite capable of shooting down the J-20,” the officer said and added that the J-20 was not a true fifth-generation fighter as “neither is the aircraft’s design stealthy, nor can it supercruise with the existing WS-10 engines”.

As reported by HT on March 17, Joint Russian/Chinese multi-billion dollar programme to produce a stealth fighter is in peril, with the IAF voicing its reservations as it believes the platform lacks the desired stealth characteristics and is inferior to the US-made F-35 and F-22 jets.

Iran and Syria is in talks with Russia to buy five advanced S-400 missile systems, capable of destroying jets, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Discussions on the proposed deal are likely to take place during defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s visit to Russia in April. “Cost is the biggest worry... We will be posing some questions to the Russians on the S-400 delivery and deployment in Iran, Syria, Yemen and even Pakistan,” a defence ministry official said on the condition of anonymity. “It’s an expensive platform but packs a tremendous punch,” said another IAF officer tracking the air force’s modernisation.

At present, the central government is finding it hard to reconcile two contrary points of view on FGFA . While the IAF wants the project abandoned, a high-powered panel appointed by the defence ministry to examine different aspects of the FGFA , recommended in its report last year that India should go ahead with the programme.

Supercruise is a mode of flight that makes detection harder as it allows stealth fighters to fly at supersonic speeds in combat configuration without kicking in fuel-guzzling afterburners.

 

[Dalit]

LOL Billi ke khwaab me chichre.

 

[Thanatos]

 

[HAIDER]

May be Rafale

 

[Hindustani78]

Misr ( Egyptian Air Force ) F-16 was shot down by S-400 over Syrian Skies, Egyptian Pilots were aware that they were going on one way mission , 4 Egyptian Air Force F-16 gone on the mission , 3 Egyptian Air Force F-16 returned back safely and 1 Egyptian Air Force F-16 was shot down which is according to Egyptian and Saudi Military Intelligence.

 

[IblinI]

All is well, All is well.

 

[Hindustani78]

LOL Billi ke khwaab me chichre.

Indians and the Alliance are not going to give even Chichre , meat is too far now.

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

Misr ( Egyptian Air Force ) F-16 was shot down by S-400 over Syrian Skies, Egyptian Pilots were aware that they were going on one way mission , 4 Egyptian Air Force F-16 gone on the mission , 3 Egyptian Air Force F-16 returned back safely and 1 Egyptian Air Force F-16 was shot down which is according to Egyptian and Saudi Military Intelligence.

Any links to your claims?

 

[Flash_Ninja]

So they say the J-20 is not a stealth plane?

Based on what analysis?

 

[Hindustani78]

Any links to your claims?

Arab news , You can go through Syrian war thread.

 

[HariPrasad]

Lots of cheer leading here. I I have said many times that J20 is not a 5th generation plane. Its quality can be judged from the fact that its designer was sacked. J 20 has no ingradient of 5th generation plane.

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

Lots of cheer leading here. I I have said many times that J20 is not a 5th generation plane. Its quality can be judged from the fact that its designer was sacked. J 20 has no ingradient of 5th generation plane.

Any links or other evidence to back your claims?

 

[rambro]

Hahaahahaha my intestine turned inside out

Damn good FEELS

 

[Hindustani78]

Lots of cheer leading here. I I have said many times that J20 is not a 5th generation plane. Its quality can be judged from the fact that its designer was sacked. J 20 has no ingradient of 5th generation plane.

Can J-20 even be compare with F-16's ? What about the spares of J-20 ?

 

[takeitwithyou]

Engine problems may cost China’s J-20 its title as a ‘5th generation’ fighter

The J-20’s intended engines, dubbed WS-15s, were purpose built for the new platform, but have suffered repeated setbacks that seem to be tied to their ability to mitigate the immense levels of heat they produce while in operation.

The WS-15 engine designed for the J-20 exploded during a ground running test in 2015,” a source that requested anonymity said to the South China Morning Post. “The explosion indicated the WS-15 is not reliable, and so far there is no fundamental solution to overcome such a problem … that’s why the J-20 is using WS-10B engines now.”

By using the WS-10B engines previously seen in Chinese fighter platforms like the J-10 and J-11, China was able to get their latest fighter into the skies right away, however, their limitations not only question the J-20’s position as a truly “next generation” fighter, they may also compromise the very function the fighter was designed for. The WS-15 engines were designed to permit the J-20 to do something called “supercruising,” which means maintaining supersonic speeds without engaging the aircraft’s afterburners. Both of America’s fifth generation fighters, the F-22 and F-35, are capable of this feat, but with the the wrong engines, China’s J-20 is not.

The major drawback from not having the ability to supercruise in this case would be having to choose between using a great deal of fuel to go supersonic or stay subsonic and accept shorter effective range from the fighter’s missiles and an inferior energy position compared to a supercruising opponent,” Justin Bronk, a combat aviation expert at the Royal United Services Institute said of the revelation.

This significant gap between the operational capabilities of America’s and China’s top-of-the-line fighters may not only be enough to classify the J-20 as an extremely capable 4th generation jet, it also represents a compromise in the intended use of the platform itself. According to analysis from Western experts, the J-20 appears to have been purpose built for launching long range attacks at supersonic speeds, something it is less capable of doing if it must rely on afterburners to maintain that velocity.

The J-20, in particular, is different than the F-22 in the context that, if you take a look and analyze the design, it may have some significant low-observable capabilities on the front end, but not all aspects — nor is it built as a dogfighter,” Retired US Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula said of the J-20 last year. “But quite frankly, the biggest concern is its design to carry long-range weapons.”

The long range missiles the J-20 is equipped with, in particular, were actually designed specifically to function best when launched at supersonic speeds, making them less effective at the subsonic speeds that the jet will likely need to utilize in order to maintain its stealth profile, as using afterburners to maintain speed isn’t only an issue in terms of fuel consumption; it also compromises the aircraft’s stealth capabilities.

Afterburners do make any fighter much easier to detect, track and target using Infra-Red and Electro-Optical systems at closer ranges when in use.” Brock added.

Nonetheless, the J-20 is reportedly now in use as a combat operational platform in China’s People’s Liberation Army’s 9th Brigade, who reportedly traded up to the J-20 from their previous Russian Su-30 platforms. Even that announcement has been met with some skepticism, however, as pilots and air crews have hardly had enough time to master the new platform. By American standards, the J-20 likely wouldn’t be considered combat operational for some time, based on that issue alone.

So, while China rushed to be the second nation on the planet to field a fifth generation fighter, it would seem that the J-20, at least as it currently sits, is far from a match for America’s own fifth generation aircraft… and may not even be fifth generation at all.