The J-20 SUCCESSFULLY conducts first flight!!
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Dont Panic: Chinas New Stealth Jet Takes to the Air (Maybe)
By David Axe January 10, 2011 | 2:27 pm | Categories: China
Two weeks after grainy photos proved the existence of Chinas first stealth fighter, the Chengdu J-20 might have just flown for the first time. The debut flight over southwest China, possibly depicted in the photo above, marks the beginning of a likely long and difficult testing phase for the large, angular airplane.
The photo could be a fake. Even if it is, the J-20s debut flight is surely imminent. A planned take-off last week was scrubbed due to bad weather.
In any event, it could be a decade or more before J-20s begin to roll out of Chinese factories in meaningful numbers. But that doesnt mean pundits, analysts and hawkish politicians arent already wringing their hands and warning of impending doom. Thats the same doom, it should be noted, that some observers predicted when Russias T-50 stealth prototype made its first flight a year ago.
In truth, any alarm over the J-20 is premature note the Pentagons cool indifference. Right now, no one outside of the Chinese government knows what the J-20 is for, or what its capable of. The best anyone can do is guess, based on assumptions derived from a handful of digital snapshots. Those guesses, and their implications, are the subject of my latest article for The Diplomat.
Based on the J-20s apparent size around 70 feet from nose to tail, compared to just 60 feet for the F-22 Raptor Defense Technology International editor Bill Sweetman proposed that the J-20 is a bomber as much as, if not more than, a fighter. The Chinese jet has perhaps lower super-cruise performance and agility than an F-22, but with larger weapon bays and more fuel, Sweetman added. Super-cruise is the ability to travel long distances at supersonic speed, something only the F-22 can really do, at the moment.
Why would China need or want a short-range stealth aircraft? Sweetman continued. Any targets with defenses that call for that [stealth and speed] capability are a long way from the mainland. Realistically, those targets could include Indian air defenses, Taiwanese airfields and U.S. Navy warships cruising the South China Sea.
It would make sense for Beijing to invest in a new, stealthy fighter-bomber. The Peoples Liberation Army Air Force is already reasonably well-equipped with fresh new J-10 and J-11 fighters, rough equivalents of the F-16 and F-15, respectively. But the PLAAFs main fighter-bomber is the older JH-7, a mediocre performer mostly incapable of launching modern guided weapons and certainly doomed in the face of modern air defenses.
Taking the opposing view, Carlo Kopp and Peter Goon, partners in the Air Power Australia think-tank, argue that the J-20 is a fighter more than a bomber. Since they do not dispute the J-20s apparent large size, they assume the Chinese plane is optimized for fast, high-altitude interception using long-range missiles, as opposed to close-range dogfighting. Kopp and Goon see waves of J-20s pounding through U.S., Taiwanese and allied defenses to target the vital support planes E-3 AWACS, Rivet Joint spy planes, EC-130 radar jammers, etc. that orbit behind the battle-lines.
By taking down these support forces, the J-20 could significantly complicate if not close down air operations for the U.S. in the Pacific. And forget using Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets or Air Force F-35A Joint Strike Fighters to stop the J-20s. Both American jets are aerodynamically and kinematically quite inferior to the Chinese stealth fighter, Kopp and Goon wrote.
Kopp and Goon have long advocated more F-22s as the only way to counter new Russian and Chinese fighters. Taking up this line, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney advocated Congress insert funding for 12 F-22s into the 2011 budget and keep buying the $150-million-a-copy jet indefinitely.
The Pentagon has ignored this advice, sticking with the planned total of just 187 Raptors and planning for an eventual purchase of more than 2,000 smaller, hopefully cheaper F-35s.
In doing so, the U.S. military brass seems to recognize several important truths. First, for all its apparent design strengths as a bomber or a fighter, the J-20 seems to rely on imported Russian engines just as many other Chinese jets do. That gives Russia effective veto power over the J-20s use in combat. All Moscow has to do is shut down the supply and support of engines to ground the J-20 and indeed most of the PLAAF.
Secondly, there are lots of ways to shoot down or otherwise disable Chinese fighters. Counting just American forces, there are: Air Force F-15s, F-16s, F-22s and (soon) F-35s; Navy and Marine F/A-18s and F-35s; Navy Aegis destroyers and cruisers; and Army surface-to-air missiles. But in a major shooting war, the Navy and Air Force wouldnt wait for J-20s or other Chinese fighters to even take off. Cruise-missile-armed submarines and bombers would pound Chinese airfields; the Air Forces would take down Chinese satellites and thus blind PLAAF planners; American cyber-attackers could disable Beijings command networks.
Of course, China could reverse any of these tactics and use them against the U.S. and its allies. But the point stands: any Pacific shooting war would be a much more complex (and awful) affair than a simple showdown between jet fighters. The J-20 alone could not win that war any more than the F-22 could. Arguably, even fighting the war in the first place would represent a major defeat for the U.S., China and the whole world.
A little context helps explain why the Pentagon remains calm over the whole J-20 issue and everyone else should, too. We still dont know what the J-20 really is, and how it might eventually, subtly shape the Pacific balance of power. All we can do now is wait, watch and keep working on our own fighters all without panicking or spending ourselves into oblivion.
Photo: Chinese Internet; via Flightglobal.com
By David Axe January 10, 2011 | 2:27 pm | Categories: China
Two weeks after grainy photos proved the existence of Chinas first stealth fighter, the Chengdu J-20 might have just flown for the first time. The debut flight over southwest China, possibly depicted in the photo above, marks the beginning of a likely long and difficult testing phase for the large, angular airplane.
The photo could be a fake. Even if it is, the J-20s debut flight is surely imminent. A planned take-off last week was scrubbed due to bad weather.
In any event, it could be a decade or more before J-20s begin to roll out of Chinese factories in meaningful numbers. But that doesnt mean pundits, analysts and hawkish politicians arent already wringing their hands and warning of impending doom. Thats the same doom, it should be noted, that some observers predicted when Russias T-50 stealth prototype made its first flight a year ago.
In truth, any alarm over the J-20 is premature note the Pentagons cool indifference. Right now, no one outside of the Chinese government knows what the J-20 is for, or what its capable of. The best anyone can do is guess, based on assumptions derived from a handful of digital snapshots. Those guesses, and their implications, are the subject of my latest article for The Diplomat.
Based on the J-20s apparent size around 70 feet from nose to tail, compared to just 60 feet for the F-22 Raptor Defense Technology International editor Bill Sweetman proposed that the J-20 is a bomber as much as, if not more than, a fighter. The Chinese jet has perhaps lower super-cruise performance and agility than an F-22, but with larger weapon bays and more fuel, Sweetman added. Super-cruise is the ability to travel long distances at supersonic speed, something only the F-22 can really do, at the moment.
Why would China need or want a short-range stealth aircraft? Sweetman continued. Any targets with defenses that call for that [stealth and speed] capability are a long way from the mainland. Realistically, those targets could include Indian air defenses, Taiwanese airfields and U.S. Navy warships cruising the South China Sea.
It would make sense for Beijing to invest in a new, stealthy fighter-bomber. The Peoples Liberation Army Air Force is already reasonably well-equipped with fresh new J-10 and J-11 fighters, rough equivalents of the F-16 and F-15, respectively. But the PLAAFs main fighter-bomber is the older JH-7, a mediocre performer mostly incapable of launching modern guided weapons and certainly doomed in the face of modern air defenses.
Taking the opposing view, Carlo Kopp and Peter Goon, partners in the Air Power Australia think-tank, argue that the J-20 is a fighter more than a bomber. Since they do not dispute the J-20s apparent large size, they assume the Chinese plane is optimized for fast, high-altitude interception using long-range missiles, as opposed to close-range dogfighting. Kopp and Goon see waves of J-20s pounding through U.S., Taiwanese and allied defenses to target the vital support planes E-3 AWACS, Rivet Joint spy planes, EC-130 radar jammers, etc. that orbit behind the battle-lines.
By taking down these support forces, the J-20 could significantly complicate if not close down air operations for the U.S. in the Pacific. And forget using Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets or Air Force F-35A Joint Strike Fighters to stop the J-20s. Both American jets are aerodynamically and kinematically quite inferior to the Chinese stealth fighter, Kopp and Goon wrote.
Kopp and Goon have long advocated more F-22s as the only way to counter new Russian and Chinese fighters. Taking up this line, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney advocated Congress insert funding for 12 F-22s into the 2011 budget and keep buying the $150-million-a-copy jet indefinitely.
The Pentagon has ignored this advice, sticking with the planned total of just 187 Raptors and planning for an eventual purchase of more than 2,000 smaller, hopefully cheaper F-35s.
In doing so, the U.S. military brass seems to recognize several important truths. First, for all its apparent design strengths as a bomber or a fighter, the J-20 seems to rely on imported Russian engines just as many other Chinese jets do. That gives Russia effective veto power over the J-20s use in combat. All Moscow has to do is shut down the supply and support of engines to ground the J-20 and indeed most of the PLAAF.
Secondly, there are lots of ways to shoot down or otherwise disable Chinese fighters. Counting just American forces, there are: Air Force F-15s, F-16s, F-22s and (soon) F-35s; Navy and Marine F/A-18s and F-35s; Navy Aegis destroyers and cruisers; and Army surface-to-air missiles. But in a major shooting war, the Navy and Air Force wouldnt wait for J-20s or other Chinese fighters to even take off. Cruise-missile-armed submarines and bombers would pound Chinese airfields; the Air Forces would take down Chinese satellites and thus blind PLAAF planners; American cyber-attackers could disable Beijings command networks.
Of course, China could reverse any of these tactics and use them against the U.S. and its allies. But the point stands: any Pacific shooting war would be a much more complex (and awful) affair than a simple showdown between jet fighters. The J-20 alone could not win that war any more than the F-22 could. Arguably, even fighting the war in the first place would represent a major defeat for the U.S., China and the whole world.
A little context helps explain why the Pentagon remains calm over the whole J-20 issue and everyone else should, too. We still dont know what the J-20 really is, and how it might eventually, subtly shape the Pacific balance of power. All we can do now is wait, watch and keep working on our own fighters all without panicking or spending ourselves into oblivion.
Photo: Chinese Internet; via Flightglobal.com
cross1993
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About Jan 11, here is the link I posted here on 1/4/2011
http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-defence/87472-will-china-have-another-surprise-jan-11-year.html
http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-defence/87472-will-china-have-another-surprise-jan-11-year.html
Areesh
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It's just a test flight and we don't know any technical capabilities about J20.How could china becomes superpower while we are still developing and not a advanced country yet.
Test flight of a fifth generation stealth AC isn't no joke and that too in such short span of time. The pace of this J-20 program is superb. You have neighbors around you who can't make a proper fourth generation AC's but proudly claim themselves to be a super power. So having all the economic strength and now with this J-20 test flight you deserve to be call as a super power.
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many firecrackers!
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Li Gang 李刚？ lol....
Don't you know who Sri Lankan's dad is?
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Monday, January 10, 2011
IT FLIES! J-20 takes first public flight in Chengdu!
In a symbolic, if unofficial salute to China's official guest, US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, the J-20 Stealth Fighter makes it's first public flight in front of the cameras. Acting as a chase plane is a two seater J-10S.
check China-Defense Forum for the latest discussions.
IT FLIES! J-20 takes first public flight in Chengdu!
In a symbolic, if unofficial salute to China's official guest, US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, the J-20 Stealth Fighter makes it's first public flight in front of the cameras. Acting as a chase plane is a two seater J-10S.
check China-Defense Forum for the latest discussions.
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