Chinese 5th Gen Fighter Photo - Aviation Week

[Phoenix10]

Best front view yet...

[Officer of Engineers]

Best front view yet...

Ok, this is now an offical CCP leak.

[kyli]

Unconfirmed reports point out that they are testing ASEA radars on J10B, and nobody(including Chinese) expects this plane to enter service anytime soon.

[kyli]

Colonel is right. It is official leak from CCP.

[cr9527]

Colonel is right. It is official leak from CCP.

Is it me or is the radome on this thing really really big?

[andrew]

Australia Air Power on J-20 ,
Dr Carlo Kopp

Over the last few days imagery of what is claimed to be China's new stealth fighter has appeared on a range of Chinese Internet sites. There have been no official disclosures as yet, so many of the claims appearing in the media may only be speculation presented as fact.

The aircraft may be a technology demonstrator or a prototype for a mass production fighter aircraft. The latter is however much more likely, given that the PLA Chief of Air Staff claimed an IOC later in the decade.

What the imagery shows is a large fighter, approaching the size of an F-111, with a canard delta configuration and pair of outward canted all moving vertical tails. This configuration will provide good sustained supersonic cruise performance with a suitable engine type, and good manoeuvre performance in transonic and supersonic regimes.

Of most interest is the stealth shaping, which is considerably better than that seen in the Russian T-50 PAK-FA prototypes and in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Chinese design appears to be largely built around the stealth shaping design rules employed in the F-22A Raptor. The chined nose section and canopy are close in appearance to the F-22. The trapezoidal inlets are closest to the F-22, but employ an F-35 style boundary layer control design. The wing fuselage join angle, critical for side aspect stealth, is very similar to the F-22 and superior to the Russian T-50 PAK-FA prototypes and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The flat lower fuselage is optimal for all aspect wideband stealth. Planform alignment is impossible to assess until in flight imagery becomes available.

The aft fuselage, tailboom, strakes and nozzles are not compatible with high stealth performance, but may only be stop gap measures to expedite flight testing of a prototype. The airframe configuration and aft fuselage would be compatible with an F-22 style 2D TVC nozzle design, or a non-TVC rectangular nozzle designed for controlled infrared emission and radio-frequency stealth.

The PLA have not disclosed the engine type. There are claims that the Russians supplied supercruise capable 117S series engines - these would not be sufficient to extract the full performance potential of this advanced airframe.

The airframe configuration is compatible with ventral and side opening internal weapon bays, and large enough to match or exceed the internal weapons payload of the F-22A Raptor. Internal fuel fraction may also be high, given the fuselage configuration and large internal volume of the big delta wing.

Other unknowns are the intended sensor suite. China has yet to demonstrate an AESA radar, or an advanced indigenous emitter locating system. However, these could become available by the time this airframe enters production.

The size of the airframe, and its evident focus on supersonic persistence, suggests at a minimum an intention to provide a long range interceptor for air control in the Second Island Chain geography. This capability by default would provide the ability to penetrate an opposing IADS to destroy assets like AWACS, other ISR systems, and tankers. Suffice to say, with suitable internal weapons, the design could be employed as a penetrating strike aircraft, in the combat radius class of the F-111 or Su-34 Fullback.

The notion that an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter or F/A-18E/F Super Hornet will be capable of competing against this Chengdu design in air combat, let along penetrate airspace defended by this fighter, is simply absurd.

APA will produce a detailed analysis at a future date, once more technical material becomes available.

[kuku]

Kopps dreams come true, Wake up aussies and purchase the F-22 manufacturing line, upgrade it and start churning them out......

F-22 or bust, your secret back door talks with the Russians will not do much, the careful super hi res pics and vids they released are nothing in front of Chinese photos taken from 500 meters away.

Its clear now, F-22, J-XX-PAK-FA, and then that powerless infant you pin your hopes on the Failure-35, your super hornet is now no more than a common housefly.

So remember to call Obama and tell him this is the time to count or to die, take the Japanese, Koreans, and Israelis with you.

That is right tremble, and wear adult diapers for you are in the presence of the great silent black dragon.

The silent bear is running for its mountain hibernating grounds, before it even learned to use its claws.

Only the F-22 stands, your knight in shinning armour, he will rescue you from that desolate Island which will soon be encircled by the great black dragon....

[Blademaster]

I would be surprised if the plane can do hard maneuvers especially considering the fact that the vertical tail fins are movable and only attached to the main body by a pivot point. During hard maneuvers, the g-forces and the wind shears will rip those fins out easily and send this plane into a tailspin or worse.

[biteasaur]

maybe this plane will wake up whoever shut down the f22 line and the gomers cant even get the f35 going.the front shot of the jxx looks like a raptor.anyway the chinese have come a long way.i cant believe the u.s is sitting on the sidelines without an answer to this.i mean the f22 is 20 years old.come on phantom works or L/m whoever, suprise us with a 6th generation" if you are not gonna crank up any more f22"s.i dont think the f35 will be enough now.

[Chogy]

Consider the time between the YF-22 first flight (1990) and the F-22 IOC (2005) - 15 years.

Those long years were well-spent improving the YF-22, ironing out bugs, and making it what it is today. If this Chinese effort becomes a "crash program" and they push very, very hard, they'll maybe have an IOC in 8 to 10 years, but with possibly a substandard product. If they truly refine it, it'll take 12 to 15 more years. And they'll have to eventually fit it with Chinese engines, another major hiccup. One prototype with Russian engines does not mean the "great black dragon" is in any particular position to dominate.

[andrew]

I doubt the Chinese would show their next generation plane using foreign engines.
For me, those are definitely their own indigenous power-plants.

[xinhui]

At this point, the only thing we can rule out is that those photos are not photoshopped.

There could be two prototypes as well, writing for Janes International Defence Review on December 13th 2010, a week prior to the "leak" (here) Reuben F Johnson stated:

Meanwhile, rumours from China's Chengdu Aerospace Corporation (CAC) and the adjoining Aircraft Plant No 132 suggest that a flight of a Chinese-developed fifth-generation fighter prototype would take place by the end of the year. Reportedly, two airframes (numbered 2001 and 2002) have been assembled at the 132 plant.

[Phoenix10]

Australia Air Power on J-20 ,
Dr Carlo Kopp

The notion that an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter or F/A-18E/F Super Hornet will be capable of competing against this Chengdu design in air combat, let along penetrate airspace defended by this fighter, is simply absurd.

This entire Kopp article is absurd. How can anyone determine the superiority of an aircraft based on photographs alone? This man is utterly ridiculous...but we all knew that already.

[Zinja]

If this bird has Russian engines, it also means that the Russians are confident that it is inferior to the PAK-FA.

This was my query as well when i questioned the "The overall performance of J-20 is thought to be superior to Russian T-50 ...." in Kyli's article.

[Zinja]

This entire Kopp article is absurd. How can anyone determine the superiority of an aircraft based on photographs alone? This man is utterly ridiculous...but we all knew that already.

I wouldn't dismiss everything he has said though. There is a point in what he is trying to convey, albeit perhaps he uses exergerated language. Last year this time most of us were dismissing China deploying a prototype any time soon. Just a few months ago we were arguing about the feasiblities of a carrier killer, apparantly the missile has entered IOC.

The J-20 is no doubt going to be a long range fighter. If it is successful, built in enough quantities would be a handful for the Ausies if Australia found itself in a dispute with the Chinese.

Guys, where is Highsea. Can someone send him summons!