J-10 Thread IV
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
An interesting historical image. A J-10 prototype with a Tumansky R-29 turbojet.
It's amazing how easily engines are changed and then changed again on the J-10 as it'll go on to multiple variants of the AL-31 and WS-10. The same for the Sino-Flankers and J-20.
Is it the design philosophy that separated air frame and engine from very early on? The nearly seamless change of engines seems a trademark of Chinese types.
It’s not. You need to modify inlets. Remember the earliest metal model? It had F-16 style inlets. Then they changed to the rectangular inlet with ugly supporting struts to accompany turbofan.
That's hard to say for sure. According to Yankee's implication, the decision-making level probably reached the top central leadership. As for exactly who made the call, you'd probably have to ask him directly (and even he might not know for certain ).
I still see it as a “you are paying this much money for that” rub by the opposition against corrupt politicians who okayed the Rafale deal.
Letter of intent signed for Gripen but no final contract yet. Becoming part of the Belt and Road Initiative and the recent combat in India/Pakistan may influence the final decision. Still the FAC has long tradition of ties with the USAF though this might be countered by deterioration of relations with the US at the moment, so might open the door to a non-western type.
Yeah, it's just such a strange feeling to see the "knock-off" plane end up being so much better than the plane that inspired it. It also comes with no surprise that Chinese development plans are so much better than whatever nonsense the Americans were up to between the 1990s to the 2010s (arguably to today and beyond).
J-10 was never a knock off.
It was born in a later world in the first place (fbw delta canard), and it got a comprehensive liquid-cooled electronics upgrade with, likely, RCS measures.
For F-16, all of it was considered , but only electronics survived, and only UAE got it(blk 60 compared to blk 70/72/v).
Granted, significantly different role (i.e. this f-16 probably could become a more useful aircraft), but this is where things stand when compared to normie falcons.
