J-20 5th Gen Fighter Thread IV (Closed to posting)

[no_name]

Teeth from both end doesn't match and there are gaps.

Wondering whether they did not finish with the mod and decide that part doesn't matter for whatever test they are conducting now, or that they are fitting something to those gaps later. The teeth sizes are also different and maybe they modified the door but not the other edge.

 

[Blitzo]

-face palm-

Think about it, is it more likely for that to be a physical gap or simply a panelhaving a different coloured appearance? (Also consider, that they spent so much time modifying the rest of the plane with care, do you seriously think it would be reasonable for them to simply ignore a panel on the underside as bare???)

And the serrations on both the front and rear are virtually the same (slight difference in length of a serration tooth, but that is about it). I'll highlight it if need be

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

speaking of bumps and locations. I want to run this through you guys. At the left wing root just forward of the left wheel door there is a blister, now just above the side mounted bay there looks to be a seem, and the forward area of that blister is a darker color. Could that be a retractable cover for a internally mounted 23mm single barrel cannon?

 

[Blitzo]

speaking of bumps and locations. I want to run this through you guys. At the left wing root just forward of the left wheel door there is a blister, now just above the side mounted bay there looks to be a seem, and the forward area of that blister is a darker color. Could that be a retractable cover for a internally mounted 23mm single barrel cannon?

Doubtful, because during its position would be blocked by the canards during maneuvering.

I expect J-20s gun port, when it is revealed, to be in a similar position to F-22 (or F-15, F-16, Su-27, etc etc), that is to say: "shoulder" mounted.

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

Yeah, I think your right. I have looked over every image we have of J20-11 and that's the only structure that seemed to vary when compared to its opposite. And the only thing that seemed like it could be a door if some kind that I couldn't figure out. Its probably a gas cover for fueling, but this leaves me in a unhappy position as, as far as I can tell there is no gun system, at least not yet anyway. Because of the canards the most logical placement for a gun is either over the intakes like Raptor and Lightning Alpha. But both are sleek.. Under the nose like J10 or Tomcat, but the electo optics are there.
in the nose like Hornet or F5 but the nose looks smooth.
A position in the canard is out as the actuators and cannon can't take up the same space. In the wing is out as the canards would get in the way. That spot seemed a option as if you look at it from below there is a small amount of space between the seem of the Canard and the hull but the gun barrel would have to be flush.
so either 2012 or one of the later units will be the first to sport a cannon, the PLAAF has bought into the missile only logic. Or wild card they would use the unique rail system and cook up a gun pod that deploys from the small side bays in place of a missile which is highly unlikely.

 

[Blitzo]

The most likely position, as I said, is shoulder mounted, above and behind the intakes, like F-22.

It will be next to impossible to distinguish because the panel will be tiny, and that J-20 is painted a colour difficult to make out panel lines and also because they designed and built the plane to a very high standard of finish.


F-22s gun port is virtually indistinguishable as well, and we only know where to look because we know where it is. We know J-20 most likely has a gun, and that it isn't belly mounted, and it most likely isn't in the nose given its panels are quite easy to ID, and we know it can't be behind the canards in anyway lest its firing view gets blocked. So the only real position left is above the shoulders ala F-22.

Trying to ID the gun port will be similar in difficulty to IDing the IFR probe panel, however that was easier because their panels generally have a distinctive shape and it was on the nose and we get a lot of high res shots of the nose. The fact that there were chinese characters on the panel literally saying "IFR probe" helped as well.
A gun port OTOH can have a panel shaped in almost any manner, and it would be of a smaller size, at a region on the plane (on top) which we rarely get high res photos of, and will be difficult to differentiate from just any old innocent panel as well.

Chances are we won't know where the gun port is until we either get a pic of it open (unlikely), or until we see the inevitable CCTV documentary of J-20

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

I haven't been looking based on a hatch I have been looking based on a bulge. Look at raptor or lightning nose on and there is a distinctive bump around the gun. This is because well a missile is brought out and fired the cannon has to stay in place, and the barrel has to clear the airframe to fire. Both profiles on the J20 as far as I can see lack this bulge. And there is nothing I can see on the front either. As I said though that might just mean that they are not ready yet. And that on either a later prototype or after modifications we will see a change in the profiles with a swelling indicating a gun.

 

[Blitzo]

There is no bulge for the gun port on the F-22.

So basically, what I'm saying is that looking for a bulge as evidence of a gun port may be misguided because a gun port doesn't need to bulge out in the first place. Again. Just look at pictures of F-22. Its gun port and hatch is completely flush with the fuselage

 

[foxmulder]

It doesn't have a bulge but it is not flush either! It has a little depression

 

[Blitzo]

Edit: actually, I'm not completely sure. There may be a slight depression, but that may be the effect of darker camoflauge. Edit 2: actually upon looking at more photos, there definitely is a slight depression there.

However there is definitely no bulge.
And if there is a depression there, I'm not sure whether that is designed because that part of the aircraft holds the gun port or not.


Conclusion: the lack of a bulge on j-20 doesn't mean there is no gun port installed. If we are able to find a small depression (which would be difficult to spot), then that may be indicative of a gun port. However, it could also be the case that the geometry of J-20s fuselage means they don't need a depression for its gun port door either.