I thought it arrived at Taiyuan? Transfer to Zhuhai will only happen tomorrow AFAIK.
2024 Zhuhai Airshow main thread, Air Systems
- Thread starter Deino
- Start date
Is it known how large (roughly) are those two batches? How many planes in a batch?
i like the look of carrying dual PD-21
Looks like this is pretty standard now. I wonder what the range of this is. If they can carry 2 PD-21s to 2000km or 4 PD-21s to 1500km range, then can really pose huge threats to anything within 2IC.
If that was true why does the PLAAF use the Su-35 in one of the most conflict ridden zones right next to Taiwan and Hainan island?
I think it served a similar purpose to the Sovremenny purchase. China needed some counter to US stealth fighters and it was the best thing available back then.
I disagree. The Su-57 has better aerobatic performance than either the F-35 or the F-22. It has better kinematic performance than the F-35. I would definitively call it a 5+ generation aircraft once the Su-57M is in production.
The Su-57 airframe is lighter weight than the F-22's. Yet it has both more fuel and payload volume internally. It is clearly a way more advanced design using better construction techniques. The sensor suite is like a generation ahead. The design is only let down by engine performance. The AL-41 is a 4+ generation engine. Not a 5th generation engine. You could also argue that the cockpit and pilot interface is more rudimentary than that of the latest version of the F-35, but it is more advanced than the F-22's.
All the issues are supposed to be fixed with the Su-57M design. Which will make it the best 5th generation outside the J-20 which still has basically unknown specifications in a lot of parameters. And the Russians can build it for around $50 million USD per unit. That is like a fourth the price of the F-22. Half the price of an F-35.
My guess is the serial fighters are either in combat in Ukraine or being used for training pilots. And of course they would not fly an aircraft with the AL-51 outside Russia at this point in the development cycle. Last I heard it was still not certified for serial production.
The overall highest cn. for any J-16 was 0328, for all other batches the known numbers are below xx24! So - similar to the J-10B/C - that this batch was of a larger number and all others had most likely only 24 aircraft!
All the way from Hotan. Odd choice when there's several STC J-16 Brigades much nearer.
Re: Su-57 - why not send the prototype, if it's still airworthy? It's just for an air display anyway, and Russia won't want to give away the secrets of the production models which are anyway no doubt busy elsewhere.
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Likely serving as a good opportunity to evaluate and examine the readiness and endurance of pilots and planes travelling such huge distances from one edge of the country to the other edge.
Will be very useful in case urgent need of cross-theater transfer of warplanes and pilots arise during wartime.
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At least there's an appearance of the famous Bogdan at Zhuhai.
Aren't their production unit Su-57's tied up in their war? It wouldn't make much sense to divert a combat unit away from its deployment for an airshow, especially with how few Su-57's there actually are. Maybe if they had a unit finished at the factory and waiting the remainder of it's delivery batch I could see them sending one over.
I question why even bother showing one when the airshow is focused on Chinese equipment. They have more than enough stuff to show off on their own without the need for a 'special guest'; the J-35A will probably be everyone's main focus anyways.