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Why do I once again have a very bad feeling??
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About a decade ago I had a chat with my uncle on 611 and 601 capabilities. He said 611's technology is 10 years ahead of 601, with a huge focus on development. 601 is innovative, but a lot of effort is spend on gradual improvements. Not sure about their tech lead now.Well It can't be avoided because in 90's Chinese technological base is weak. It would be nearly impossible to initiate a new fighter program at that time and time is of essence . They want to get that heavy fighter program off the ground ASAP
Chengdu has it easier since they complement and not the main fighter program. they can take the time It take them 18 years from J 10 concept to first flight
A lot of people badmouth SAC but let face it J11, J16 and J15 is the front line fighter of PRC without it they are vulnerable to air attack. J20 is sexy but still not produced in large number until today.
But now they need new paradigm and becoming innovator instead of follower Time is passed for easy engineering work They need to take the initiative and be bold
it’d possible depending on a number of factors. The biggest factors that could take J16 beyond it’s current level would be spiraling of J20 technology. Now no I don’t mean Stealth. It’s not practical, without major structural changes that would basically result in a totally new fighter to match J20 in VLO design. By you can port other technologies. Panoramic displays like we have seen demonstrations of for J20. Improved AESA and Datalink, DIRCM, Electronic warfare systems, Helmet mounted display with electro optical sensors built into the fighter.The J-20 is more complicated to program than a J-11/J-16, and there are many more of those to go around too.
If the WS-15 works on J-11 series, it’s almost for sure going to be on a future update.
True but at the current procurement rate especially for Russia, but even for F35 it’s going to be sometime before globally fielded Fifth gen Fighters are the rule.No. The Flanker is a dead-end evolutionary line in the age of 5th gens. Anything other than MLU options for existing birds is a waste of resources, as no matter how much you dress up a Flanker, it still isn’t going to stand up against any true 5th gen in any normal scenario.
Active defense systems are a fall back not a first choice. Remember the concept cuts both ways, a fighter would have a fixed number of defensive weapons. The hope being that if you are in the worst case you can employ them to defeat an attack and then change the situation. Against conventional missile loads that might give you an advantage but that same technology means smaller offensive missiles so if you have Six countermeasures the enemy might have double the weapons. All this is predicted on detecting the attack before interception.It depends on how micro-missiles evolve. If missile interception by active chaff and dogfight missiles becomes really good, a J-11 or Su-35 variant built along similar lines as the F-15EX could be potent.
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Few more images of night time J-16 from the same link.