J-16...
China Flanker Thread III (land based, exclude J-15)
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
I think you are talking about the unpainted area around the gun port.
lcloo
Captain
That is the unpainted metal panel made of titanium. Titanium is very difficult and expensive to paint properly.
Titanium is used instead of aluminum because it has a melting point of 1650 - 1670 degree C, compare with aluminum at 582 - 652 degree C. The metal panel around the gun port will be exposed to extreme heat from the gun blasts, thus the expensive titanium panel is used.
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thank you very much for your detailed explanation.
But I don't seem to notice similar panels installed on American fighter jets or am I wrong ??
From what I can gather that isn’t a hud and doesn’t have any functionality in terms of projecting image or information. It’s just a piece of transparent material used to (apparently) to shield the rear pilot’s face from the front seat ejection rocket exhaust during the eject sequence and maybe in event of the canopy being jettisoned and the plane somehow keeps flying.
lcloo
Captain
Yes, US used different approach. I don't have the answer to that, but I guessed they used different metal alloy of high heat resistence, The darker color metal fitting at the F-15E's gun muzzle looks different from the aluminum panel.
Even Mig-29 also don't seem to use titanium. I think Sukhoi's design is perculiar to Flankers and its variants.