Chinese AESA development

Maggern said:

Whoops, sorry about the JH-7B mixup. Just goes to show how much effort I've put into reading about JH-7 . Though my point remains.

And yes, we're straying from the topic here. AESA on J-16 and JH-7B could be listed as "possible future AESA projects", but not more.

So far we seem to agree on KJ-2000, KJ-200 and J-10B as very likely having AESA. We're also pretty sure that J-20 will have AESA (and here again is the point: even for a plane that's confirmed and flying around, we're not sure if the AESA is through development and ready for installation, unless it's supposed to carry the same type as J-10B is testing).

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To be fair the conception of this thread depended on the aesas on current and future fighters.

Also I doubt J-10B will have the same AESA as J-20; the latter's radome is faaaaar larger. J-20's radar will be far larger and more powerful.

Lol, the JH-7B...that thing only exists on Chinese boards as a mockery to over-enthusiastic fanboys. Over on this one board, someone makes a JH-7B first flight post like once a month to mock the recurring super duper stealthy bomber. It's pretty amusing that some people actually take it seriously

The J-16, on the other hand, seems like a real project. Both 70092 and Huitong have mentioned a SAC 5th gen project, although they seem to differ over what that project is(i.e. a stealthified flanker or a new design). It makes sense too, since China is unlikely to have only one 5th gen project in the pipeline. Of course, this plane, like the J-20, will use AESA radars if/when they go into production.

On the topic of AESA radars(feels almost OT to talk about AESA in the AESA thread!), I seem to recall an article released a while back about some sort of breakthrough in AESA technology. It listed some specifications like power level, it might have been written by people at Nanjing. I can't recall any details, but does anyone know what I'm talking about? I'd like to look that stuff over again if I or somebody can find it again.

dingyibvs said:

Lol, the JH-7B...that thing only exists on Chinese boards as a mockery to over-enthusiastic fanboys. Over on this one board, someone makes a JH-7B first flight post like once a month to mock the recurring super duper stealthy bomber. It's pretty amusing that some people actually take it seriously

The J-16, on the other hand, seems like a real project. Both 70092 and Huitong have mentioned a SAC 5th gen project, although they seem to differ over what that project is(i.e. a stealthified flanker or a new design). It makes sense too, since China is unlikely to have only one 5th gen project in the pipeline. Of course, this plane, like the J-20, will use AESA radars if/when they go into production.

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Agreed -- finally another voice of reason.

I feel the J-16, if it's real, is an interesting project. A stealthy flanker with 5th gen avionics, 5th gen engines (WS-15?) and internal weapons could be purchased instead of J-11Bs and in large numbers (100+) could prove a very deadly foe and replacement for earlier Flanker builds, espicially if the PLAAF plan on keeping their current numbers or even increasing them (the latter which looks likely considering their growing missions)

The break though is GaN PAs for the T/R Module. So far the technology isn't yet reliable enough for Mil-spec (or so we're told), but there are plenty commercial grade stuff available, and I'm sure they are working on its reliability issues. The current state of the Art is GaAs PHEMT, the article i quote is a bit stated where MESFETS are still dominant.


some reading for the technically inclined.





Comparison with current technologies


Some info on F-35 AESA


A T/R module for I-Band Nasa radar, not really AESA. But it does give you an idea of what goes into an T/R module and how it works

*delete

Bltizo said:

To be fair the conception of this thread depended on the aesas on current and future fighters.

Also I doubt J-10B will have the same AESA as J-20; the latter's radome is faaaaar larger. J-20's radar will be far larger and more powerful.

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Indeed, I was referring to the discussion on the existence of JH-7B and J-16.

Bltizo said:

Sso what does that picture actually prove? That there's a nose on an aircraft or concept. Right.

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That's not a concept. You need to distinguish between concept and CAD model. The former occurs in preliminary design phase where the engineers try to come up with a design that meets the spec. The latter occurs well into the final design phase, where components of the aircraft are being designed and being virtually put together.

What the video showed is that there is indeed a "JH-7B" project. When a project moves along to the point of having to utilize CATIA, it means the project is receiving funding, and being actively worked on. You don't spend money and engineering hours on CATIA to make concept arts.

Engineer said:

That's not a concept. You need to distinguish between concept and CAD model. The former occurs in preliminary design phase where the engineers try to come up with a design that meets the spec. The latter occurs well into the final design phase, where components of the aircraft are being designed and being virtually put together.

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I stand corrected.

What the video showed is that there is indeed a "JH-7B" project. When a project moves along to the point of having to utilize CATIA, it means the project is receiving funding, and being actively worked on. You don't spend money and engineering hours on CATIA to make concept arts.

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It shows that there may or may have been a "JH-7B" project. I agree that photo isn't a concept art (I used that word loosely, the correct term escaped me) but that alone is not enough to convince me that the JH-7B does definitely exist. The lack of chatter/evidence from other areas is very... lacking.

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My whole argument was that we can't definitely say JH-7B and J-16 exist. That's all, and I'm near finished discussing it now.

A primer on stealth vs radar



As challenge posting in the future stealth is not worth the cost. old bistatic, long wave radar band like L and advancing signal processing and better software will beat stealth

Hendrik_2000 said:

A primer on stealth vs radar

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As challenge posting in the future stealth is not worth the cost. old bistatic, long wave radar band like L and advancing signal processing and better software will beat stealth

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other solution was "track before detection technique" and US defense writer in the mid-90's also mention weather radar.
israel G-550 AWACS is the first aircraft to adapt track before detection technique.