Is it just me or does the FWS10A look more like the AL-31F? If so, those J-10's we identify as "using AL-31F" might really be flying domestic.
those J-10's we identify as "using AL-31F" might really be flying domestic.
This is an interesting assumption I have been thinking of for a long time. Though a WS-10/10A looks very different from a AL-31F/FN, but observers can only identify whether a F-11/10 has been fitted with WS-10/10A by the shape of its engine's nozzle because other parts of the engine is inside the fuselage so he can not see them.
But what if PLAAF has decided to fit its J-11/10 fighters with the combination of a WS-10/10A mainbody and AL-31F/FN-style nozzle? The AL-31F/FN's nozzle looks like simpler than WS-10A's showed in Zhuhai aviation exhibition so it may have maintenance and logistics advantage so PLA is more favour to it. And I think it is not difficult to Chinese engineers to copy a Russian nozzle and fit it on their domestic WS-10 engine.
This assumption can explain why China has stopped importing AL-31F engine for years but the photos of newly-built J-11 with "AL-31F" engines still have been appearing on many Chinese websites all the time.
Hi Maya...From a vague sort of way it's tail cone suggests possible thrust vectoring, care to comment? I wonder if it has achieved it's intended goal of 140 k-newton thrust level. Of course your thoughts would be appreciated.
the difference between that two engines is merely a set of flexible petals installed or not
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