AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
There seems to be some buzz on the Chinese boards where Pupu says there's a J-10D coming. New AESA radar, newer more powerful fuel-efficient engine, and conformal tanks.
J-10 Thread IV
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
while possible, one has to ask about the timeframe... already the new engines should be more powerful and already aesa radar should be on there. if so, a new variant should bring little benefit. unless we're talking about another substantial redesign (like B was to A) at which point we're talking about another 6-7 years of testing before any active service may start. and starting production of such plane in 2022-2023 seems a bit wasteful. Better to reorganize towards j20, possible j31 and a proper stealthy single engine successor to j10.
Admittedly, the first thing I've noticed was the blurred out serial number on the tail
.Chengdu J-10 with Conformal Tank.
Is that will become true?
Let's wait for the First Picture, If true
SinoSoldier
Colonel
It might be the long-waited twin-seater J-10C variant with CFTs.
Yeah I won't get too excited just yet:
Leaving aside pupu's credibility, he didn't say anything concrete about J-10D and certainly not CFT. On CJDBY he even claimed it was only speculation.
All the talk of CFTs are from people other than pupu.
Leaving aside pupu's credibility, he didn't say anything concrete about J-10D and certainly not CFT. On CJDBY he even claimed it was only speculation.
All the talk of CFTs are from people other than pupu.
SinoSoldier
Colonel
Is it speculation in the sense that the extrapolation is merely his own brainchild, or is it grounded in more substantiative rumors?
The post mentioned that the "J-10D" would have greater range than the J-10B/C; the only way this could be achieved would be through the use of conformal fuel tanks, considering that airframe enhancements and engine upgrades are already hallmarks of the J-10B/C.
Another clue leading me to suspect that this could be a twin-seater is its alleged flexibility with J-10C production plants. A tandem-seat variant would be produced alongside the single-seat variant whereas a notional successor would not.
Engines improvements are of an incremental nature and there is a whole new generation beyond sep 3 and WS10B potentially available to PRC, both domestic and imported so that is a clear avienue.
Beyond that anything from internal structure and weight reduction to improvements in skin could increase range quite substantially - this is not speculation, quite a few 4th generation fighter aircraft's achieved staggering increase in internal fuel loads (Gripen NG is said to have almost 36% greater fuel load) - and China's material science and engineering capacity has increased by leaps and bounds since the J-10 design was first frozen. Just removing the need of external tankage would greatly increase operational flexibility and reduce drag. Other possibilities includes improved hardpoint esp the ventral ones (semi recessed?), etc.
The reason I am skeptical about CFTs is China had them on the venerable Q-5 for decades and no doubt had a close look at Taiwan and the world's designs. There is perhaps a doctrinal reason why they have never been adopted.
Beyond that anything from internal structure and weight reduction to improvements in skin could increase range quite substantially - this is not speculation, quite a few 4th generation fighter aircraft's achieved staggering increase in internal fuel loads (Gripen NG is said to have almost 36% greater fuel load) - and China's material science and engineering capacity has increased by leaps and bounds since the J-10 design was first frozen. Just removing the need of external tankage would greatly increase operational flexibility and reduce drag. Other possibilities includes improved hardpoint esp the ventral ones (semi recessed?), etc.
The reason I am skeptical about CFTs is China had them on the venerable Q-5 for decades and no doubt had a close look at Taiwan and the world's designs. There is perhaps a doctrinal reason why they have never been adopted.