J-20 5th Gen Fighter Thread VIII

[valysre]

I am not very well-informed, so please correct me if I am wrong.
I was under the impression that J20A would be the version of J20 to be entirely fitted with WS-15. While it is hard to determine if 2053 is flying with WS-15 or WS-10 from these images, wouldn't it be silly for a J20A prototype to fly without the engines that the variant it is prototyping is meant to fly with?

 

[siegecrossbow]

I am not very well-informed, so please correct me if I am wrong.
I was under the impression that J20A would be the version of J20 to be entirely fitted with WS-15. While it is hard to determine if 2053 is flying with WS-15 or WS-10 from these images, wouldn't it be silly for a J20A prototype to fly without the engines that the variant it is prototyping is meant to fly with?

2051 is a J-20A but uses WS-10C engines.

 

[taxiya]

I am not very well-informed, so please correct me if I am wrong.
I was under the impression that J20A would be the version of J20 to be entirely fitted with WS-15. While it is hard to determine if 2053 is flying with WS-15 or WS-10 from these images, wouldn't it be silly for a J20A prototype to fly without the engines that the variant it is prototyping is meant to fly with?

The change from J-20 to J-20A is much more than just re-engine.

 

[iBBz]

Here's a better angle, the best I could find. Definitely a different nozzle.

 

[taxiya]

2051 is a J-20A but uses WS-10C engines.

Do you have a photo of 2051 showing its nozzles? I don't have such photo in my collection.

 

[tamsen_ikard]

Does J-20 have a ground/anti-ship cruise missile in development for internal bay? F-35 has the JSM missile in development. Modern battlefield is less about dogfights and more about destroying SAM, Planes and other assets on the ground. So, J-20 having that capability is very important.

 

[lcloo]

Does J-20 have a ground/anti-ship cruise missile in development for internal bay? F-35 has the JSM missile in development. Modern battlefield is less about dogfights and more about destroying SAM, Planes and other assets on the ground. So, J-20 having that capability is very important.

J20 is designed with different war doctrines between China and other countries, particularly US's F-35 design concept. And J20 is designed with China's geography in mind, especially East China sea and South China Sea.

J20 is not designed for dog fight, the lack of gun supports this indication It is more like a deterence air assets against foreign air attacks and keep foreign aircraft - fights, strike jets, bombers, AWACS, aerial refuelling tankers etc safely away from China's important places. It is a hunter rather than an arena fighter.

Comparing J20 to F-35 is like comparing F-22 to F-35, and you will see the obvious. Comparing J35 (and may be J31) to F-35 would be more appropriate. J35 has an internal weapon bay about the same size as that of J20.

Lastly, it is not impossible that J20 can carry air to ground/surface weapons but IMO that's not what PLAAF want.

 

[tamsen_ikard]

J20 is designed with different war doctrines between China and other countries, particularly US's F-35 design concept. And J20 is designed with China's geography in mind, especially East China sea and South China Sea.

J20 is not designed for dog fight, the lack of gun supports this indication It is more like a deterence air assets against foreign air attacks and keep foreign aircraft - fights, strike jets, bombers, AWACS, aerial refuelling tankers etc safely away from China's important places. It is a hunter rather than an arena fighter.

Comparing J20 to F-35 is like comparing F-22 to F-35, and you will see the obvious. Comparing J35 (and may be J31) to F-35 would be more appropriate. J35 has an internal weapon bay about the same size as that of J20.

Lastly, it is not impossible that J20 can carry air to ground/surface weapons but IMO that's not what PLAAF want.

I don't think this answer is satisfactory. As I said before, "no pound for air-to-ground" approach of the F-22 is no longer valid in the modern battlefield. look at ukraine war, how many actual plane-vs-planes fights have occured? Very little. Planes are mostly getting shot down by air defense missiles. Russia did not shoot down too many Ukrainian jets which are still flying in numbers. Russia has failed achieve air-superiority due to Air-defense missiles. Air to Ground is now the main mission of fighters these days.

Air-to-Ground missions against important targets such as SAMs, Factories, Ships will be the main mission of all combat air crafts. J-20's ability to use stealth to evade Air Defense Radars should be a huge asset. So, I do hope PLA is taking this into account. If all J-20 does is carrying 4 Pl-15 then it feels like a waste. Right now the only capability we have seen out of J-20 is carrying 4 PL-15. We haven't seen it carrying anti-radiation missiles for SEAD. We haven't seen it perform anti-shipping roles. It should be able to carry different types of missiles and different mission sets.

 

[nemo]

J20 is not designed for dog fight, the lack of gun supports this indication It is more like a deterence air assets against foreign air attacks and keep foreign aircraft - fights, strike jets, bombers, AWACS, aerial refuelling tankers etc safely away from China's important places. It is a hunter rather than an arena fighter.

Really? Since when you see a canard that is NOT a fighter. Canards have greater nose authority compare to conventional design, which tends to indicate a higher emphasis to maneuverability. I really fail to see what reasoning that allow you to make such a definite claim. As for the lack of gun, the advances of short range air to air missiles makes gun an omittable design choice.

Yes, a stealth aircraft shouldn't get into dogfight if it is avoidable. But that does not mean it can be ignored -- there are other means of detecting radar stealth aircraft which as IR sensors. In fact, it can be argued that it may in fact force stealth fighters into dogfights precisely because they are forced to rely on shorter range sensors and/or shorter effective radar detection range.

 

[Stealthflanker]

If needed tho. China can develop their own version of SDB and put it for J-20. Variants can be developed for Maritime strikes or targeting vehicles. It's just that i havent seen development in that direction yet.