J-20 5th Gen Fighter Thread VIII

[ACuriousPLAFan]

New slogan just dropped:

"相机对准机场，人生走进靶场"

"Camera aimed at the airport, life ends (up) in the shooting range"

 

[by78]

Five more...

 

[Inque]

The F-4 in Vietnam is often cited as an argument for guns on planes. But that was 50 years ago. Personally, I like the idea of having a fallback weapon, no matter how unlikely it would ever nerd to be used. Autocannons aren't even that heavy.

 

[stannislas]

No. Gun kills against much slower aircraft are dangerous. This is known since the 1950s when jet aircraft engaged older prop aircraft in combat and exercises. A gun doesn't grant much more kills either. We are talking about 150-250 rounds here. That is just 4-5 extra bursts.

I haven't planned any operations, therefore I will not write definite conclusions. But the rationale behind the F-35's gun feels very GWOTy to me. How reasonable it is to have an F-35 dive to strafe a convoy in a conventional war? Some people also mention CAS here. But again, data suggests that guns have horrible dispersion that precludes close support. A guided 125 kg bomb is way better.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against guns on aircraft. But really they can't be the primary tools for anything in 2023, or even secondary. It is really a tool of desperation.

I think you are right, even on F-35A, the primary role for the gun pod is ground attack, and this is because part of F-35 original role was to replace the function of A-10,

F-35 only get the ability to fire AIM-9X from it's internal bay in the most recent batch 4?, so I think this is a very clear sign that F-35 also doesn't put close range duel as priority, even with gun pod

 

[broadsword]

An accuracy with one kill per burst will help tremendously. Smarter aiming made with AI, plus AHEAD or guided munitions are not in development yet?

 

[latenlazy]

An accuracy with one kill per burst will help tremendously. Smarter aiming made with AI, plus AHEAD or guided munitions are not in development yet?

Automatic line of sight firing maybe.

 

[lcloo]

Since the end of Vietnam war half a century ago, how many known cases of one fighter jet firing its gun against another? If there are such cases, how many kills?

 

[A.Man]

 

[Deino]

Another great must-read written by @Blitzo

China’s J-20 Gets Another Upgrade

Updates on the 5th-gen fighter’s WS-15 engine, new variants, and fleet size, and what it all means for the future of China’s fighter fleet.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

 

[dentrs]

Another great must-read written by @Blitzo

China’s J-20 Gets Another Upgrade

Updates on the 5th-gen fighter’s WS-15 engine, new variants, and fleet size, and what it all means for the future of China’s fighter fleet.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Hi everyone, first post from a long-time lurker Just want to point out a typo:

"though the possibility of the J-20A entering service with WS-10 family engines cannot be ruled out r if the WS-15 experiences delays during its flight testing."