The video is a guy trolling KFX, nothing about J-20, He quoted this PLA presentation as a prelude. I also remember hearing this joke long ago but never had direct source, so I feel lucky finally seeing it.
J-20 5th Generation Fighter VII
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The video is a guy trolling KFX, nothing about J-20, He quoted this PLA presentation as a prelude. I also remember hearing this joke long ago but never had direct source, so I feel lucky finally seeing it.
Yes I know I was being facetious lol.
It is just showing that PLAAF is serious of not needing a gun.
I think once WS-15 is ready they will add a "gun" since the space is there from day one. Whether it will be a gun in the traditional sense remains to be seen.
The whole gun debate comes back to how the PLAAF want to use the J-20. Simply put, the PLAAF isn't allowing the J-20 to dogfight because dogfighting diminishes almost all the expensive and rare (consider number of 4th gens in service vs 5th gens in both PLAAF and USAF) advantages of 5th gens and allows the opponent into a very even fight.
Therefore the utility is gone as soon as you allow 5th gens to engage in dogfights. Some F-35 variants can be mounted with a gun but many don't even have that option. The F-22 was designed in the 1990s and planned in the 1980s ... enough said there. If they can "redesign" the F-22 a little, they might leave out the gun just to save the weight if nothing more. No gun module also means much more space for future upgrades whether electronic in nature of as part of some integrated DEW.
This is where the "you're an idiot" part comes in. Sure 5th gens should be able to dogfight with the best of them and in many cases even better than 4th gens due to "supermaneuverability" and just better acceleration than 4th gens (lower drag, greater lift, most cases also better T:W) but the idiot part is in willingly sacrificing all your main advantages to allow the opponent a more even playing field for no clear reason. 4th gens are a plenty and they can do all the dogfighting. The purpose of 5th gens simply isn't to dogfight. This isn't even the purpose of 4th gens nowadays.
Therefore the utility is gone as soon as you allow 5th gens to engage in dogfights. Some F-35 variants can be mounted with a gun but many don't even have that option. The F-22 was designed in the 1990s and planned in the 1980s ... enough said there. If they can "redesign" the F-22 a little, they might leave out the gun just to save the weight if nothing more. No gun module also means much more space for future upgrades whether electronic in nature of as part of some integrated DEW.
This is where the "you're an idiot" part comes in. Sure 5th gens should be able to dogfight with the best of them and in many cases even better than 4th gens due to "supermaneuverability" and just better acceleration than 4th gens (lower drag, greater lift, most cases also better T:W) but the idiot part is in willingly sacrificing all your main advantages to allow the opponent a more even playing field for no clear reason. 4th gens are a plenty and they can do all the dogfighting. The purpose of 5th gens simply isn't to dogfight. This isn't even the purpose of 4th gens nowadays.
Given how J-10 and J-16 production is ongoing, I'd hope they don't add a gun on J-20.
They can put guns on future UCAVs if our estimate of 5 or so years before WS-15 reaching service J-20s then Dark Sword should be ready to be combined with the rest of the fleet, especially J-20S which already exists in at least prototype form if not further along in the program already.
In 5 years time, 6G comms will be old news and algorithms today are beating manned fighters and pilots in simulations. It's easy to program this in a simulator but much harder for a physical aircraft to deal with real world variable change to that degree but if they can't already do that today, they sure can in 5 years time. Some drones were already beating F-16 pilots in dogfights iirc. That may be under still controlled environments but the means have been there for some time.
I'd rather UCAVs get engaged in dogfights. They can pull crazier turns after all. It'll be much more effective once the algorithm side is there. With so much computing progress and machine learning, even autonomous driving have deeper and more difficult challenges than writing code for a dogfight.
A single competent programmer can probably already code the most undefeatable AI pilot on DCS. A team of the best engineers doing the same for a real life UCAV and given billions and over a decade to do it would be able to bring that into the physical realm.
There have been rumors/news that CAC has had three J-20 production lines since at least 2020. If we assume an annual production rate of 10-12 per line, and all three production lines run to the full capacity starting this year, then between 2022 - 2027, a total of 180-216 J-20's will be produced by the end of 2027.
That's why I have been projecting/speculating that a total of 300 J-20's will be produced by the end of 2027. There is obviously no question about whether PLAAF needs this many or not.
That's why I have been projecting/speculating that a total of 300 J-20's will be produced by the end of 2027. There is obviously no question about whether PLAAF needs this many or not.
Most rumours said CAC has four J20 production lines, and just left 1 for J10. The full capacity of J20 production will be 48+ plus per yea.
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