J-20 5th Generation Fighter VII
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That just makes the teasing even more annoying.
The twinseat still have the same nosecone and not the new one. Don't know if the base of the cone is the same on 205x than the old one so they can be switched. Quite interesting.
The new cockpit give him a bit of a j-8 look, just kidding.
At least this time someone was courteous enough to put the "F U lyman" slogan away from the plane.
Shilao, Yankee and Ayi talked at length today about 205x.
They said yes, its intended for WS-15 and that's certainly a big part of it, but we shouldn't think of 205x as "for WS-15, for all of WS-15 and for nothing but WS-15".
In getting the plane ready for WS-15 the DSI and lot of the structure have to be changed, and seen as you're already making a change of this size it makes sense to then also add all the other stuff you've been meaning to add to this decade plus old design. In this regard they said those that suggest 205x is a single seat version of the twin seat 203x has a good point, as the twin seat is not a variant that has a "must be ready for PLAAF by X date" thing and thus can afford to be much more aggressive in incorporate all the latest tech. In this the twin seat is a lot like FC-31 1.0 and 2.0. 205x could well incorporate a lot of things that worked well on that twin seat.
A good analogy they used is with 200 J-20 produced the plane is in a similar situation to F-22 at the end of its production run. Had production continued could you imagine LM incorporate newer structural tech invented for F-35 back into F-22 in a block 40 and block 50 run? Make a lot of sense right? That's that 205x is doing.
They also hinted at these new techniques could allow 205x to go back to the original spec and add back the features that had to be cut. Specifically they hinted at a gun.
Yankee also said 204x was indeed skiped for being inauspicious
Also, they said that some of those watermark should be in German directed at @Deino
That means the J-20's 205x unit we saw with the raised hump behind the canopy (let's just call this variant J-20B for convenience's sake) could in fact be a 5.5-generation fighter, considering that significant upgrades to the engines, onboard avionic and weapon systems are to be expected on the J-20B compared to her elder sibling, i.e. J-20A.
We can reason for such stances by the fact whereas J-20A was designed and engineered within the late 1990s and 2000s-period, the J-20B is designed and engineered within the 2010s and early 2020s-period. Those 2-and-a-half decades of non-stop designing & engineering works plus fielding and operating the J-20As certainly brings heaps of hard-won experiences for further refinement sand improvements to be implemented on future variants of the J-20 model.
In a sense, the J-20B could also be regarded as a major half-generation step-up from the J-20A.
As a sidenote - If that's the case, then I think it is highly possible where the Chengdu's J-20 series would continue its production with the J-20B variant alongside Shenyang's J-31 (i.e. land-based J-XY) for some years in the future, since I do believe that J-20B and J-31 would be on the same technological level of mastery by the time both fighter models are ready for PLAAF service (assuming the PLAAF wants to procure J-31).
Furthermore, unlike the J-11D which only came out after 20+ years of J-11 series' mass production, the J-20B could be ready for service in less than one decade after the mass production of J-20 has been initiated. Therefore, I don't think that the PLAAF would give up on J-20B procurement anytime soon - Even if China's 6th-generation fighter project(s) is/are already well underway.
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Yes, engines too. Nearly missed that point, correction made.
Although, I was mainly referring to @Temstar's comment on Shilao, Yankee and Ayi's "205x/J-20B with WS-15, for all of WS-15 and for nothing but WS-15" statement.
But still, much thanks for the reminder!
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We should avoid generational markers too strongly because they just end up causing people to debate what “5.5th” and even “5th” gen means.
But yes, this “J-20B” can likely be viewed rightly as a significant newer variant of the aircraft, and while we can see some of the obvious external modifications, it is the non visible, under the good avionics changes and materials changes that are more consequential.
This J-20B can be viewed somewhat as the equivalent to Block 4 F-35 if one absolutely desires an international equivalent in terms of scale of transition.
So, to be fully serious — the reason why I don’t want people to raise their expectations, is because everything that we are receiving is at the pleasure of the PLA.
At any moment, they can turn off the taps to a few drips for a large number of different projects.
We should all stay well to remember just the difference between entitlements and privileges, in case the above ever happens.
All these generation definitions are extremely inconsistent anyway. It grew out of Lockheed Martin's F-22 marketing campaign. NG recently left a huge dump on the entire discussion by calling the B-21 a 6th gen aircraft.
I think equating the F-35 block 4 to the J-20B is a good idea too.
yeah if it had to be J20 for some reason then there's nothing for it. I was referring to something more like a general guideline (e.g. no need to send J20 to do these things unless nobody else is available)
However personally I'm still struggling to understand the necessity of equipping a internal gun *solely* for anti-uav roles for J20. J20 isn't mainly designed to counter drones (especially if we're talking about small, inexpensive ones) and having a gun may not be beneficial in its main roles, besides using missiles to perform such a role makes it unnecessary for the jet itself to get close to the target and potentially minimizes the time spent under threat.
So... why prepare J20 for a job it's not designed to do and more specifically why guns?
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