Alright, by "they" you mean the nozzles, I think. And I can agree to that. But doesn't it look to you that the section of the airframe towards the nozzles is now different (giving a different profile)?
J-20... The New Generation Fighter III
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Alright, by "they" you mean the nozzles, I think. And I can agree to that. But doesn't it look to you that the section of the airframe towards the nozzles is now different (giving a different profile)?
Nope. Comparing it to other pics of the same angle for 2001 and 2002, they look the same...
I also thought the nozzle covers stuffed in the pipes look larger? so well anyway that was also my first impression looking at that pic, but the nozzles are infinetly variable within their range to optimize thrust at different power settings.
They also looked like they were sticking out a bit, so it could just be a perspective thing.
FarkTypeSoldier
Junior Member
I think the J-21 protos are sexy beasts from every aspects except the engine noozles; I hope one of these days the nozzles are changed into "C" shaped nozzles like the Raptor! The Chinese do surprise everyone. Agreed? Of course they gotto perfect their WS-10 first thing first.
That is not an impossibility.
And the photo they use for 2003/X is not comparable with 2001 and 2002 because 2003/X was taken at a much different angle. (in fact it seems to have been stretched somewhat to "accomodate" the 2001 and 2002 photos)
I really want to see what this plane looks like once it flies.
I'm not fully convinced that the window on the nose in front of the cockpit is for an IRST. It doesn't quite seem big enough for a faceted IRST like F35. Unless the go for a russian style ball IRST, but I doubt CAC will put a monstrosity on there which could hamper the plane's VLO like the PAK FA prototypes. I say the space isn't big enough for a faceted IRST because I think most sensors like that are able to orientate itself in different directions. A ball mounting allows the sensor to orientated (gimballed?) but you need to put a stealthy casing around it with sufficient space if you want it aboard a VLO plane. You can see how big the F-35's IRST ("EOTS") casing is in comparison to the sensor itself
If we look at how big the opening for the J-20's "IRST" is in front of the cockpit, it just doesn't seem big enough to have a stealthy IRST that is also movable.
BUT, such an opening could be for an EODAS like system instead, which is basically your traditional IRST, only it faces in one direction, but there are multiple placed around the aircraft giving continuous 360 surveillance around the plane.
Obviously it would be best if a plane features both an EODAS system and an IRST as the latter ususaly offers additional functions in addition to the passive sensor role, such as laser designation, rangefinding etc, and can be retrained on a specific target which EODAS doesn't quite offer.
I will be very interested to see if this prototype does feature the EODAS windows onboard once it flies; there's been much speculation as to the potential placement of the sensors around J-20's airframe itself, and many have speculated the "black diamond" shapes around the J-20's nose could be potential spots. But any other "black diamonds" on the rest of the plane (if any exist) have yet to be identified.
I think they already perfect this 4 gen engine. We have seen large amount of J-11B photo release by PLA daily website equip with WS-10 engine. Next step will be making WS-15 operational.
kwaigonegin
Colonel
Looks like the pitot tube remains. i wonder if the production aircraft will have it.
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