SinoSoldier
Colonel
Ah, thanks. Not sure if the original source is from a primary "insider" or just rehashed rumors.
J-35 carrier fighter (PLAN) thread
- Thread starter Deino
- Start date
Ah, thanks. Not sure if the original source is from a primary "insider" or just rehashed rumors.
It looks like it came from an official interview with Sun Cong so it is as official as you can get.
Some in Chinese forums have pointed out that the quote "before 2020" may or may not be a direct quote from Sun Cong (the article didn't specify and it could be either way) but considering this is a official article, I don't think this will be too much of an issue (BTW if J-XY is indeed FC-31 based I can see a tirade of toxic comments in China, both from those who like SAC and those who don't) *facepalms*
lcloo
Captain
If PLAN decided not to procure J15 for their 3rd aircraft carrier, then it is to be expected that the prototype of their new carrier borne jet to appear in a year or two. From prototype to serial production would take three to five years, and by which time the 3rd aircraft carrier would already be in PLAN service.
Building a completely new fighter jet would take up to 20 years from concept design to serial production. Modifying J20 or FC31 which are already flying would be money and time wise more sensible. After all, no one want to let the 3rd aircraft carrier waiting for their fighter jets.
Whether the NG fighter jet is based on J20 or FC31 will be known next year. And they seem to have already made the choice sometime back this year but did not disclosed the outcome to the public.
Building a completely new fighter jet would take up to 20 years from concept design to serial production. Modifying J20 or FC31 which are already flying would be money and time wise more sensible. After all, no one want to let the 3rd aircraft carrier waiting for their fighter jets.
Whether the NG fighter jet is based on J20 or FC31 will be known next year. And they seem to have already made the choice sometime back this year but did not disclosed the outcome to the public.
"U.S. is the only first tier country in military aviation. China, Russia, and Europe are in the second tier and it took China a lot of effort to catch up to the second tier. Chinese civilian aviation still needs work."
I suppose the naval fighter is designed for EMALS operations and therefore will come online aboard the EMALS equipped carrier ? So, the J-16 series would be a limited production run reserved for the Ski-ramp carriers. Assuming the two different carriers be operational by 2030s, we would be seeing two different carrier borne fighter jets by then. So... the J-XY naval fighter would be No-STOVL/VTOL/STOL fighter jet, possibly featuring WS-19 engines ( don't pounce on me, it's just a suggestion) and by virtue of that, would be a medium weight fighter jet. So a good peer, sizewise, of F/A-18 and Mig-29.
As Scchwerter_ and ougoah said...a derivative of FC-31 !?
I shudder to even think about it. That would be a big ouch.Not because FC-31 is a bad platform BUT because the news associated with the platform so far hasn't been so uplifting. I dearly hope that it is an entirely honest clean sheet design. Could even be a compact J-20 and i'd still be smiling. I think the fighter would be a J-20 sibling. It is relatively a safer bet over the FC-31 as the J-20s are actively being produced and several subsystems could be common with both the versions.
Also, 2020 is just a month or so away.
I suppose the naval fighter is designed for EMALS operations and therefore will come online aboard the EMALS equipped carrier ? So, the J-16 series would be a limited production run reserved for the Ski-ramp carriers. Assuming the two different carriers be operational by 2030s, we would be seeing two different carrier borne fighter jets by then. So... the J-XY naval fighter would be No-STOVL/VTOL/STOL fighter jet, possibly featuring WS-19 engines ( don't pounce on me, it's just a suggestion) and by virtue of that, would be a medium weight fighter jet. So a good peer, sizewise, of F/A-18 and Mig-29.
As Scchwerter_ and ougoah said...a derivative of FC-31 !?
I shudder to even think about it. That would be a big ouch.Not because FC-31 is a bad platform BUT because the news associated with the platform so far hasn't been so uplifting. I dearly hope that it is an entirely honest clean sheet design. Could even be a compact J-20 and i'd still be smiling. I think the fighter would be a J-20 sibling. It is relatively a safer bet over the FC-31 as the J-20s are actively being produced and several subsystems could be common with both the versions.Also, 2020 is just a month or so away.
"U.S. is the only first tier country in military aviation. China, Russia, and Europe are in the second tier and it took China a lot of effort to catch up to the second tier. Chinese civilian aviation still needs work."
I suppose the naval fighter is designed for EMALS operations and therefore will come online aboard the EMALS equipped carrier ? So, the J-16 series would be a limited production run reserved for the Ski-ramp carriers. Assuming the two different carriers be operational by 2030s, we would be seeing two different carrier borne fighter jets by then. So... the J-XY naval fighter would be No-STOVL/VTOL/STOL fighter jet, possibly featuring WS-19 engines ( don't pounce on me, it's just a suggestion) and by virtue of that, would be a medium weight fighter jet. So a good peer, sizewise, of F/A-18 and Mig-29.
As Scchwerter_ and ougoah said...a derivative of FC-31 !?
Also, 2020 is just a month or so away.
Since we haven't seen or heard of leaks from CAC about a navalised J-20 in the works, I doubt this is the case. Much more likely the naval fighter will be based on SAC's FC-31 since in the last few months there's been more cover about it maybe by insiders to create some idea that at least one branch of the PLA is interested in this platform.
J-15 will continue to be upgraded I reckon. It's just too much effort wasted to limit the production to two ski carriers. At the very, very least it'll continue to see development as a dedicated EW fighter to support the rest of the future carrier planes; stealth fighter, drones, CATOBAR early warning planes. The only thing missing in this complete arsenal is a heavy fighter that can supplement the 5th gen fighter which I'm assuming will be dedicated air superiority with secondary SEAD roles. They won't be doing long range and heavy strike missions due to payload, bay limit, and range restrictions which a J-15 modernised will not have. Since the J-15's work is pretty much done, why scrap it? Just modernise and fill in the capability gaps.
PLAN will have three carriers soon with more to come. This will be for access denial and striking nearby enemy bases. They will need a carrier borne multirole fighter which can deliver heavy and bulkier payloads a 5th gen simply cannot do without compromising its most useful attribute.
Just a question ... we are now with three threads discussion similar things: This one as a "Breaking News thread", then the regular "FC-31 thread" and finally the "future carrier-borne fighter" thread in the naval section.
IMO it is not useful to have three separate ones and I'm open for suggestions ... how should I merge them?
PS:
Due to the ongoing discussion in three separate threads concerning this new fighter, I decided to create a thread and merged all previous posts from within the last few days into this one.
I know, this thread would easily also fit into the naval section, but since we don't know for the moment, if this newly announced type will be indeed the long awaited new naval fighter or a completely new project, it shall remain here within the PLAAF section:
Therefore, welcome on board in this new thread ... and may we soon get more information on it:
Shenyang / SAC - newly announced 5th generation fighter
IMO it is not useful to have three separate ones and I'm open for suggestions ... how should I merge them?
PS:
Due to the ongoing discussion in three separate threads concerning this new fighter, I decided to create a thread and merged all previous posts from within the last few days into this one.
I know, this thread would easily also fit into the naval section, but since we don't know for the moment, if this newly announced type will be indeed the long awaited new naval fighter or a completely new project, it shall remain here within the PLAAF section:
Therefore, welcome on board in this new thread ... and may we soon get more information on it:
Shenyang / SAC - newly announced 5th generation fighter
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SinoSoldier
Colonel
AVIC's official Weibo account strongly hinted that a FC-31 derivative will become a naval aircraft:
Huitong's updated entry:
(Click on the hyperlink on "J-35" to view the image)
Translation:
The Weibo post included some other images of other existing aircraft, but I didn't include them to save space and to get to the point.
What do you make of it?
Huitong's updated entry:
(Click on the hyperlink on "J-35" to view the image)
Translation:
The Weibo post included some other images of other existing aircraft, but I didn't include them to save space and to get to the point.
What do you make of it?
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SinoSoldier
Colonel
The complete image is here:
Sorry, I tried to edit but was past the 20 minute limit.