JF-17/FC-1 Fighter Aircraft thread
- Thread starter johnqh
- Start date
SinoSoldier
Colonel
Possibly. Where is the IRST, for starters?
Well we can see a wide angle HUD that looks like it might be the same one as on J-20.
Also visible are what appears to be front facing MAWS.
The nose landing gear also has LED lights similar to JF-17B as well as some other aircraft.
As with all past PLA reveals, there are probably dozens or hundreds of photos that were taken at the time, but it'll take time for the full pictures to be revealed, followed by higher quality ones in time.
Was there ever an expectation of IRST?
The most significant sensor change afaik was the AESA; for which we might see a change in the radome geometry. That of course would explain why the pictures so far have left out the nose for now.
SinoSoldier
Colonel
IRST was also one of the expectations of the Block III. But it's not a critical capability.
Over the last year or so I think there have been a few credible articles that have clarified what we could expect from Block III (after all, the Pakistani military is a lot more open than the PLA are, so traditional defense journalism as more of a role here), this article for example being one of them.
I do not recall reading any articles over the last year or more suggesting that an IRST would be part of the upgrade tbh.
I don't want to offend anyone ... No it was not in the same way the swept tail was not and so on! It was expected by some fan-boys, which forgot that the new tail was added due to the new front section. As such with still being a single seater, there was no need - and even more quite to the contrary - no reason for the swept tail.
But as I and several other reliable and reasonable ones expected - and it is not to mock anyone: I said since months, all fans will be disappointed, who expected a semi-stealthy larger, wider, bigger, and so on aircraft. It is more or less the same and the changes are mostly under the skin.