JF-17/FC-1 Fighter Aircraft thread

[phrozenflame]

The Block 50/52+ is as good as most Western aircraft were in 2015. The F-16s were the only combat aircraft for many NATO members. The F-16 was also the most common aircraft in the US inventory. Most of the said F-16s were Block 50 equivalents or lower. Outperforming all non-AESA F-16 variants is no joke.

Cheaper, sanction proof and with a longer range BVR missile. Just Block-2s & F-16 Block-52s caused enough alarm in India after swift-retort, that they panic bought Rafales. Go back 10-15 years and PAF hardly had BVR capabilities and MKIs ruled the skies.

 

[Temstar]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1738915964086022196

That's a big claim, the AGP-63 on F-15SA is AESA too right?

 

[Gloire_bb]

well, 2000s adapted frontend AESA v. newly developed 2020s AESA isn't exactly a fair competition, regardless of power/cooling.
p.s. SA should have an/apg-82, no?

 

[Blitzo]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1738915964086022196

That's a big claim, the AGP-63 on F-15SA is AESA too right?

While I'm sure the JF-17 Block III was impressive to participants given its previous iterations were very much 4th gen (rather than 4.5th gen), I wouldn't take claims about competitive/comparative performance in exercises too seriously, especially from a statement so brief as that.

If something seems too exciting then it probably in reality isn't.

 

[Albatross]

Well, why not?
PL-15 is an overall better PL-12, within almost the same size and weight.
It's outright a given that it makes all the sense in the world to integrate it onto at least block 3 aircraft.

These images are actually from 2019. And the rumor (supported by these photos) goes as follows:

A few Blk 2s were retrofitted with a chinese AESA and armed with PL-15s

 

[siegecrossbow]

You have to keep in mind that AESA radar itself has different tiers. Most military enthusiasts only know about GaAS vs GaN or more TR elements is better, but they don’t know the advantage that signal processing, such as digital phase array, can impart. The latest variant of KLJ-7A may have benefited from both advances in material and signal processing compared with older but nominally more powerful AESA, and the smaller frontal RCS profile of the JF-17 could make it a difficult foe when flown by skilled pilots.

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[gelgoog]

You have to keep in mind that AESA radar itself has different tiers. Most military enthusiasts only know about GaAS vs GaN or more TR elements is better, but they don’t know the advantage that signal processing, such as digital phase array, can impart. The latest variant of KLJ-7A may have benefited from both advances in material and signal processing compared with older but nominally more powerful AESA, and the smaller frontal RCS profile of the JF-17 could make it a difficult foe when flown by skilled pilots.

The first generation of GaA AESA radar wasn't actually that great. Look at the specifications for the Japanese F-2 fighter radar for example. This is why Russia didn't use GaA radar in the Su-35. They tried out first generation GaA radar technology and it was worse than the upgraded Irbis radar. Second generation GaA radar is way more capable and better than the technology in the Irbis radar, and GaN, which is third generation AESA radar is better still.

 

[tphuang]

You have to keep in mind that AESA radar itself has different tiers. Most military enthusiasts only know about GaAS vs GaN or more TR elements is better, but they don’t know the advantage that signal processing, such as digital phase array, can impart. The latest variant of KLJ-7A may have benefited from both advances in material and signal processing compared with older but nominally more powerful AESA, and the smaller frontal RCS profile of the JF-17 could make it a difficult foe when flown by skilled pilots.

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the GaN technology continues to improves with greater power output and miniaturization

better cooling tech

better sensor fusion & signal processing obviously

Higher computation power

ofc, you could also just argue about the system wide sensor fusion

The country that hosts Huawei & ZTE should have top of the line tech in terms of generating different waves and processing them.

 

[Gloire_bb]

The first generation of GaA AESA radar wasn't actually that great. Look at the specifications for the Japanese F-2 fighter radar for example. This is why Russia didn't use GaA radar in the Su-35. They tried out first generation GaA radar technology and it was worse than the upgraded Irbis radar. Second generation GaA radar is way more capable and better than the technology in the Irbis radar, and GaN, which is third generation AESA radar is better still.

F-2 radar(at least, the first iteration) was a special level of horrible for a lot of money, but even a bit later, apart from inherent AESA (ESA really) advantages, AN/APG-79 wasn't seen as especially more capable a2a set than AN/APG-73.

All things combined, fighter AESA truly becomes more and more decisive as it becomes more mature and multifunctional, i.e. from ~mid 2010s onwards.
There are, of course, very capable earlier sets (An/APG-77), but that came at a price.

 

[Deino]

Guys … please stick to the topic and do not discuss any random AESA