SteelBird
Colonel
Ever since J-20, I've heard about J-14, J-15, J-16, J-18 and J-19. I am now totally confused...
LOL. Only believe things when they are proved...
Ever since J-20, I've heard about J-14, J-15, J-16, J-18 and J-19. I am now totally confused...
I did a quick google search and found the plane to be named J-14. If this true, it's truly impressive for PRC to co-develop both the (F-22 and F-35 alike) in the same time span.
Ever since J-20, I've heard about J-14, J-15, J-16, J-18 and J-19. I am now totally confused...
J-14 probably doesn't exist -- 4 in Chinese culture is considered as bad as 13 in Western culture. A F-35 style fighter is years away and probalby hasn't been given a J-designation as of yet. It's more likely for JH-7B to exist at the moment than a Chinese F-35 type fighter.
My 2 cents on J-10+ designations:
J-11, J-13 (cold war interceptor/fighter, never completed), J-15 (naval flanker), J-16 (silent flanker, has yet to be confirmed that it exists), J-18/J-19 (SAC proposal for J-XX which failed, number could be given for follow up fighter to J-15), J-20.
Of the above only J-20, J-11/B, J-15 are confirmed to exist and we'll hopefully get photos of J-16 sometime this year.
But what's certain at the moment is that there is no singled engined stealth fighter down the pipeline -- they've probably begun studies on it, but i estimate it may take a decade until we start seeing pictures or even definite rumors.
There is no J-15 follow-up. J-18 or J-19 are simply speculated designations given to designs. Huitong vaguely mentions that a design called J-19 is in early development, but it is unconfirmed.
J-16 is SAC's stealth version of J-11B.
J-14 may simply be another name for the J-20. However, the stealth fighter-bomber at SAC may adopt another designation.
JH-7B is essentially the Chinese equivalent of the F-35 (except with two engines).
There may be a single-engine stealthy fighter in China that is developed from the JF-17. There was a report of a MoU signed between China and Pakistan to develop a stealth version of the JF-17 a few years back. A later article states that a variant of the JF-17, called YFC-1E, has been successfully developed.