Shenyang FC-31 / J-31 Fighter Demonstrator

vesicles said:

Uh guys, let's just agree that this has been mutual beneficial for both the US and China.

Click to expand...

that's right vesicles, and now folks back to the STAR of our little show tonight,, the Shenyang J-31, well guys what about that second prototype, and pics or sources would be nice, but optional. Seems we were seeing it more until just lately??? and a second prototype would help us a lot, seems the J-31 is around the size of an F-18 or Mig-29 weight wise???

foxmulder_ms said:

What type of altitude is that!? You made a "comment" and upon receiving a response you are not pleased, you want to stop the discussion? Especially, after writing more about it again? Good grief... Well, typical.

Ask yourself a simple question: Did Apple or Foxconn make more money from their trade deals? That has been the relation between America and China.

Click to expand...

I am simply acknowledging that I MYSELF was off topic, I sent you a pm, start a thread and pm me with the thread, and I will be happy to share my feeling and listen to your's, sorry if what I wrote was off putting and yes, business people make a lot of money off the labor of their employees, or else they go out of business, but not saying that's always fair??? brat

Aeronaut said:

I didn't claim that its 'definately a list of the Chinese 5th gen platform'. Please read my post once more.

Click to expand...

Okay, fine. Thanks for clarifying that it is not.

Aeronaut said:

First of all i am yet to find an engine that has costed 'hundreds of billions of dollars' (excuse my ignorance here).

Click to expand...

Fifth generation aircraft and their general definition for super cruise and super manuverability is what I am speaking of...and yes, the industry has thrown hundreds of billions of dollars at that.

Aeronaut said:

That is a pessimistic projection, i would chose to disagree with.

Click to expand...

I am very upbeat about what the Chinese are doing. IMHO, my prediction is not what I would classify as pessimistic...more realistic. And it is fine to disagree with it.

since no new photos can be found recently...

foxmulder said:

I have a hunch you might have said the same thing to someone who said "China will be testing 2 stealth fighters, an UCAV, a carrier based fighter and couple other new variants of existing fighters in five years" 5 years ago.

I certainly was.

Click to expand...

Despite what you may have thought, you would have been wrong in your hunch about me.

I have been predicting a much more rapid rise of Chinese technology and capabilities for well over ten years.

foxmulder said:

I have a hunch you might have said the same thing to someone who said "China will be testing 2 stealth fighters, an UCAV, a carrier based fighter and couple other new variants of existing fighters in five years" 5 years ago.

I certainly was.

Click to expand...

But would you like to guess where they will be with these projects in 5 years time or indeed what other new projects will be undertaken. I know I would not like to have to commit to a guess.

Predicting the pace and results of any nations military/technological process is like looking for a Radio Channel on a very wide spectrum. The truth only occupies a very narrow band. Get it wrong one way and your a "basher" get it wrong the other and your a "fan boy".
Hard to get it right even when you can hear perfectly, far more difficult if you are deaf.

Jeff is a professional and like most professionals will tend towards conservative estimates as a matter of best practice.
I agree with such conservatism, as it means that most of the surprises you get are pleasant ones.

Seems as if our friend '31001' is back ! ... cant wait for the seond prototype !

Deino

Hi Deino

I have a question for you.
I know people looking at this plane like to get carried away with the thoughts of very advanced sub systems of various types, but I want to know about the other end and (if you like) the value of the airframe and its design by itself.

My question is this
If Shenyang outfitted an operational plane in the J-31 Airframe, equipped with the standard engine and avionics from their Flanker variants, what sort of Aircraft would you have?

To admit I'm honored by Your question but I think there are several other, who could explain or answer much better than me ... most of all I think of 'Bltizo', 'tphuang' and 'siegecrossbow' ... and I'm sure I missed many more.

But let my try: I think overall airframe wise and in regard to its configuration and general layout it is a promising design, which - like Bill Sweetman already mocked - would be what the US JSF could have been without the penalty of the VSTOL-version. As such I'm confident that even with current 'standard' items derived from the current Flanker-series a very potent fighter could be build.

The weak point however is the powerplant since the current RD-33 is simply too much out of date, has a too low thrust and most like to high fuel consumption ... and esp. is too smoky ! Again as such if a new powerplant could be used, the all said above could be done.

Deino