Shenyang FC-31 / J-31 Fighter Demonstrator

Status
Not open for further replies.

Deino

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
You're a lot quicker on the keyboard than I am Dieno?? Its 2 degree's F here in Central Obamastan and I'm trying to thaw my keyboard out over a steaming pot of Kold Borsche!


I'm trying to avoid the whole morning successfully working on the corrections...
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
I'm trying to avoid the whole morning successfully working on the corrections...

Yeppers, that's the benefit of being a substitute, no parents, not to much interference from admin, and no homework! Since I took a couple of bus-routes for full time and health insurance, I only sub occasionally.

We had a small "ice-storm" Friday afternoon as we were driving the students home for Christmas break, the guy driving the newest bus, bumped into the back of another bus, causing about 6 or 7 thousand in damage, and puncturing the radiator on the newest bus, which had to be replaced by our oldest bus to take those children home.

Thankfully, I avoided that con-flaguration, and now am on "Christmas Break", but we do have Sunday School in an hour or so??
 

kwaigonegin

Colonel
The question remains as to whether the PLAAF/NAF defines a "hi-lo" mix as a J-20 & FC-31 pair or a J-20 & 4th-generation pair, and it's increasingly suggestive that the latter is true.

One possible swaying factor would be the recent "Red Sword" exercises, in which the newly-inducted J-20 allegedly wiped the floor with 4th generation fighters. The PLAAF/NAF might see greater merit in 5th generation aircraft after that and perhaps start adopting low-end 5th generation aircraft as the "lo" portion of the mix.

I'd like to point out that (and I also had harbored the wrong notion for quite some while) the F-22 and F-35 are not a hi-lo combo but rather two platforms that offer distinctive capabilities. The J-20 in a way combines the roles & functions of the F-22 & 35.
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
That's why I said f15/16 never said f22/f35.. They are different aircrafts a,ltogether and the F 22 weren't built enough in numbers anyway to have any true combo.
F-22 two is an extreme force multi player. They could likely support at least 12 4gens! TheF-35 will make that a triple!
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator

The question remains as to whether the PLAAF/NAF defines a "hi-lo" mix as a J-20 & FC-31 pair or a J-20 & 4th-generation pair, and it's increasingly suggestive that the latter is true.

One possible swaying factor would be the recent "Red Sword" exercises, in which the newly-inducted J-20 allegedly wiped the floor with 4th generation fighters. The PLAAF/NAF might see greater merit in 5th generation aircraft after that and perhaps start adopting low-end 5th generation aircraft as the "lo" portion of the mix.

I'd like to point out that (and I also had harbored the wrong notion for quite some while) the F-22 and F-35 are not a hi-lo combo but rather two platforms that offer distinctive capabilities. The J-20 in a way combines the roles & functions of the F-22 & 35.
The F-35 and F-22 were intended from the beginning to function as a Hi-Lo combo. And they are being matched as a pair of two ships. That is being denied by the Australian Bros on DT.
 

cloyce

Junior Member
Hi guys, I have a theory.
Since the chinese usually adopt ruses to deceive their rivals, is it possible that J-31 might be intended to be a shipborne aircraft from the start? I mean, SAC may be waiting the completion of tests of J-20 and its subsystems so the experiences gained could be trasferred to the J-31 programme in order to speed it up.
In the meantime, no alarm bells will ring in the Pentagon.
 

Blitzo

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
Hi guys, I have a theory.
Since the chinese usually adopt ruses to deceive their rivals, is it possible that J-31 might be intended to be a shipborne aircraft from the start? I mean, SAC may be waiting the completion of tests of J-20 and its subsystems so the experiences gained could be trasferred to the J-31 programme in order to speed it up.
In the meantime, no alarm bells will ring in the Pentagon.

That's not much of a ruse -- the speculation that FC-31 may be adopted for a carrierborne variant has been around for as long as the first prototype made its first flight years ago, and I'm sure the US military would suspect China is intending to develop a 5th generation carrierborne fighter sooner or later.


Whether there is anything specific going on like SAC waiting for tests of J-20 and J-20 subsystems to gain experience is another matter, and I don't think that would change the calculus for outside observers about whether FC-31 may end up being adopted for carrier use.


More importantly, I think your speculation that "SAC" is waiting to make their move on FC-31 is having the tail wag the dog. The decision for whether the military/navy adopts FC-31 in any form is the military's/navy's, not on SAC. SAC can of course try to use whatever tactic that they can develop to increase the aircraft's appeal to the PLA but the decision is still up to the PLA themselves. And as far as we know the PLA have not committed to it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top