Dissecting Chinese stealth aircraft

The fact that China's new J-20 "Black Eagle" fighter planes has just had a successful test flight and attracted the attention of observers around the globe. But after the aura has vanished, it has been found that the aircraft has too many disadvantages to become a true 5th generation stealth fighter.

The launch of the J-22 was extremely grand, according to Chinese standards. For months, Western journalists and analysts have been speculating about China's new aircraft when some strange photos appear and quickly disappear on the Internet, drawing an airplane. Stealth brings many hybrid features of Russian and American aircraft. At the end of December, official photos appeared and followed the flight to test the success of the famous aircraft.

Bomber?

Bill Sweetman, a veteran aviation journalist of Defense Technology International Weekly, judged that, looking at the shape, the new aircraft looks like a stealth aircraft and is optimized for high-altitude flights. , long range. For comparison purposes, Western aircraft are often designed to maximize ' stealth ' under radar waves and Russian aircraft often emphasize speed, range and ability to carry large weapons.

J-20 on the first test flight

 

Compared to the US F-22 models and the Russian PAK-FA / T-50 test version, the J-20 model is large. Using an underground logistic vehicle as a gauge, Sweetman estimates the J-20 to be about 23m long. Meanwhile the T-50 is only 22m long and the F-22 is 20m long, the F-35 is 17m long. Size emphasizes much on the role of aircraft. Most fighters now have the ability to attack targets on the ground and in the air. But according to Sweetman, the bigger the aircraft, the more prone to its bombing role . Based on this, Sweetman confirmed that the J-20 would likely play the role of an American F-111 bomber .

Sweetman also pointed out that invisibility elements focus heavily on the head of the J-20, with a chisel-shaped nose and trapezoidal air-suction like the US F-22. This feature becomes useful when the J-20 needs to fly straight to a target lying still on the ground undetected. That's why Sweetman is more convinced that the J-20 plays a bombing role than a fighter.

Limited invisibility

Analysts Carlo Kopp and Peter Goon of Air Power Australia consulting organization disagreed with Sweetman's opinion. They assessed that the J-20 was a heavy fighter, designed to fly deep into enemy territory and destroy command, refueling and electronic warfare aircraft, which played an important role in US air strikes.

The model of the J-20 The Black Eagle is drawing much attention from China

According to The Diplomat , both Sweetman and these two analysts have a reasonable point of view. But the capabilities they mentioned about the expected role of the J-20 greatly emphasized the invisibility feature . On this point, except for the head and air intake, the J-20 contains very few invisibility elements . It even equipped extra wings, called canard wings, in front of the main wing. The canard wing can increase stability for high-mobility aircraft, enabling the aircraft to quickly rotate at low speeds. The canard wing is used to reduce airframe vibrations but ' help ' greatly reduce the aircraft's invisibility factor.

In addition, the J-20's tail is not ' invisible ' due to its 2 nozzle (nozzle) not designed to reduce heat signals. It also has no angular vector propulsion like fourth-generation aircraft, making it difficult to avoid being detected by enemy radar. In addition, a stealth plane is based not only on the styling but also on the special paint, countless sensors attached and an extremely complex electronic system. These elements of J-20 are still big unknown.

Difficult to equip in the near future

After reviewing the characteristics, analysts believe that the new J-20 appears to have more bomber roles and can serve Chinese air strikes aimed at surface targets. land. But it does not exclude the J-20, which only serves as a device for demonstrating new technologies . There are many such aircraft hanging in American warehouses and museums like the YF-23 flying from the mid-1990s that look a lot like the J-20. Russia also produced the MiG-1.44 and Su-47. Both have impressive looks and parameters but have never gone into mass production.

Even if the J-20 was chosen to be equipped, the outsider could never know when those aircraft would appear in mass in the Chinese army. General He Weirong, deputy commander of the Chinese Air Force said in 2009 that a country's stealth fighter will be tested and deployed ' within 8-10 years '. It was a speedy time because the F-22 needed 15 years of research and development to be a complete fighter.

The F-35 is expected to take up to 16 years following the initial test operation of the X-35 in 2000. Sukhoi is expected to hand over the first PAK FA / T-50 to Russian troops. 2015, only 6 years after the first flight of the prototype. But the Russians have a tradition of testing a few dozen new aircraft to refine, before producing them at large scale. Therefore, Mr. Weirong's statement seems to have a lot of optimism.

Even when the J-20 appears, no one can be sure that it will be an effective weapon. Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at US Teal Group, told Defense Tech that a modern fighter needs 11 supporting elements to be effective, including detailed planning, pilot pilots. talented and disciplined, highly qualified ground maintenance personnel, precision weapons, modern radar and systems inside aircraft, radar detecting enemy supplied by aircraft, aircraft reliable relay . According to Diplomatic, in the above factors, Beijing has only mastered a single element, which is the plane, after subtracting the engine.