Chinese Stealth Fighter (Read 1,172 times)

The first two are about what appears to be a ChiCom stealth fighter or fighter bomber.

The third is about our SecDef's statements concerning the ChiCom capability to build a stealth, and why he dumped the F-22.

Jim Too

:god_bless_usa

China Joins the Stealth Club: China is conducting high-speed taxi tests with what appears to be a stealth aircraft dubbed the J-20. Photos taken from the fence line at the Chengdu aircraft plant in Sichuan province were allowed to circulate last week by China's internet authority, meaning the Chinese want the world to know about it. The disclosure may have something to do with Defense Secretary Robert Gates' upcoming China visit, set for Jan. 9-12. The aircraft is reminiscent of US stealth designs, resembling the nose of the F-22 and the inlets of the F-35. However, it also features canards and an empennage suggesting the abandoned Russian MiG I-42 fighter project, purportedly a stealth concept. The aircraft seems optimized for front-quarter low observability, as the tailcones are standard round exhausts; however, it's not clear whether they are thrust-vectoring. It's also impossible to tell what materials the Chinese may be using in the airframe, or what kind of radar might be under the nose, and wing-shaping details will have to wait on more photos. The aircraft seems not to be a concept demonstrator like the Russian S-37 Berkut, but a more mature and integrated design. The US Air Force had no comment on the new airplane, and referred queries to the State Department, a spokesman for which said, "I have nothing for you on that."

Maybe Not a Fighter: The newly revealed Chinese J-20 might not be China's answer to the F-22 or F-35. With an apparent length of more than 70 feet, the Chinese have apparently designed the aircraft for stealth, speed, and range, with a healthy internal fuel and weapons payload. They may intend it to serve more along the lines of the stillborn FB-22 or RS-23 projects—US stealth fighter designs adapted to the long-range interdiction and strike roles—or, put another way, a kind of low-observable F-111. If so, this aircraft would nicely fill a now-empty niche in China's strike portfolio and exactly conform to China's strategy of blunting US forces at long range from mainland China. Aviation experts say the Shenyang design bureau in Liaoning province is working on its own stealth project, possibly designated J-12 or J-13, which might be more of a true air superiority fighter than Chengdu's J-20.



China Didn't Get the Memo: The appearance of what is being called the J-20—China's new stealthy looking aircraft—seemingly beats predictions by Defense Secretary Robert Gates as to when China would join the stealth club. Justifying his decision to halt F-22 Raptor production at 187 airframes—less than half the Air Force's stated need—Gates said in June 2009 that, in 2020, the United States would have "roughly 1,200" stealth combat aircraft while "the Chinese will have zero." Gates went on to say that five years later, in 2025, China would have "a few hundred" stealth aircraft, while the US would have 1,700. Just two months earlier, in April 2009, Gates reported seeing intelligence that Russia would achieve initial operating capability with a fifth generation fighter in 2016, while China would lag by four more years. A Gates spokesmen did not provide a comment by press time. The most recent official US multi-agency report on Chinese military capabilities, the annual report to Congress issued in August, was utterly silent on the subject of a stealth capability for China, speaking only in broad terms about how China is pursuing "anti access" and "area denial" capabilities.