High-Quality Shots Of Unpainted Chinese J-20 Stealth Fighter Offer New Capability Insights [3/5] - Chinese J-20 Stealth Fighter 4.jpg (1/1)

-----I posted about this aircraft 4/27/2018 as Chengdu J-20...see that for
details

more at
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...ility-insights

The steady flow of intriguing new images of China's stealthy heavy
fighter-interceptor, the J-20, continues over seven years after the jet first
appeared. The aircraft is already in operational service with the People's
Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and it continues to evolve and spread its
wings, participating in increasingly high-profile joint-exercises and
deployments near hotspots along China's borders. Three new shots help us better
understand the build quality of this game-changing machine as well as handicap
some aspects of its true capabilities. But above all else, like I have stressed
since its first appearance, the photos are a reminder that China's ability to
make great leaps in aerospace materials and manufacturing sciences should not be
underestimated.

The latest images, which recently emerged on Chinese internet, show a J-20
without its gray paint and in its primer coating flying out of Chengdu Aircraft
Company's plant and test airfield. We have seen the J-20 in its yellow
undercoatings before, but these images are very detailed in comparison to the
vast majority of the shots that have surfaced in the past. Note that the dragon
symbols on the nose and tail were added in post-processing and were not actually
painted on the aircraft.

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The jet's giant maneuvering canard foreplanes are also displayed in grand
fashion. These control surfaces help to give the big jet its agility, although
they are unlikely to move much when the aircraft is in combat cruise
configuration where minimizing its frontal radar signature is critical to its
survival. They also work as big air brakes during rollout after touching down.

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Maybe the most interesting of all is the under-nose optical sensor system. In
the past, China has been quite sensitive about showing off this chin-mounted
sensor enclosure, with it being blurred out in official J-20 images and videos.
For a long time, the enclosure didn't really even exist, with an aerodynamic
fairing acting as a placeholder. Then it seemed as if a fairly simple looking
golden-mirrored enclosure with a far wider field of view than the one we see in
these latest pictures appeared for a while. But this was likely just another
placeholder—one with the added benefit of confusing foreign intelligence
agencies.

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In these photos, we also get to see the fine details of the construction of the
J-20's outer airframe, and they look very similar to those found on the F-22,
and in some cases, on F-35, although the aircraft doesn't feature the continuous
curvature structures of the latter aircraft and is far more akin generally the
F-22 in this regard. Still, the construction quality appears to be quite
impressive, with the near seamless joining of structures, sawtoothed access
hatches and operating doors, edge-aligned apertures, and overall smooth
surfaces.

None of this comes as that much of a surprise as China has become a master at
cyber espionage and the theft of classified intellectual property from America's
most capable defense contractors. In particular, these operations have targeted
stealth aircraft programs, with vast amounts of data being stolen over the last
decade or so. Still, as I have said for many years, the J-20's overall shape and
configuration has far more in common with defunct Russian fighter programs than
American ones.

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The J-20 remains a highly interesting machine that will continue to improve in
the coming decade. Powerplants have been a continuing issue for type, but China
is making strides when it comes to indigenous engine manufacturing capabilities
as well. But even without extreme kinematic performance, the J-20 appears to be
a potent and stealthy sensor and weapons platform that could prove to be very
challenging to deal with, especially when combined with creative cooperative
platform tactics.

Yet what's most impressive is that China has leapfrogged Russia when it comes to
advanced fighter aircraft design in most respects. And by many indications, that
disparity will continue to widen with each passing day as the J-20 fleet grows
and evolves while Russia's Su-57 program stagnates towards irrelevance.






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