China's J-20 Stealth Fighter Stuns By Brandishing Full Load Of Missiles At Zhuhai Air Show - China's J-20 Stealth Fighter 2.jpg ...

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On the last day of China's biennial air show and weapons expo in Zhuhai, a pair
of the country's J-20 heavy stealth fighters added a surprise twist to their
routine—they popped open their weapons bays and showed off full magazines of
missiles. This is the first time such a full load of weapons has been fully
exposed and the first time China has officially shown off the jet's complete
internal weapons configuration in the flesh.

What we see isn't necessarily surprising, but it is interesting nonetheless. In
the main ventral bays, the J-20 is carrying four PL-15 medium-to-long-range
air-to-air missiles. The type is somewhat analogous to the American AIM-120D
AMRAAM. Speculation about what missile actually would hold the PL-15 designation
has bounced around a lot, with very long-range missiles and those fitted with
throttleable ramjets also potentially receiving the designation, but now it
seems the PL-15 is indeed a dual-pulse motor and AESA equipped missile with a
similar profile as its predecessor PL-12. The PL-12 is loosely analogous to the
AIM-120A/B.

Note that even with their clipped fins, only four PL-15s are mounted in the
J-20's bays in a similar fashion to the YF-22's missile configuration. It isn't
clear exactly what the launch mechanism for these missiles is based on these
photos. A staggered arrangement with six PL-15s may be possible in the future by
the looks of the bays, but this depends a lot on the how the missiles are
ejected from the bay itself. The F-22 uses a trapeze launcher system to chuck
the missiles clear of the bay. The J-20's main weapons bays also look remarkably
uncluttered, which makes one wonder if the missiles are just mounted to static
hardpoints inside, but this is doubtful as what appear to be launchers have been
visible in the J-20s bays for years.



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