J-21/J-31 Chinese 5th Generation Stealth Fighter

J20!

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2011
Messages
2,748
Likes
1,541
Country flag
Continued. Note the EOTS-like system that also features on the J20... The vertical stabilizers and redesigned aft section in general are also very interesting...



 

J20!

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2011
Messages
2,748
Likes
1,541
Country flag
"Military Aircraft Conceptual Cockpit",












Some high-resolution close-up photos of this simulator:

(1824x1216)


(1084x1780)


(1024x683)
 

CCP

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
1,204
Likes
196
We can see these are 2 different engines on this FC-31.

One is WS-13? or new version of RD93?
 
Last edited:

asianobserve

Tihar Jail
Banned
Joined
May 5, 2011
Messages
12,846
Likes
8,556
Country flag
Just how good is China's new 'stealth' fighter? - CNN.com

The FC-31's flight routine shows that it "bleeds" too much energy -- so when it enters into a turn it begins to lose altitude. Even during straight and level flight the pilot has to engage the engine's afterburners in order to keep the aircraft from sinking to a lower altitude. These are defects in the aircraft's aerodynamic design that a Russian design team would not have made.
 

ersakthivel

Brilliance
Senior Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2011
Messages
7,029
Likes
8,762
Country flag
add this also, from the same link,

Western aerospace analysts point out that the FC-31 flown at Zhuhai is a "clean" jet in that it is not armed, which means that an aircraft configured for a real mission and fitted with weapons would be even heavier and would perform even worse.

Timing a coincidence?

So, why has the PLAAF chosen to exhibit an aircraft that is either overweight, underpowered or both?

It could be an oblique signal to Washington timed to coincide with President Barack Obama's visit to Beijing for the APEC summit. The underlying message: "China is stronger than you think."


This would not be the first such example of China trying to use its defense industry to flex its muscles. In January 2011, when the J-20 first flew, then-U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was in Beijing for an official visit. His read was that the timing of the two events was in no way coincidental.

Unfortunately for the PLA, the gesture falls flat.

Many would have been more impressed by the FC-31 in photos posted on Chinese websites than after seeing it actually fly at the air show.

Looks can be deceiving, as they say
.
It looks fantastic in photos. In reality unless they develop a cutting edge engine, it would have lesser Thrust to weight ratio, lesser range and far less close combat specs than Mig-29. Because of the drag penalty imposed by the boxy airframe (due to internal weapon bays) adversely affecting its aerodynamics.

The high wing loading low surface area wing does not conform to the low wing loading RSS fly by wire airframe break through fighter planes(all of them including F-22 have far larger wing area,i.e low wing loading) after 1980.It is behind even mirage-2000 design philosophy on this count

In effect J-31 will suffer from worse aerodynamic with boxy air frame ,low wing area ,high wing loading wing (so lower amount of lift from wings relative to it's weight ),which wont allow the fighter to reach good ITR vital in close combat.

It can neither accommodate newer AL series engines like the J-20 can and will be tied down to the older unreliable RD-93 engine far longer significantly affecting its combat capability.

SO it will need breakthrough engine development that will give it high Thrust to weight ratio to compensate for all the above problems and to make it fighting fit in the post stealth world , where stealth will be counted as just a survival aid and not the be all and by all of fighter combat.

It is next to impossible that china will develop such engine tech (higher than the one required for f-22 engines ) in time to make this plane workable option to any export customer. SO while it can remain stealth and fitted with weapons for ground and air to air role , it will be some thing better than stealth UCAVs and not a true fighter for a long time to come.

Once anti stealth radars proliferate j-31 may become irrelevant too soon,reason why PLAF is not interested in buying them and Pakistan is interested in buying them.

Exactly the same thing happened with JF-17, PLAF wouldn't buy it and Pakistan is the only country that is operating this fighter and has the impossible task of getting it upto 1990s tech level to say the least.
 
Last edited:

Martian

Respected Member
Senior Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2009
Messages
1,624
Likes
423
Here's a point-by-point comparison of frontal RCS for J-31 vs. F-22

Transparent RAM-coated cockpit canopy: J-31 and F-22. Tie.
Continuous curvature upper radome. J-31 and F-22. Tie.
Faceted lower radome. J-31 and F-22. Tie.
DSI (diverterless supersonic inlet). J-31 only. This means J-31 is stealthier.
J-31 is physically smaller. This means J-31 is stealthier. Less area to reflect radar waves.

In evaluating the frontal RCS of the J-31 and F-22 in X-band, the J-31 is stealthier than the F-22 in two categories and ties in three categories. The J-31 has DSI that blocks radar waves from entering the air intakes and reflecting. Thus, the frontal RCS of the J-31 must be marble-sized or smaller.

 
Last edited:

tharun

Patriot
Senior Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
Messages
2,149
Likes
1,377
Country flag
Is that true J-31 is only for export not for domestic use
 
Last edited:

salute

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2015
Messages
2,174
Likes
1,094
China’s Copycat Jet Raises Questions About F-35
SEPTEMBER 23, 2015BY MARCUS WEISGERBER

Did the Chinese theft of data on the US fighter jet and other weapons shrink the Pentagon's technical superiority?

New technical specs about China’s new J-31 fighter, a plane designed to rival the American-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, popped up on a Chinese blog last week. So who has the advantage — the U.S. or China?
China’s twin-engine design bears a striking resemblance to the single-jet F-35. Still, the Joint Strike Fighter is expected to fly slightly farther and carry a heavier load of weapons, according to the data, which was first reported by Jane’s.

Military experts say that while the J-31 looks like, and may even fly like, the F-35, it’s what’s under the hood and embedded in the skin that really matters. The U.S. has the better computer software, unique sensors and other hardware, stealth coating, and engines technology—all critical attributes that make fifth-generation aircraft different than the military jets of last century.

Exactly how long that advantage lasts is up for debate; senior Pentagon officials and experts believe American technology superiority is shrinking. That means the U.S. military’s weapons will not overmatch adversaries for as long as they have in past decades.

“It’s basically, are they producing weapon systems that have fifth-generation characteristics that potentially nullify some of our planned advantages in the future battlespace,” said Peter Singer, a strategist and senior fellow at New America.



“[W]e were depending more so on the [American weapons] having that generation-ahead edge, and if we don’t have that generation-ahead edge, that is incredibly scary for us in various scenarios,” Singer said.

U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work and acquisition chief Frank Kendall have spent much of the past two years warning that the U.S. military’s technology advantage is eroding.

“What it does is reduce the cost and lead time of our adversaries to doing their own designs, so it gives away a substantial advantage,” Kendall said of cyber espionage at a 2013 Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing.

Since then, Work and Kendall have been leading projects to find technologies that will give the American military an advantage on the battlefield of the future.

China is suspected of stealing F-35 design data in 2009. U.S. officials have said classified information was not stolen in that breach, but in 2011 it emerged that China was building a multirole, stealth fighter of its own that could strike targets in the air and on the ground, like the F-35. The J-31 flew for the first time in 2012.

The Pentagon huddled with defense companies in 2007 to urge firms to better protect their networks. Companies are attempting to beef up their cybersecurity, but there is a gap in the security talent, said Justin Harvey, chief security officer for Fidelis Cybersecurity, a firm that works with the U.S. government and private industry.

“They’re buying these tools, but they’re not investing a ton in the people,” he said. Whenever a company is attacked, they typically call Fidelis or similar cybersecurity firms to consult because they don’t have employees with the training or experience to assess the breach.

“I think 90 percent of U.S. companies are not equipped to deal with cyber espionage,” Harvey said.

The defense industrial base and financial services industry are the best-protected, he said.

Cyber espionage allows rival companies to get access to the information gleaned during testing “for the cost of breaching your network,” Singer said.

Cyber theft allows China to save tens of billions of dollars in research-and-development, the experimentation and testing a new weapon goes through before it reaches the battlefield, experts say. While the Chinese jet fighters might still be inferior to the American planes, not having to do early research and development allows them to focus on upgrades and improvements.

This means the 10- to 20-year advantage an aircraft like the F-35 was supposed have on the battlefield might not be there, Singer said. Those Chinese plans could then compete against U.S.-made aircraft 20 years from now when the U.S. government allows more and more allies to buy the F-35.

“Those future competitions will be incredibly difficult because we’ll have paid the R&D for our competitors,” Singer said.

Increased research-and-development costs, ever common in Pentagon acquisition projects, often lead to a decrease in the total number of items purchased. Most recently, this was the case with the F-35’s older brother, the F-22 Raptor. The Air Force had wanted more than 700 planes, a number cut first to 381 and ultimately to 187.

“The expense of our fifth-generation [fighter aircraft] means we have not been able to buy as many as we want,” Singer said.

But the F-35, unlike previous aircraft, has been designed to receive upgrades over the years, which will ultimately improve its capabilities, allowing it defeat new threats.

F-35 development will end in October 2017. After that the program will move into a “follow-on development” phase, said F-35 project spokesman Joe DellaVedova. “One of the F-35’s great strengths is that it’s a growth platform, so its software, its processors, its radar, its capability; there’s a lot of room for growth.”

The jet fighters will get software and hardware upgrades every two years on an alternating basis.

The F-35 itself and its ground equipment undergo multiple tests each year to make sure the systems can withstand cyber attack, DellaVedova said. “We take the cyber threat very seriously,” he said.

While the Chinese planes might still have inferior systems, stealing intellectual property and subsequent R&D savings also allows Beijing to make drastic changes in prototypes.

For the J-20, a Chinese stealth fighter being built to rival the F-22, there have been numerous prototypes in which the plane’s design has become stealthier, Singer said.

“Their designs, their capabilities are shifting from prototype to prototype in a way that has not happening with the current way that we are building our fifth-gen systems,” he said.
 

shiphone

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
2,162
Likes
2,478
Country flag
some update about the project...

The latest images suggested that the high-speed taxi test of the 02 prototype started on December 18, 2016. Its first flight took place on December 23, 2016.


the new released image about the maiden flight. the chasing plane was a J-11BS trainer...



actually the 2nd prototype of FC-31 project is keep test flying these days althouth it seems far from the public eyes...



----------------------------

01 and 02 prototype..



 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Neo

kunal1123

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2017
Messages
594
Likes
1,142
Country flag
idrw.org
China's Improved J-31 Stealth Fighter Jet Ramps up Test Flights, Could Replace J-10
2-3 minutes
SOURCE: CHINATOPIX



The prototype of China’s improved J-31 stealth fighter has been ramping up test flights last month, stirring speculation that it will become the stealth fighter for Chinese aircraft carriers.

Rumors earlier surfaced of the viability of the J-31 program as the first prototype failed to fly with advanced avionics such as an infrared search and tack (IRST) sensor and stealth features including vertical stabilizers. Furthermore, although its manufacturer, the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC), introduced the J-31 as an export fifth generation fighter during domestic and international air shows, neither the PLAAF nor overseas buyers showed interest in the project.

The J-31’s viability remained uncertain until the improved prototype was released last December, in which the fighter jet is three tons heaver and 20 inches longer. Developments flaunted included an improved IRST sensor, stealthier wings, cleaner burning engines, and an enhanced radar.

SAC officials further said that the production J-31s could flaunt supercruise capabilities and domestic WS-13E or WS-17 turbofan engines to give a significant speed advantage. The combination of J-31’s high-speed performance and its suggested 6 PL-12 or 4 PL-21 long range air-to-air missiles payload suggests that the jet could be optimized as an air superiority fighter, the Popular Science reported.

Meanwhile, if the rumors are true, then the twin-engine J-31 will replace the single-engine J-10 as a medium fighter. The J-31, which is about the size of the American F-35, has a top range of 775 miles, a maximum takeoff weight of 28 tons, and a top speed of Mach 1.8.
 

Armand2REP

CHINI EXPERT
Senior Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2009
Messages
13,811
Likes
6,734
Country flag
3 tons heavier than the poor performance we saw at the airshow. This thing is DOA.
 

sthf

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2016
Messages
2,271
Likes
5,327
Country flag
3 tons heavier than the poor performance we saw at the airshow. This thing is DOA.
I was thinking the same thing. If that disaster of a performance was with a 3 tons lighter aircraft, what are they going to do now.

It is a bigger bummer as unlike F-35, it's "equivalent", this is supposed to be a air superiority platform.
 

Hari Sud

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2012
Messages
3,701
Likes
8,328
Country flag
By what I have read elsewhere about this Chinese stealth fighter, it is less of stealth and far inferior to Su-30MK1 in operation. That is why they keep it secret and away from the prying eyes of the competitors.
 

Latest Replies

Global Defence

New threads

Articles

Top