The prototype of a new fighter exists advanced fifth-generation Chinese?
Spread on a site of Chinese "enthusiasts", the same one used by the Beijing government to unofficially publicize the various weapon systems, the photo of Shenyang Aircraft Corporation's possible new cell. The coincidences are however curious. The same forum, in June of the 2012, published a photo of a cell transported on a Mercedes-Benz truck: it will turn out to be the J-31.
The FC-31 concept was unveiled in the 2014, during the Zhuhai Airshow. Presented as an evolution of the J-31, it immediately attracted Western attention for clean design and optimized for low observability. Even if the aircraft has a configuration that recalls the fifth-generation American fighters, it is not possible to establish the real progress achieved by Shenyang. The competences of the Chinese aerospace sector for absorbing radar materials (RAM), for example, as well as the ability to reduce the radar and infrared signature of the platforms, remains unknown. And yet, assuming that there is indeed a prototype of some kind under that dark tarpaulin, something does not come back.
Let's go with order. Last November, at the opening of the Dubai Air Show, the Chinese introduced the cheap copy of the F-35: the FC-31, version for the foreign market of the J-31. Despite being theoretically ready for mass production, the fifth-generation Chinese fighter does not yet have a buyer. Already a year ago, the Chinese identified the international version of Shenyang J-31 with the acronym FC-31 Falcon Hawk, platform conceived in the "anti-access area-denial" strategy (A2AD) in the Western Pacific.
The Shenyang J-31, has been called a fifth generation fighter, even if for the West it is considered fourth. It presents similarities with the Russian PAK-FA T-50, although it would be more correct to state that the design of the J-31 recalls, in several aspects, that of the F-35. The Falcon Hawk the 31 October 2012 flew for the first time. Designed (probably) thanks to a process of reverse engineering from a fighter stealth downed American, he should have become the fifth-generation Chinese fighter on board, effectively becoming the F-35 antagonist Lightning II. China, which has only one aircraft carrier in service (two more under construction), has reduced the real value of the aircraft, proposing it to second-level air forces such as Brazil (which then gave up), Pakistan and some Middle Eastern countries. It seems that the technology created was not initially designed for export, but built for internal use.
The J-31 will prove to be little more than a cheap copy of an American fighter jet. In fact, the section of the muzzle, the twin tails as well as the trapezoidal wings represent the distinctive lines of the design stealth West. Probably, the J-31 is based on technology extracted from American planes lost in battle, such as the F-117 shot down in 1999, in Serbia. Its shooting control radar, as well as the subsystems, the two engines and the avionics are entirely Chinese. The design certainly makes it look like a fifth-generation fighter, but we don't know the materials used for the aircraft's upholstery. But the photo published a few hours ago by the Chinese, has little or nothing to do with the J-31.
Our attention (let's remember that we always talk about a prototype that might not even exist) immediately focused on the trapezoidal-shaped plant, a fascinating and technically complicated solution, which allows control on the roll axis thanks to the surfaces on the trailing edge. Queue plans for yaw and pitch control are missing. Clearly the exhausts on the upper part of the fuselage are visible. That system in the picture and covered by a dark tarpaulin has nothing to do with the design of the J-31 which is inspired by the F-35.
Those unconventional lines, however, have already been seen in the past in a prototype that took part in theAdvanced Tactical Fighter of the Air Force: the YF-23 Black Widow II. Our assumptions, but we know that the Chengdu J-20 project, fifth generation fighter took off for the first time in January of the 2011 and defined by the Pentagon as "a long-range platform, able to penetrate heavily defended environments", between inspiration "from the Northrop YF-23.
There are at least six variants for the Chengdu J-20: long-range interceptor, dogfight and escort, ground attack, long-range reconnaissance, electronic attack and launch pad for anti-satellite missiles.
In recent years, targeted attacks have been made against Lockeed Martin and Northrop. Therefore, Chinese hackers could have managed to get their hands on some useful technical drawings of the Raptor, of the F-35 (attack of the April of the 2009) and of the YF-23.
The YF-23 was an exceptional prototype. Although less handy than the YF-22 (which would later become the F-22 Raptor), exceeded the Lockeed Martin fighter for speed, altitude and stealth. Contrary to what has been put forward by the Air Force today, the capacity of the F-22 was favored dogfight of the platform compared to that of the Black Widow II.
Today the Air Force no longer believes in close combat, relying only on clashes beyond the visual range.
(photo: web / US Air Force)
