Shenyang FC-31 / J-31 Fighter Demonstrator

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Inst

Captain
FC-31's problem is that unlike the J-20, it's completely dependent on first-rate engines. Its main advantage is its purer stealth design; quite likely the FC-31, even in an interim version, could outstealth the F-35 due to less optimization constraints. I still strongly believe that the Chinese should produce the FC-31, if only to have a F-35 mock-up to play with.

As a naval fighter, what's the problem with a hi-lo mix on the aircraft carrier? You have J-20 handle air superiority missions, while the FC-31 handles strike as well as high-stealth operations.
 
Deino

Deino

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
Inst said:
...Its main advantage is its purer stealth design; quite likely the FC-31, even in an interim version, could outstealth the F-35 due to less optimization constraints. ....
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Pardon, but this assumpttion is purely based on "estimated guess or eyeballing". Or what's Your source and data?

Why should the FC-31 be more stealthy than the J-20? And please not that lame "it has no canards" argument.

Deino
 
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Inst

Captain
You know canards is tautologically right, no? The thing is, the more control surfaces an aircraft has, the more opportunities for deflection. Tail-designs feature the tail behind the wing, which helps to reduce reflection from deflection, whereas canard designs put the control surface in front of the wing.

The J-20, likewise, has ventral strakes, which the J-31 lacks.
 
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AndrewS

Brigadier
Registered Member
Inst said:
FC-31's problem is that unlike the J-20, it's completely dependent on first-rate engines. Its main advantage is its purer stealth design; quite likely the FC-31, even in an interim version, could outstealth the F-35 due to less optimization constraints. I still strongly believe that the Chinese should produce the FC-31, if only to have a F-35 mock-up to play with.

As a naval fighter, what's the problem with a hi-lo mix on the aircraft carrier? You have J-20 handle air superiority missions, while the FC-31 handles strike as well as high-stealth operations.
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I agree that China should look to develop the FC-31 as an affordable mid-weight fighter, leveraging J-20 development particularly in battlespace networking. This will help fill out China's Air Force and also provide an export competitor to the F-35 which currently has a monopoly in the global arms market for stealth fighters. It should end up as a profitable venture overall, but note that the global sales are predominantly for Air Forces rather than for carriers.

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Carrier strike groups cost a lot and have a limited amount of space for aircraft. So production runs for carrier aircraft are comparatively small.

Given that China is only planning on a maximum of 6 carriers in the next 20 years, we're only looking at a requirement for 300-400 fighter aircraft. So it would make more sense to maximise the airwings for high-intensity operations which favours larger, long-range, higher performance aircraft. The FC-31 doesn't fit this description, because the J-20 does air superiority better and the J-15 does long-range strike plus 4th generation air superiority much better. I think that would be a better hi-lo mix.
 
Hyperwarp

Hyperwarp

Captain
Deino said:
Pardon, but this assumpttion is purely based on "estimated guess or eyeballing". Or what's Your source and data?

Why should the FC-31 be more stealthy than the J-20? And please not that lame "it has no canards" argument.

Deino
Click to expand...

Assuming manufacturing techniques, RAM applied are on an equal basis, then the FC-31 might very well be slightly stealthier than the J-20. Remember it is smaller in size compared to the flanker sized J-20, and unlike the F-35, the FC-31 has a nice smooth belly. F-35 does not have a smooth belly like the F-22, FC-31 and J-20. But when it comes to the J-20 even if we disregard the canard issue, remember the J-20 has ventral fins. That mean 2 more added surface area. Despite the YF-23 not having the massive S-duct of the YF-22, overall the YF-23 was RCS wise considered marginally stealthier. The reason for that is the YF-22 had a conventional tail while the YF-23 had ruddervators.

From the initial rumors the J-XX design was constantly redesigned due engine limitations. Allegedly, very early proposals by CAC didn't have a tail at all. It looked liked a flanker sized X-36. But they needed a very powerful engine with 3D-TVC flawlessly integrated with the FBW. The design slowly evolved to what is it today. This means no WS-15 and no TVC. Once the WS-15 and 3D-TVC are ready you'll see the J-20 go through quite a few changes. Fanboy in me hope it'll look like this -
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