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PLANAF STOVL aircraft design from Cheng-Du
- Thread starter Air Force Brat
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- who knew???
Yes, but first China will have to have a sufficient production of helicopters.Just out of curiosity do people think a tiltrotor would be less challenging technologically for China to develop?
It would obviously serve different purposes than a VTOL jet.
And what is the use of a VTOL jet? Originally it was to be able to keep fighting after all your airbases are destroyed - thus Harrier but also VJ-101C, Do-31 &c. That proved to be a bad idea but then out of poverty RN came up with the "through deck cruiser" idea which was successful in the war with Argentina. Thus followed a tribe of ships carrying Harriers under several flags, and the F-35B.
USSR developed quite separately a pair of VTOL air defence fighters to be based on "heavy aircraft carrying cruisers" which we can safely describe as failures.
F-35B was developed from the notion that the Marines needed a supersonic fighter because they cannot trust USN or USAF to defend them against air attack and that their ships will not be allowed to use cats and traps. China is bound to think such notions wasteful. If China's marines need organic air power besides helicopters it is, if manned, likely to be comparable to A-10 and Su-25 and be launched from a "LHD" over a ski ramp. But I think more probably some drones launched that way.