China Flanker Thread II

[by78]

The tail art appears to be real. Here are some images taken by another source. It could be an artwork for a special variant or an event/exercise? "智胜" could mean "fight mart" or even "have fought smartly". Maybe it commemorates the crew that won the Golden Helmet by employing smart tactics to overcome a superior opponent? Just my speculation.

 

[SpicySichuan]

The tail art appears to be real. Here are some images taken by another source. It could be an artwork for a special variant or an event/exercise? "智胜" could mean "fight mart" or even "have fought smartly". Maybe it commemorates the crew that won the Golden Helmet by employing smart tactics to overcome a superior opponent? Just my speculation.

The engine really looks similar to the AL-31F , making me wonder if they somehow installed the Russian engines again. Just wondering.

 

[by78]

The engine really looks similar to the AL-31F , making me wonder if they somehow installed the Russian engines again. Just wondering.

Judging by the second and especially the third image, the engines don't appear to be AL-31F, albeit the clarify is poor.

 

[siegecrossbow]

The engine really looks similar to the AL-31F , making me wonder if they somehow installed the Russian engines again. Just wondering.

Nope. As Deino stated it is a new variety of WS-10 with longer feathers.

 

[antiterror13]

The engine really looks similar to the AL-31F , making me wonder if they somehow installed the Russian engines again. Just wondering.

highly unlikely China would use new planes with AL-31 series again, not even J-10 series

 

[SpicySichuan]

highly unlikely China would use new planes with AL-31 series again, not even J-10 series

I hope not. Some AL-31s suffered from serious quality control deficiencies in recent years. I still remember the "underwear" incident from a year+ ago, when some staff at the Chengdu Aircraft Industry complained on Weibo about "underwears" inside a supposedly brandnew Al-31FN engine. There is also the possibility that the AL-31FNs could have contributed to recent J-10 crashes, Luckily the Chinese Flankers have long ceased using the AL-31s.

 

[siegecrossbow]

I hope not. Some AL-31s suffered from serious quality control deficiencies in recent years. I still remember the "underwear" incident from a year+ ago, when some staff at the Chengdu Aircraft Industry complained on Weibo about "underwears" inside a supposedly brandnew Al-31FN engine. There is also the possibility that the AL-31FNs could have contributed to recent J-10 crashes, Luckily the Chinese Flankers have long ceased using the AL-31s.

That is patently false. Only 4 J-10 crashes have been attributed to engine failure. 6 or 8 were the result of bird strikes and the rest pilot error.

 

[Schwerter_]

Origin of the photo:

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I have been following this aircraft for a month and I believe there will be more photos of it.


As yuxiaochen suggested, 智 can also be translated as intelligence. I too prefer this translation.

yeah from current sources the photo posted on CJDBY seems to be the most high-res version, still, its possible (although personally I think unlikely) for it to be a well-placed watermark...
edit: just saw the newer posts, holy shit this is real

The 'intelligence' translation sounds good, personally I feel like there's a good chance of this jet being some sort of testbed, but untill more information is shared/found its just wild guesses on my part

 

[lcloo]

Why there is no ejection seat at the back? My speculation is that since there is no need for a second pilot (who is replaced by the AI smart-win ), why not just discard the dead weight.

But why not use a single seat J11A as test bed? Integration of the new AI Smart-Win with the most updated avionics on J16 would be much preferred than the older avionics on J-11A. Also using an existing serial production J16 is cheaper than a new purpose built single seat variant of J16.

智胜 = Smart Win.

 

[siegecrossbow]

Why there is no ejection seat at the back? My speculation is that since there is no need for a second pilot (who is replaced by the AI smart-win ), why not just discard the dead weight.

But why not use a single seat J11A as test bed? Integration of the new AI Smart-Win with the most updated avionics on J16 would be much preferred than the older avionics on J-11A. Also using an existing serial production J16 is cheaper than a new purpose built single seat variant of J16.

智胜 = Smart Win.

Maybe they are going the F-15X route and dispensing with the second pilot all together. Pilot could use it to store luggage or something.