J-20 5th Gen Fighter Thread VIII

[Blitzo]

We'll see, but more often than not changing engines is a trouble not really worth it.

We've seen existing domestic built PRC fighters first equipped with Al-31s re-engined with WS-10s, I believe (J-11B, J-10A) -- if it's a matter of the original engines finishing their lifespan, replacing it with an equal footprint/weight engine like WS-10 should be fairly viable if not standard practice imo.

 

[siegecrossbow]

We've seen existing domestic built PRC fighters first equipped with Al-31s re-engined with WS-10s, I believe (J-11B, J-10A) -- if it's a matter of the original engines finishing their lifespan, replacing it with an equal footprint/weight engine like WS-10 should be fairly viable if not standard practice imo.

Pretty sure it was J-10S that got reengineered?

 

[Blitzo]

Pretty sure it was J-10S that got reengineered?

Yes, it was a typo, meant to write J-10AS (I still consider J-10A and J-10AS to be the same base variant airframe)

 

[ismellcopium]

We know the original requirements document for the J-20 specified a 1200 nm combat range.

What? 2200+km radius on internal fuel is insane.

 

[latenlazy]

[/QUOTE]

What? 2200+km radius on internal fuel is insane.

I could be misremembering the specifics here. It’s been a while since I reviewed the original document.

EDIT: Just checked. Rick Joe said between 1000-2000 km in his piece reviewing the requirements document. Some numbers got jostled in my noggin somewhere.

 

[ismellcopium]

I could be misremembering the specifics here. It’s been a while since I reviewed the original document.

EDIT: Just checked. Rick Joe said between 1000-2000 km in his piece reviewing the requirements document. Some numbers got jostled in my noggin somewhere.

Yeah I think the J-20 would be hard pressed to exceed 2000km.. the A especially with 10C2s is probably very close though.

 

[arthur2046]

On yesterday’s Chahuahui podcast, Yangkee stated: The number of operational J-20 fighter jets alone has already surpassed the total number of Taiwan’s fighter jets.

I checked and found that Taiwan has approximately 370 fighter jets in total, so the current number of in-service J-20s is at least 370.

 

[latenlazy]

On yesterday’s Chahuahui podcast, Yangkee stated: The number of operational J-20 fighter jets alone has already surpassed the total number of Taiwan’s fighter jets.

I checked and found that Taiwan has approximately 370 fighter jets in total, so the current number of in-service J-20s is at least 370.

It’s at least 400. Reasonable upper bound guess should be approaching 500 now.

 

[ACuriousPLAFan]

On yesterday’s Chahuahui podcast, Yangkee stated: The number of operational J-20 fighter jets alone has already surpassed the total number of Taiwan’s fighter jets.

I checked and found that Taiwan has approximately 370 fighter jets in total, so the current number of in-service J-20s is at least 370.

Speaking of which - Assuming that the introduction of WS-15 into the production lines of the J-20A and J-20S does not introduce significant (albeit most likely to be temporary in nature, if any) reduction in the production rate of the aforementioned models, we do expect that the overall number of the J-20 family to go above the 400 units-mark by the end of this year.

 

[karaway]

The combat radius of the J-20A equipped with the WS-15 engine will decline to some extent.

It might even be inferior to the J35A equipped with the WS21.

In fact, the combat range of the J35A is quite considerable, similar to that of the F35A.