J-20... The New Generation Fighter II

In the pics I just posted, I can't seem to see the weapons bay doors. I can't even see where the ailerons connect to the wings, even though the pics should be high res enough for that to be seen. I'm thinking these pics are PS'd to look a bit smoother, or else that's some pretty incredible worksmanship.

I wonder how much to make of the fact that the first flight came during US Defense Secretary Robert Gates' visit. Maybe Gates' visit and the J-20 flight were both planned well ahead of time, but either one could have been easily delayed to avoid a conflict. Was Hu Jintao really at Chengdu when he should be hosting Gates in Beijing? Makes you wonder which VIPs were where, Chengdu or Beijing today.

Geographer said:

I don't see a lot of room for internal weapons carriage. How room in that boxy superstructure is taken up by the engines? Maybe my mind is overestimating how big the engines are. Maybe the extra room is taken up by large internal fuel tanks (also a good thing for long-range strike aircraft).

I wonder how much to make of the fact that the first flight came during US Defense Secretary Robert Gates' visit. Maybe Gates' visit and the J-20 flight were both planned well ahead of time, but either one could have been easily delayed to avoid a conflict. Was Hu Jintao really at Chengdu when he should be hosting Gates in Beijing? Makes you wonder which VIPs were where, Chengdu or Beijing today.

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The meeting was in the afternoon, technically there's enough time for both.

By the way, an earlier post asked about the small flap raised in the back. I think pictures now conclusively show that that flap is where the parachute deploys from.

I see that some of you are overly giddy about the flight of the J-20. I think this is a great accomplishment for China.

But keep in mind these things;
1) China has one prototype J-20.
2) What sort of engines does it have? This should be a concern over what powers this aircraft knowing how much difficulty Chian has had with the ws-10.
3) Weapons load is unknown as are electronics.
4) Is the aircraft in full production yet?
5) When shall the aircraft go into service?

Anyone have any answers to these questions? Probaly not. How about some good guesses?

Popeye, thanks for "keepin' it real." You are right that all we know is they have one prototype that can fly for 15 minutes.

But electronics is one area China has long been strong in. We can be confident they will put a powerful radar and competent ECM suite on it. Putting together a stealthy airframe with quality indigenous engines is a huge leap forward for China's aviation industry. Plus it is well ahead of the CIA's and our own internet posters' schedule expectations.

video link of j20 take off and landed v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjM2MjM0ODA0.html

Looks like finally Chinese government admitted the existence of J-20, while the MoD spokesperson still confirmed nothing, neither CCTV released any official pic/vid, but by the daily talk show's today headline:

中國殲-20來了！
Translated:
Here comes China's J-20!

Enough said...

For those who can watch CCTV channel 4, it's on at this time.

bd popeye said:

1) China has one prototype J-20.
2) What sort of engines does it have? This should be a concern over what powers this aircraft knowing how much difficulty Chian has had with the ws-10.
3) Weapons load is unknown as are electronics.
4) Is the aircraft in full production yet?
5) When shall the aircraft go into service?

Click to expand...

From some of the photos leaked out in the past few weeks. We should be able to answer the first two questions.

1) CAC has at least two prototype J-20s. Although they all have 2001 number on them, there're certainly two types of engines used on those two prototypes.

2) This continues to the second question. From first few photos released we can definitely say one aircraft is fitted with two AL-31 series engines. However, the engines on other prototype is not that clear, at the moment. Well, the shape seems to be WS-10 series engines. But the colour and some details are slightly different from normal WS-10s we saw on J-10s and J11-Bs.

3) I personally don't think anyone here can even claim the real weapons load of J-10A/S/B, yet...

4) I don't think anybody thinks it's in any kind of production, at the moment.

5) Nobody can say exactly when (not even top PLAAF and CAC officials). But from what we know about the whole development of J-10 and J-11B, J-20 could be in service sometime around as early as 2018 or as late as 2022. But today's CAC isn't 90s' CAC. So this kind of prediction won't be anywhere as accurate as people think, anyway.

just on the tv.. yea j20 is on cctv 4