J-20... The New Generation Fighter III

siegecrossbow said:

Hey it isn't my problem that the guy couldn't hold it . Did he really not know how many military fanboys are around taking pictures?

I hope CAC install a portapotty on the airfield sometime soon.

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Knowing China, it's probably more pleasant and normal to take your 小便 in the fields

plawolf said:

Something that just occurred to me is, where does the mirrors go with a single piece canopy?

The J20 has by far the best pilot visibility of any Chinese fighter, and is as good as anything in the world, but it is not as quick or easy to check your six without mirrors.

Has F16 pilots or F22 pilots ever mentioned issues with regards to this in exercises?

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By using video cameras ( for several lighting conditions ) and projecting the view on the HUD or a LCD screen you would save weight and save cockpit real estate.

J-20 Mighty Dragon side-weapon bay opened


J-20 Mighty Dragon side-weapon bay opened





[Note: Thank you to HouShanghai for the pictures.]

Very interesting set of pictures!

Looks pretty conclusive that the left engine is an AL31 while the right one looks distinctly different. The nozzle is different, and even looks bigger.

The side weapons bays are so open, and the seem quite long, probably long enough for PL12s, and even looks longer than those on the WS equipped prototype. More evidence that there are more than 1 prototypes, or just visual distortion?

^ is the left engine an Al-31? I thought it was the silver nozzle engine? Or have we concluded the silver nozzle engine Al-31?

And I don't think the weapon bays look any longer than usual, probably just distortion.

The latest pictures Martin just posted, you can clearly see that the left engine is completely different from the silver nozzles we have seen before, and I am 99% sure that it is an AL31 nozzle.

The right engine is harder to make out as it is hard to make out much detail other than it being silver, and looks slightly bigger, but that might just be my eyes.

Yes, the left nozzle does look darker, like the Al-31, but it also looks slightly different from the J-20 equipped with Al-31 before (from my view at least). I think the J-20 we see now can be the same one that flew last time, with the silver nozzle on the left and the different silver one on the right, and the difference we see right now could be due to lighting/bad photo quality?

But yes, the right engine in this case is definitely different to the left.

Yes, you are probably right. Having looked at the other photos, it does seem the nozzle looks markedly different depending on if they are retracted or relaxed, and I was just too used to the nozzles being retracted.

If you look at the engine just above the nozzles, you can see that the new mystery engine has a distinctive lighter greenish color compared to the rest of the plane. That seems consistent on multiple photos posted previously and here, which makes me think its not just light conditions playing tricks.

Guys we are famous on CJDBY again:



Hey Deino people think you are Chinese lol.

I still don't believe that the left engine is AL-31F, if it was, it has a different nozzle. As for the right engine, it does look ever so slightly bigger in all the photo, but that could be an illusion.