The writing is on the wall for the naval fighter.
Shenyang FC-31 / J-31 Fighter Demonstrator
- Thread starter RedSky
- Start date
Just want to add that it says the new aircraft is for both air force and navy. That suggests that they're incorporating requirements from both PLAAF and PLAN.
It seems more accurate to say the new aircraft was first developed primarily as a land based fighter, then navalized, in much the same way the purely land based YF-17 was navalized into F/A-18.
F/A-18 was then adopted by a number of services for use exclusively from land base. The incompletely developed YF-17 was then abandoned.
The question is will China develop the airframe into one main serviceable form designed to meet the more stringent naval requirements, then accept the compromises made necessary for meeting naval requirement in land based service, or will there be two separate serviceable forms optimized separately for land and naval use.
F/A-18 was then adopted by a number of services for use exclusively from land base. The incompletely developed YF-17 was then abandoned.
The question is will China develop the airframe into one main serviceable form designed to meet the more stringent naval requirements, then accept the compromises made necessary for meeting naval requirement in land based service, or will there be two separate serviceable forms optimized separately for land and naval use.
May I ask why China is so slow...
Like we took 12 years to retrofit Liaoning, and another 12 years after that to confirm design of a 5th gen navalized fighter (not even enter production)? It's like an snails pace...
China didn’t always have as much money as it did now. Back in the early 2000s and 2010s they also didn’t have operational carrier knowledge, which takes a long time to accumulate. Carrier fighter by nature are difficult to develop and produce, let along a fifth generation one.
Do you believe that we will have a squadron on the CV 18 by 2025?
I'm not sure this is a good way to characterize the situation.
First of all, it took 10 not 12 years to retrofit Liaoning (2002 - 2012), which was actually pretty quick considering China never had any experiences either operating or building a carrier before. Not even a light carrier like what India or Thailand had.
Second, not sure what you mean by "another 12 years after that to confirm design of a 5th gen navalized fighter." FC-31 took first flight in 2012, which wasn't even a PLAAF/PLAN project - it was very premature for China to start to design a 5th gen navalized fighter when it was only over a year after J-20 took first flight and PLAN just took over Liaoning their first carrier literally a few weeks ago. China wouldn't have had the experience to know what exactly they would want for such a thing. Then there was the small matter of what engine to use ...
All told, China's carrier program including the carrier-based aircraft has been progressing incredibly fast and has simply gone far beyond most people's expectations, - you simply can not develop carrier-based aircraft independent of the carrier program itself.
In less than 20 years, China is close to launch its 85,000+ tonnes EMALS CATOBAR carrier, with J-15T, J-31, KJ-600 all already taking first flights or close to do so.
What more do you expect?
As far as the fighter is concerned, I’d like to think that they’re taking their time perfecting the development of the J-31/35 in order to achieve their first fighter to initiate production with an indigenous engine. That would signal China’s arrival in the biggest of the big leagues.
I think you forget how far things have come.
You clearly do not remember what things were like in the early and mid 2000s.
More importantly, it didn't take 12 years to refit Liaoning or 12 years to confirm the design of a 5th gen navalized fighter.
Liaoning's overhaul and refit didn't really properly begin until the late 2000s.
As for J-XY/J-35, we don't know when the PLAN committed to a 5th generation naval fighter project to begin with, but from all accounts it was only in the mid 2010. I hope you aren't thinking that the project began with the FC-31 V1.
Optimistically 2027-2028 is more realistic. Depends on whether prototype flies this year.