J-20 Round Up: What's New Since My Last Post

There has been a big gap since I posted about the J-20. A lot of things have happened and some new info and some new blog posts are out and about. I thought I'd work up a put up a links post for those that read the blog and are interested in the more recent thoughts since what I'd put up.

First up, some purty pix:

Bottom views from left to right of the J-20, T-50 and F-22.

Note: not properly scaled.

The J-20 looks similar to the original planform of the JSF entry by Lockheed.

Note: no accusation they copied the early JSF entry, more like parallel evolution

An attempt at figuring out the actual length of the J-20 vs the F-22.

Did China Steal US Stealth Tech?

Offiziere.ch offers up an opinion on whether or not the F-117 shootdown on March 27, 1999 in the Kosovo War provided China with their materials tech to produce their own native stealth. The China Military Report rebutted that China doesn't need 30+ year old tech to do the above. If the F-117 contributed anything to the J-20 - I honestly don't know - then it would have been used as a starting place rather than a blatant cut and paste of technology. The CMR is correct that it is VERY outdated material science, but given that the information would be examined by individuals with lots of experience with composite technologies and whatnot that have been developed since, they could come up with similar and improved materials based on the observed characteristics of the F-117 samples. There are reasons why I watch my own composite samples very, very closely when dealing with others.

J-20 DID take to the Skies.

Nice photos from China Defense Blog.

Nice photos via the China Military Report here and here.

Another set of photos via Avweek: they have a youtube video, too.

Notice the size difference between the J-10 fighter (an very, very rough analog of the F-16) and the J-20. The J-20 is a BIG beast, relatively speaking.

Bill Sweetman with his opinions on the flight ought to be viewed here.

The Pooh-Pooh Brigade:

No sooner than the world reacted strongly to the J-20 than out came those that puh-puhed the development of the J-20. It's not THAT big a deal they stated. Don't overreact. Here are some of their commentaries.

David Axe argues that American drones are far more important the the rise of the J-20 in the grand scheme of things. He also argues about what the real cost of the J-20 will be and that buying it will weaken the Chinese military somewhere else.

The Avweek crew argue that the J-20 is vulnerable to a host of sensors that the US is deploying now because tech has marched on in the sensor world since the 1990s. In many ways, this sounds like the arguments that were trotted out against the American stealthy aircraft in the 1990s though.

In the Speculation Department:

The Dew Line wonders if the J-20 is meant to be another tool to try to push the USN away from the Chinese coasts. In that vein, the USNI blog comments on how the differences between the US view of Chinese capabilities and the Chinese goals. The perception is pretty significant.

War Is Boring puts up another post similar to what I wrote about the coming manned 5th generation fighters as a contrast to the J-20, but with more detail. It also notes that the US is starting to define its 5.5 gen or 6th gen fighter requirements even before the J-20 was unveiled.

David Fulghum at Avweek speculates that there are more stealth designs coming from the Chinese in the near future.

In the Recap Department:

The Dew Line brings up a video from Singapore about the J-20 activities.

And I seem to have misplaced the last post I planned on including. ah well.