Posted on 10/12/2015 5:56:57 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
China's top aircraft manufacturer has revealed specifications of an advanced stealth fighter jet in a bid to lure foreign buyers, the official China Daily reported yesterday.
In a rare disclosure, the state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China (Avic) unveiled the capabilities of the J-31 aircraft at an aviation show, even though the jet was still being tested, the newspaper said.
Avic officials have made no secret of the fact they are seeking foreign buyers for the aircraft, hoping to compete with Lockheed Martin's F-35.
Countries that cannot buy weaponry from the United States have increasingly sought them from China, particularly because Chinese arms are often cheaper.
Avic said the fifth-generation fighter jet, which has a 1,200km combat range and a top speed of 2,205km/h, is designed to be in service for up to 30 years.
It has a maximum payload capacity of 8 metric tonnes, the newspaper said.
An Avic executive said last year the jet could "take down" foreign rivals in the sky. The twin-engine J-31 took its maiden flight in 2012.
Defence analysts have often compared the jet to the US-made F-35, and US officials have speculated China may have used cyber espionage to acquire classified knowledge about the aircraft's development.
Stealth aircraft are vital to China developing the ability to carry out both offensive and defensive operations, the Pentagon has said in a report about developments in China's military.
The J-31 is China's second domestically produced stealth fighter jet.
President Xi Jinping has pushed to toughen the armed forces as the country takes a more assertive stance in the region, particularly in the South China and East China seas.
(Excerpt) Read more at scmp.com ...
J-31 and F-35
Looks like the fake rolex on my wrist. That’s all they can do is copy. No originality.
Hopefully that’s a joke, because your “J-31” is an F-35C with some photoshopped markings.
If they have equal quality to the other goods I’ve experienced ...
I’ll stick with 15s/22s.
Cool, let's build some.
Source: South China Morning Post, Reuters Beijing, neither of whom can even lie convincingly.
Did they also copy all the problems the 35 is plagued with? It would seem like poetic justice if they did.
The J-31 is probably a copy of the YF-23
The YF-23 had a V-Tail. The J-31 has a conventional dual rudeder/elevon layout. With the exception of twin engines instead of a single engine, it's the spittin' image of an F-35C.
YF-23:
The prototype airframe sat outside for years near the end of the runway -
No it isn’t. It is bigger and has two engines clearly visible. Also the tails are the wrong shape. It is more akin to a knockoff F-22 with F-35 style intakes. But it isn’t photoshop. They have it and it really does look like that.
The J31 is a YF-22 (not F-22) with F-35 type intakes. And without the 2-D thrust vectoring exhausts. The nose looks like it has a hint of F-22 and F-35 to it.
Besides the intakes and exhausts, and the slight difference in nose shape, the similarities with the YF-22 are remarkable.
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