Posted on 01/23/2019 6:30:18 AM PST by C19fan
China's J-20 stealth fighter jet represents a massive milestone for Beijing's armed forces and the first stealth aircraft ever fielded outside the US, but the impressive effort still falls noticeably short in some areas.
The J-20 doesn't have a cannon, and represents the only entry into the world of fifth-generation fighters that skips the gun, which has seen 100 years of aerial combat.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
I think we agree on that. I think it is a mistake not to include one.
Yes. It was the replacement for the Crusader, known as the last gunfighter. When deployed in Vietnam it quickly was outmatched by the MiG 21 because of dogfighting required guns.
I had the opportunity a few years back (maybe around 2010?) to spend a few hours in his home with a USMC pilot who transferred to the Air Force at some point in his career, and flew every fighter in the spectrum from A-4 Skyhawk to the F-15 and was on the verge of aging out from the ANG but instead voluntarily retired because of the things going on in the Air Force under the Obama administration.
His wall was covered in plaques from various figher programs and schools across the services as well as a multitude of squadron plaques, etc.
I am an aviation enthusiast, so I had a lot of questions, and I asked if he had ever flown an F-22.
He nodded his head in the negative, and said that he had never flown an F-22, but had flown against them in an F-16.
I asked him what that was like, and his response was: “It was like being a baby seal.”
And he said it with utter conviction and resignation!
Today’s sexy jets that do have cannons are more like decoration. The rotary cannon on an F-16 can empty its store of ammo in a couple of seconds. Then you’re back to missiles and flipping bird fingers.
“But today’s F-22s, J-20s, Su-35s, and other highly maneuverable jets give the guns an “extremely limited use” in combat, according to Berke.
“Berke said the US most likely hadn’t scored an air-to-air-guns kill in decades.”
It makes no sense to me that anyone would consider a cannon on a stealth fighter.
To include ours.
Same foresight that went into the planning of the F-4.
Cannons are only good for staffing anymore. Air to air middles are for aircraft, dog fights are history.
Haha! Whut?
I flown war games vs. the F22.
Your USMC pilot is right if the fight is a stand-off, sneak up, fight like the F-22 is designed for. Nothing flying is better.
A straight up I-see-you-you-see-me dogfight? Depends 100% on the pilots, the scenario, the envelope, etc.
The F22 is an adequate dogfighter. Nothing spectacular.
But it’s not designed to be a dogfighter. It’s something else that happens to be OK at something that is not its mission.
LOL, I think it was as you said...”Jester’s Dead”! (Except without the dogfight)
Yes. They added mini-guns in under-wing hard-point pods: not very conducive to aerodynamic or ceegee optimization.
However, others here make a valid point about the J-20’s specific intended mission.
The Phantom II was a large, heavy, multi-purpose fighter-bomber that was at a disadvantage with smaller, lighter, tight-envelope MiGs in close-quarters dogfighting combat.
P.S.
I love the F-4 design, but it was interwar foolishness to think that missiles made guns passe.
Well said (and I love the F-22).
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