Asia-Pacific Military Aviation News roundup: 24 Sept 2013

Well, this is a surprise. South Korea has decided against acquiring the Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagle and will likely restart the fighter competition to select a replacement for the RoKAF's F-4 and F-5 fleets.

Chatter is increasing that budget problems will see the USAF retire its entire A-10 fleet. In the Asia-Pacific region this will affect one squadron based at Osan in South Korea.

The impending delivery of Taiwan's first P-3C Orion has been delayed due to a tropical storm forming in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Various companies are forming teams to offer proposals for Australia's Project AIR 5428 to supply trainers for Australia's fixed-wing pilot training system.

Uncensored photos of J-20 flying with internal weapons bay open

Click for higher-res image

The first photos of China's Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter's main internal weapons bay are making the rounds on the internet. The original ones have been censored (by the photographer?), most likely for fear of running foul of China's notorious state internet censors. However the uncensored version didn't take long in coming, and here it shows that 4 missiles can be carried.

The missiles are an hitherto unknown type, with the consensus that its circumference is too large to be a PL-12 BVRAAM. However another possibility is that it could be a shortened version of the PL-12 (which would cause the circumference to appear bigger) to fit inside the weapons bay. There appears to be room in the main weapons bay for larger (though not longer) weapons as well.

This is in addition to the side weapons bay that was blogged about here a while back...

VIDEO: J-20 side mounted missile rail and how it may work

Recent photographs of China's J-20 stealth fighter undergoing trials at Chengdu have revealed what appears to be a missile rail protruding out of the fuselage side weapons bay. This interesting video shows how the rail could possibly operate:

Spotters badge for this one goes to Stephen Trimble over at Flightglobal.

BREAKING: And J-20 2nd prototype S/N 2002 flies!

Not that it was any surprise, but the 2nd J-20 prototype has conducted its maiden flight this afternoon at approximately 14.50 local time from Chengdu, landing less than 20 minutes later. Here's the first photo we've seen, off the Chinese internet:

UPDATE: And a couple more photos, this time of the take off.

We await better photos, which we're sure will follow...

New J-20 airframe pictured conducting high speed taxi tests

Scuttlebutt from Chengdu has been that J-20 2002 carried out high speed taxi test(s) last week, and as usual the Chinese spotting community have been out in force bringing us photos/video of the event. We've decided to save this post for when the first higher resolution photos started appearing, and true to form, we've not been disappointed, with a number of good photos appearing at various internet portals the past couple of days. There are quite a few interesting takeaways from the photos, which we will now look at (click on images below for higher resolution):

J-20 2002 during it's taxi test. Can't be long before this second airframe makes it's first flight.

J-20s 2001 and 2002 sit side by side. You can just about make out subtle differences between the radome shapes of the two aircraft in this view.

2 very good photos of J-20 2001 and 2002 compared from virtually similar angles. You can see how subtle the differences between shapes of the nose of both aircraft are. Of course the more obvious difference would be the location of the flight test instrumentation probes, with that on 2001 being offset to starboard and just above the tip of the radome, while 2002 has it's probe placed on the tip of it's nose. David Ceniotti over at The Aviationist believes that it could also be a sign of a different kind of radar, possibly an active electronically scanned array (AESA) fitted inside the new radome. However we reckon the redesign might be due to possible issues that cropped out (Aerodynamic? Or maybe low-observability?) during flight testing of the first prototype over the past seventeen months. Somehow, we wouldn't hold our collective breaths for answers on that one...

J-20 2001 lands after another flight. Purported taken in mid-April 2012, it is interesting to note that the aircraft has no flight test instrumentation probe fitted on the nose on this occasion.

A study of the main landing gear of the J-20. You can just about make out what appear to be weapons bays on the underside of the fuselage just in front of the main landing gear. The bays seem to be quite large (or at least long); which together with the seeming low level of rear-aspect stealth in the design, has led to speculation that the J-20 may be a first strike cruise missile carrier, designed to use its frontal aspect stealth to approach the target undetected, launch it's missiles and make a high speed getaway.

New J-20 airframe sighted?

The military aviation community on the internet is all abuzz about the J-20 again; with photos appearing on Chinese internet forums in the past day or so of what seems to be a new J-20 airframe in Chengdu. The serial 2004 has been noted (as seen below)



Another detail noted on these newest photos is the different placement of the star insignia on the tail, compared with that on the original aircraft (Serial 2001) that appeared last year.


Image of J-20 rear section including tail insignia, 2011

Latest image of J-20 rear section. Serial unknown.

It does make sense that further J-20 airframes will be built to add to the aircraft already being flown, and although the skeptics are out in full force crying "Photoshop!", the photos do appear legit to us, as opposed to some April Fool's joke brought to you courtesy of Adobe and someone with too much time on their hands. We await further developments.

Pentagon's 2011 report on China's military; J-20 operational by 2018

The Pentagon's annual report to Congress on China's military and security developments is out. It can be found here.

Meanwhile Greg Waldron over at Flightglobal has nicely summed up what the report says about the J-20.

China denies J-20 uses F-117 technology; regards it as outdated

Following widespread reports Chinese agents bought F-117 parts from the jet shot down over Serbia in 1999, China has denied that F-117 technology was used to produce its new Chengdu J-20. A Chinese test pilot has said the F-117's technology lags far behind fourth-generation fighters and was regarded as "outdated" even in 1999.

J-20 uses F-117 technology?

I'd be surprised if this wasn't the case. Reports have emerged that China may have gleaned knowledge from a US F-117 Nighthawk that was shot down over Serbia in 1999. Croatian intelligence has indicated Chinese agents crisscrossed the region buying up parts of the plane from local farmers.

Project 718/Chengdu J-20: Development outlook & strategic implications

Gabe Collins and Andrew Erickson over at China Signpost analyzes the development outlook and strategic implications of Chinas J-20 fighter. In summary, it has the potential to be a formidable air combat system in the Asia-Pacific, but technical hurdles will still need to be overcome.

Old School Jet Retooled to Slay Stealth Fighters

Wired.com has an article about how the USAF's new AESA radar upgrades for older F-15s to better detect stealthy fighters (like the Chinese J-20) for F-22s to engage. No mention of how Eagle drivers feel about this.

Some (very timely) perspective on the J-20 and its implications

Aviationweek has two articles, a piece by four of its writers and an editorial which offers timely and balanced (in my opinion) perspective about the Chengdu J-20 and its implications.

High resolution photos of J-20 first public flight

I have just added a gallery of high resolution photos of the Chengdu J-20s's first flight yesterday (11 Jan 2011) at Chengdu, China. The photos are NOT mine, and are sourced from various forums around the internet.

Last update: 12 Jan 2011 at 0847 GMT

VIDEO: J-20 first flight

Note the grey (camera?) pod on the J-10 chase plane's port wing

J-20 makes its first flight

After a false start last week, the Chengdu J-20 has finally made its first flight in the early afternoon of the 11th of January (11/1/11). A prototype took off at around 1250LT (0450 GMT) from the airfield in Chengdu with a J-10S chase plane and made a few flybys of the airfield in front of gathered VIPs (and onlookers) before landing at 1308LT (0508 GMT). Here are some of the better photos from today:




(Click on the above thumbnail to see higher resolution photo)


All photos off the Internet. I will be adding photos to this post as the evening wears on. Please check back often to view our Twitter feed for more updates.

Gates: Chinese fighter progress underestimated, but US still has edge

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that American intelligence had probably underestimated how fast China was developing a stealth-capable fighter. However he reiterated that American intelligence had been watching these developments and that in the next decade or so the U.S. will still have a big lead in the number of deployed fifth-generation fighters.

J-20 with two different powerpants?

On a related note, according to China Defense blog, eagle-eyed observers had noticed that the various photographs of the J-20 (with the serial number 2001) had been seen on different occasions two different types of exhaust nozzles (see photo), leading to conjecture the J-20 is powered by different powerplants, believed to be the Russian 117S and Chinese WS-10. This seeming anomaly might have been clarified today when two J-20 airframes reportedly put in an appearance together with both carrying the same serial number.

Photo: China Defense Forum via China Defense Blog

(Click on thumbnail for high res image)

Summary of events: J-20 first flight postponed

A day of drama and excitement online turned into an anti-climax as the first flight of China's newly revealed fighter, the J-20 was postponed reportedly due to marginal weather over Chengdu. Reports had surfaced of an two-hour airspace closure around Chengdu during the early afternoon, Chengdu time and the belief that today was the day was reinforced with the arrival of two PLAAF Boeing 737 VIP transports. Two J-20s made an appearance, carried out flying surfaces and taxi tests before shutting down around noon.

All preparations had seemingly been made, and ceremonies been carried out when the sudden dispersal of the VIPs indicated that we would have to wait another day to witness the initial flight. This despite the presence of President Hu Jintao among a bevy of other VIPs at Chengdu's No.132 plant.

It is believed that with bad weather over the site the next few days, the next weather window for flying the aircraft would be Tuesday the 11th of January. Watch this space...

J-20 first flight on the cards

Sources have reported that Chengdu airspace has been closed from 1300-1500 local (0500-0700 UTC) today. In addition, a J-20 and 2 J-10s have been sighted being towed out, along with the arrival of a VIP configured PLAAF Boeing 737 at the airbase.

J-20 first flight might take place today

The New York Times has reported that the Chengdu J-20 prototype has completed high speed runway taxi tests and might make it's first flight today, January 6th. Comments about the test regimen have reportedly abruptly disappeared from unofficial Chinese military blogs.