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There is an expectation that the J-31 will become China’s primary carrier-based fighter once it reaches full production, replacing the PLA-N’s troubled J-15 once it enters service. This jet, still under development, possesses a greater operational range and larger payload capacity than the F-35 it was based on. Like the F-22, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was also compromised by Su Bin, leading to China’s J-31 program. China, on the other hand, will continue to produce J-20s in large quantities for years to come. canceled the F-22 program in 2011 with fewer than 200 built. The repercussions of his efforts on behalf of the Chinese government will live on for decades.Īside from the obvious addition of forward canards on the J-20, the two aircraft look nearly identical thanks to China’s access to classified F-22 development data, but as is often the case, the similarities seem to end with the aesthetic.īecause China lacks extensive background in stealth technology, it’s widely believed that the J-20’s stealthy design is limited by their inferior radar-absorbant coating, production materials, and even those tell-tale canards (which some believe will have an adverse effect on its stealth profile).Īmerican defense experts have said that China’s J-20 will have a far larger radar signature than the F-22, but other variables may ultimately render any American advantages moot. Plans for the Lockheed Martin design were stolen by a Chinese national named Su Bin, who was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for his crime. The J-20, China’s first fifth generation fighter, was purpose built not only to serve as a competitor for America’s F-22 Raptor, but in many ways, as a direct copy. The newest iterations of the JF-17 now include air-to-air refueling capabilities, greater use of composite materials to reduce weight, and fly-by-wire technology first procured through a different Soviet purchase. This plane continues to fly today, and is by many accounts a fighter that can stand toe-to-toe with jets designed decades after it first flew.
Elements of both aircraft can be seen in the FC-1 (JF-17 in Pakistan), with the F-16’s nose and tail joined by a distinctly MiG-21 wing design. Thanks to China’s access to F-16 design specs through Israel’s “Lavi” program, that joint venture resulted in an amalgamation of F-16 and Mig-21 characteristics, creating an aircraft that some contend is greater than the sum of its parts. In the years since, that J-7 became the basis for a new joint venture with Pakistan that aimed to field a new fighter that could compete with a different MiG-the newer Soviet MiG-29. In the 1960s, China purchased production plans for the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, which was modified and updated into China’s J-7 platform.
New carriers under development promise to offer an electromagnetic catapult similar to those used on America’s new Ford class carriers, but the J-15 may not live to see service on such a ship.Ĭhina’s love affair with Russian fighters doesn’t only include Sukhoi designs. China’s dated Liaoning carrier’s inferior catapult and ramp system to launch fighters severely limits the maximum operational weight of the J-15, reducing the total ordnance it can take into fight. With a faster top speed, greater maximum G-load, and slightly higher operational ceiling, China has been happy to contend that a dog fight between the two jets would undoubtedly result in a Chinese victory īut the J-15 is severely hindered by its launch apparatus. Technically speaking, the J-15 could be considered the superior fighter to America’s long serving (and fastest) intercept fighter, the F-15-at least on paper. The result is a carrier-based fighter that shares the Su-33’s folding wing design and overall appearance coupled with a few Chinese improvements like incorporating more composite materials to reduce overall weight. When the Soviets refused to part with their Su-33 design secrets, China purchased an Su-33 prototype aircraft from Ukraine, dubbed the T-10K-3, and quickly set about reverse engineering it. China’s J-15 serves as their primary carrier based aircraft, and if China had gotten their way, it would have been produced originally by simply purchasing the production line for the Su-33 (which is Russia’s carrier-capable version of the Su-27).