"Chinese J-31 Stealth May Match F-35" Topic

Due to the theft of technology by the Chinese, the J-31 stealth fighter may be similar in capabilities to the American F-35 fighter:

link

That's one way to close the technological development gap, quickly.

Chinese engine tech is REALLY bad. I really doubt it will even be close.

Which is really something to aspire to…

Making ONE and maintaining a fleet of them are entirely different things

It could bankrupt their economy ? Remember … they are relatively new with this Capitalism thing … and trying to meld it with their old Communist ways …

Chinese engine tech is REALLY bad. I really doubt it will even be close.

They'll probably slap a Russian AL31 or RD33 in it initially just like they've done for J-20.

Making ONE and maintaining a fleet of them are entirely different things

The Chinese air force is by all accounts maintained at decent serviceability rates and probably better than most of NATO including partners like Germany whose aircraft are mainly grounded due to lack of spares and funds to acquire them.

I don't think J-31 will be as "advanced" as F-35 in terms of technology. I don't think it will be as capable a bomb truck.

However some analysts point out that the aerodynamics might make it a better air to air fighter. The F-35 compromised a lot of aerodynamic performance to meet all it's myriads of competing goals – indeed the Navy versions have transonic acceleration rates that are equivalent to 1960s fighters.

One area the J-31 will definitely be better is range but not due to any aircraft specifications.:

1. The Chinese would in most instances be operating close to land bases in any conflict with US.

The Chinese lack tanking assets to send the J-31 out too far. It's why they have large fleets of Flankers and are developing J-20. It's also why J-10 (F-16 equivalent) adoption has not been rapid.

2. The US would require tanking to get close enough to tangle with J-31s.

3. The Chinese would be using their long range J-20 stealth interceptors to take out tankers and AWACS to limit allied air power.

As a short ranged tactical fighter I suspect J-31 would be used to guard mainland China, especially key targets. If anything it's main targets will be cruise missiles and US bombers if the US decided to bomb mainland targets.

The only area where J-31 could see combat is Taiwan. But the Taiwanese lost their qualitative advantage 10 or so years ago when large numbers of Flankers as well as PLAAF AWACS came on line.

The Taiwanese will not get F-35 unless there's a considerable change in US policy towards China. The US initially refused to sell Taiwan 66 F-16C/Ds and by the time they approved it, the Taiwanese had lost interest.

The Taiwanese airforce is set to shrink considerably by 2020-25 with Mirage 2000 and F-5 being retired without replacement.

That leaves 120 F-CK-1 Ching Kuo and 144 F-16A/B (both being upgraded) but all were built in 1990s.

There's already reports that China wants to buy two squadrons of SU-35S's mainly to steal the engine tech in the hope that the Russians have fixed their recurring problems (not likely). The J-31 will definitely be a dangerous opponent for their neighbors, but until the Chinese learn how to do large scale air operations against a high tech opponent, I"m not too concerned.

Just checked engines – initially they are Russian RD93s which are a modified version of RD33 used by MiG-29.

Chinese engine tech is REALLY bad. I really doubt it will even be close.

They'll probably slap a Russian AL31 or RD33 in it initially just like they've done for J-20.

Which gets them up to 400 hours before overhaul, about 1/5 the US engine life.

It's not 400 before overhaul. It's about 1500-2000 hours these days for Russian jet engines.

Since the early 2000s they've made massive improvements to engine life. By 2007 latest model RD33 was up to 1000 Hr TBO and 1500 for AL31. They've been ramped up since and the Chinese have developed capability to increase engine life for AL31s by themselves.

Engine life is anywhere up to 4000 hours.

Not as good as American/British but ironically manufacturing flaws means a Eurofighter engine lasts only 2000 hours instead of planned 6000.

I sometimes wonder whether you guys have read any news article post 1991! :P

IIRC classic Russian jets like Mig-21 was designed so that the engines weren't meant to be overhauled -you just use the plane as long as it works and then switch on to a new plane.

Naturally when we Finns bought some Mig-21's we overhauled them again and again even if the plane is built around the engine so that you basically have to dismantle the whole darn thing before you can overhaul the engine.

you just use the plane as long as it works and then switch on to a new plane.

That was standard fare in the West too up to 1960s. Aircraft crashed a lot and became obsolete really quickly.

It was not uncommon for some types to be phased out in 2-3 years of entering service.

Before WWII it was even more worse, from memory Bill Gunston quoted RAF aircraft had an average of 38 flying hours when they were scrapped.

After 1960s replacement aircraft got very expensive.