"America's F-22 Stealth Fighter vs. Russia's PAK-FA: " Topic

…Who Wins?

"This year marks a decade since the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor was declared operational with the U.S. Air Force.

Billed by many as the most capable air superiority fighter ever built, the Raptor only recently proved its mettle in combat over Syria and Iraq about a year ago. But the jet wasn't used to annihilate a Soviet air armada over the Fulda Gap or rip apart an advanced enemy integrated air defense system as its designers had envisioned. Instead, the Raptor has most been relegated to the role of a flying sensor platform.

Nonetheless, the day is coming when the F-22 could face a foe that might have a chance of going toe-to-toe with it and winning—albeit a small one. Russia and China are hard at work developing the Chengdu J-20 and the Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA. Of these two machines, the PAK-FA is probably the more serious challenger. Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has somehow managed to retain a more or less credible defense industrial base—even if it's just a shadow of its former self…"
Full article here
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Amicalement
Armand

Yea, Chinese tech, especially in engines is still behind the curve.

Only a theft or two away from getting better. The Chinese are good at stealing out technology and retrofitting it to their stuff.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

China can get their hands on technology, it is being able to manufacture from scratch, without the decades of experience that American defense contractors, that is holding them back.

Only time can conquer that steep learning curve.

Stealing the technological data is one thing.

Putting it into production, successfully is a whole different ballgame.

The Chinese still can't make engines the equal of the Soviet designs from the 1990s. The engines are slower to spool up, which means inferior turbine materials, and have about 1/10 the life expectancy.

US engines have about 100x the life expectancy of the Chinese engines.