When do you think China's new stealth aircraft J-20 will be in flight tests?

1. 66

   ptosisposted 13 years ago

   When do you think China's new stealth aircraft J-20 will be in flight tests?
   
   The J-20 went through high-speed taxi tests at Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute's airfield last week. Do you think LESS than 5 years to get off the ground or MORE than 5 years, ( after 2016)
   
   

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2. 56

   FatherOfTwoposted 13 years ago

   Hi ptosis, being a stealth unit, and the fact that they conducted taxi testing would lead one to believe there are a couple of possibilities.
   A: It could be a bluff and not ready to go yet with the taxi testing being used as a visible deterrent to the rest of the world.
   B: As mentioned on a few technical forums, it may already have the capability of being airbourne. Some of the more knowledgeable people in the aeronautics industry have queried taxi testing on an aircraft which has not been test flown yet.
   Personally, I would guess that it will be well within the five years.

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3. 0

   Tech Updatesposted 13 years ago

   
   
   The Chengdu J-20 is a fifth generation stealth fighter aircraft prototype developed by Chengdu Aircraft Corporation for the People's Liberation Army Air Force. Two prototypes (#2001 & 2002) have been built as of the end of 2010. High-speed taxiing trials of the #2001 prototype were conducted on December 22, 2010. Several days later, high-resolution photographs surfaced. It has been described as having a pair of all-moving tailfins and ventral stabilizing fins. It also features an F-22 style nose section, including Caret intakes but with DSI bumps installed at the upper corners, as well as a one-piece canopy.
   J-20 also incorporates an advanced fly-by-wire (FBW) system fully integrated with the fire-control and the engine systems. Its fire-control radar is expected to be Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) (Type 1475/KLJ5?). The aircraft may feature a "pure" glass cockpit (a single F-35 style color liquid crystal display (LCD) display and a wide-angle holographic head-up display (HUD)). Many of these subsystems have been tested onboard J-10B to speed up the development. It was reported in November 2006 that a T/W=10 17,000kg class turbofan (WS-15/"large thrust") is being developed for J-20.

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4. 66

   ptosisposted 13 years ago

   Wow! GREAT answers! Wow again! Tech Updates: You da Man! & FatherofTwo: I agree with the visible deterrent. When I saw that picture I wondered just how dangerous it would of have to have been to be able be to photograph such a picture without permit.

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5. 60

   DerekWriteposted 13 years ago

   Looks like a show of force to me, time will tell though.  It's been a while since a military aircraft has made any news to me,

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