When Chinese said they have built a stealth fighter, I was naturally curious. When I saw it there was Mig 1.44 finger prints all over it. This is not new for China I thought. They bought Lavi fighter jet design and made J10. I wouldn't be surprised if they did the same with J20. However, this new stealth plane is freaking huge. No wonder they needed to have those canards on the front for additional lift. If USAF with all their experience are having trouble operating stealth fighters in terms of cost then you bet Chinese would be having problems too not only in terms of cost but also technology. There is no way J20 would be effective without powerful engines. Even with powerful engines J20 cannot go super sonic for long periods of time. Going supersonic for long periods will result in structural damage and loss of stealth capabilities. This is a problem in F-35 too.Former USAF pilots called F-35 a fat whale when it was in the design and production phase. These guys grew up in the era of dog fights. So they didn't really catch up on the technological progress. F-35 sure is a huge *** plane. But the plane is packed with sensors and all sorts of goodies for a pilot to never engage in a dog fight. Even then F-35 is way too expensive to operate even for USAF. It costs $30,000 - $35,000 per hour to operate F-35. And USAF wants to induct 2,500 F-35's by 2040.
The other factors like J20 only having frontal stealth and whether their avionics, sensor fusion, AESA radar are up to the standards of 5th generation fighters? We don't have much idea on those. Operating J20 in many different climatic conditions must also be a pain the *** I reckon. In February 2022, it was revealed that the aircraft’s aspiration to host Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs) had run into trouble owing to its underpowered engines. Questions have also been raised on China’s ability to produce purpose-built engines on a war footing
I don't usually discuss potential flaws of Chinese fighters on PDF but I will make this one exception. See below image, do you see the fuselage above the wing root of the J11 reinforced with metal panels. Do you know why this is done?
View attachment 884791
This is because the gas injection system frequently goes out of sync with the chambering mechanism of the canon. This causes the round to misfire and strike the fuselage. A design flaw of the original Su-27 inherited by all copies of the original. If the J-11 were truly Chinese this issue would have been addressed instead of "patched" with a clumsy workaround. Indian navy pilots can actually land fighters on this deck. As opposed to PLAN tht has needed Russian pilots to do deck landings on its flat-tops. Some humility is indeed in order....
