The first flight of J-10 was in 1998. PLA only disclosed it at 2006 (8 yrs later).
Some rumors from Washington Post said that:
J-14 is a smoke screen - there is no such a thing as J-14.
Other rumors are more reasonable: 1st flight of Chinese next gen fighter
was at 2005, slightly before PLA disclosed J-10. Therefore, PLA will disclose
the next gen at about 2013 ( 8 years later).
Me thinks that it is very strange that China is selling J-10 (the "best" China
has, together with known J-11b, and possible J-10b) without the next
gen already safely in the pocket. In other words, it is almost impossible
to publicly showcase J-10 in int'l airshows without having the next gen already
in the air, given no major countries, including China, are willing to sell their
best hardware in stock. If what the commander told the media was true,
then no more "classified info" would be needed on the matter.
Conclusion: I am almost convinced that the first flight of the next gen
has already been conduted successfully years ago, particularly before
China made the decision to sell J-1o, which is much more in line with
the standard operating procedure of PLA.
Some rumors from Washington Post said that:
J-14 is a smoke screen - there is no such a thing as J-14.
Other rumors are more reasonable: 1st flight of Chinese next gen fighter
was at 2005, slightly before PLA disclosed J-10. Therefore, PLA will disclose
the next gen at about 2013 ( 8 years later).
Me thinks that it is very strange that China is selling J-10 (the "best" China
has, together with known J-11b, and possible J-10b) without the next
gen already safely in the pocket. In other words, it is almost impossible
to publicly showcase J-10 in int'l airshows without having the next gen already
in the air, given no major countries, including China, are willing to sell their
best hardware in stock. If what the commander told the media was true,
then no more "classified info" would be needed on the matter.
Conclusion: I am almost convinced that the first flight of the next gen
has already been conduted successfully years ago, particularly before
China made the decision to sell J-1o, which is much more in line with
the standard operating procedure of PLA.
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