The J-20: China’s counterfeit-fighter that could still mean trouble

[Zarvan]

The J-20: China’s counterfeit-fighter that could still mean trouble

BY ALEX HOLLINGS 11.13.2016#EXPERT ANALYSISEMAIL SHARE TWEET

What we know for sure about the new Chinese J-20 stealth fighter jet is subject to some debate. We know that, according to claims within the Chinese government, that it was designed to compete directly with the latest in American fighter jet technology: the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Outwardly, its appearance resembles that of the F-22. Internally, the latest advances in Chinese air-combat technology are supposed to make it a formidable opponent for the best of the West’s fighter aircraft. That’s assuming you believe China’s claims. They are, of course, the same nation that produces the Geely GE, which looks exactly like a Rolls Royce on the outside…

The Chinese have a long and illustrious history of using spies to skip the research and development phase when developing new technologies, so I can’t help but use a critical eye when reading China’s claims of total air superiority. In July of this year, a U.S. District Judge in Los Angeles sentenced a Chinese spy named Su Bin to 46 months in jail for his hand in a hacker led, Chinese spy ring that included, you guessed it, plans for the F-22 and F-35 platforms.

Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst with the Teal Group, believes the new J-20 to be a direct rip off of the F-22 in a number of ways, but with one glaring exception: it’s just not as good, particularly in the stealth department. The glaring difference between the J-20 and the F-22 are the front canards, which are similar to the elevator surfaces usually found on the tail of an aircraft. These surfaces, while making the jet aesthetically different than the American fighter, also severely inhibit the plane’s stealth capabilities.

The Chinese may have had the blueprints for our planes, but they lacked the thorough understanding of stealth technology and the methods that need to be utilized in order to reduce a radar signature from all directions. Based on the design of the craft, Aboulafia suggests that the J-20 would only be stealth from the front, but would otherwise be detectable due to how the radar waves would bounce off of plane’s angled surfaces. “In head-to-head combat, the J-20 would lose in seconds,” Aboulafia went on to claim.

To add insult to knock-off injury, China also has another next generation fighter in production: the J-31, itself a direct aesthetic copy of the F-35. Of course, based on current issues with the original F-35, it might be in China’s best interest to wait it out and steal another copy of the Joint Strike Fighter’s plans once we can keep them in the air.

The United States may not need to be too concerned about China’s new plane, but other nations in the region may. Although the J-20 doesn’t seem to be a technological match for the US, nations like Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam are all generations behind China’s counterfeit-fighter, giving the People’s Republic a distinct advantage in any skirmish that could develop in the area. It is also likely that China will make the J-20 available for sale to its allies in Asia and the Middle East.

If China decides to mass produce the J-20, as they tend to with military aircraft they hope to utilize as well as sell, it could cause issues for the U.S. and allied defenses worldwide. A single J-20 may be no match for our F-22, but ten J-20s would certainly pose a threat. Because China’s production methods are less expensive, and they were able to skip over the costly research phase, China could easily out-produce the United States in terms of fifth generation fighters.

Justin Bronk, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, believes the mass production of J-20s could spell trouble in the future, “They might not be a matchup one-on-one with the F-35 but they may well be able to put far more of them in the sky in the next few years.”

China may not have beat the U.S. with their copy-cat plane, but that doesn’t mean the new fighter doesn’t dramatically increase China’s tactical capabilities. The fighter will provide China with longer range strike capabilities with far larger weapon payloads than ever before available to the communist nation.

The J-20 likely won’t go into mass production until 2018, and until we get a better look at the craft and what it’s capable of, most analysts agree that the best we can do is speculate. One thing is certain, however, regardless of where China got the plans, they just took a major leap in offensive capability. With a number of ongoing territorial disputes with U.S. allied nations in the South China sea, the unveiling of this new fighter must be seen as a bit of indignant posturing toward an already tense region.

https://sofrep.com/67488/j-20-chinas-counterfeit-fighter-still-mean-trouble/

 

[cirr]

These whites believe somehow they are smarter than the Chinese.

On the contrary, an average Chinese is way smarter than an average western redneck.

Now that we have the talents and the money, all we lack is a bit of time.

You ain't seen nothing yet.

Stupid rednecks in string-vest with buttocks bared

 

[IceCold]

They agree that the plane posses a massive challenge to the US and allied forces in the region but on the other could not resist to call it a copy cat plane to stroke their bruise egos. If China has no idea about how stealth jets are made and what material is used than US and allies have nothing to worry about but guess what they still are. That speaks for itself.

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

They agree that the plane posses a massive challenge to the US and allied forces in the region but on the other could not resist to call it a copy cat plane to stroke their bruise egos. If China has no idea about how stealth jets are made and what material is used than US and allies have nothing to worry about but guess what they still are. That speaks for itself.

Kendine dushen a'lamaz - he who stumbles by himself shouldn't cry. The US policy makers gave the material on a golden platter through the OBL ops. I sincerely wish that the next Attorney General also looks into how that ops was conducted or whether that mishap could've been avoided by taking OBL down with Pak help...

 

[friendly_troll96]

These whites believe somehow they are smarter than the Chinese.

On the contrary, an average Chinese is way smarter than an average western redneck.

Now that we have the talents and the money, all we lack is a bit of time.

You ain't seen nothing yet.

Stupid rednecks in string-vest with buttocks bared

This?

 

[Dungeness]

Whenever Chinese come up with something new, it just has to be "copy/counterfeit/reverse Engineering" or whatever.

I just love to see the way they look when they scream "copy cat, counterfeit" but can't do a jack about it.

 

[+4vsgorillas-Apebane]

Richard Aboulafia again.

Fcuk what these clowns say, the most important thing is to carry on.

 

[Beast]

Richard Aboulafia again.

Fcuk what these clowns say, the most important thing is to carry on.

The same clown who claimed JF-17 would not last 5mins in sky.

Whenever Chinese come up with something new, it just has to be "copy/counterfeit/reverse Engineering" or whatever.

I just love to see the way they look when they scream "copy cat, counterfeit" but can't do a jack about it.

They claimed Chinese fastest supercomputer which uses Chinese processor is a copy of US one. Funny that US can't even produced a supercomputer that fast. So may I know where Chinese copy from?

The J-20: China’s counterfeit-fighter that could still mean trouble

BY ALEX HOLLINGS 11.13.2016#EXPERT ANALYSISEMAIL SHARE TWEET

What we know for sure about the new Chinese J-20 stealth fighter jet is subject to some debate. We know that, according to claims within the Chinese government, that it was designed to compete directly with the latest in American fighter jet technology: the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Outwardly, its appearance resembles that of the F-22. Internally, the latest advances in Chinese air-combat technology are supposed to make it a formidable opponent for the best of the West’s fighter aircraft. That’s assuming you believe China’s claims. They are, of course, the same nation that produces the Geely GE, which looks exactly like a Rolls Royce on the outside…

The Chinese have a long and illustrious history of using spies to skip the research and development phase when developing new technologies, so I can’t help but use a critical eye when reading China’s claims of total air superiority. In July of this year, a U.S. District Judge in Los Angeles sentenced a Chinese spy named Su Bin to 46 months in jail for his hand in a hacker led, Chinese spy ring that included, you guessed it, plans for the F-22 and F-35 platforms.

Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst with the Teal Group, believes the new J-20 to be a direct rip off of the F-22 in a number of ways, but with one glaring exception: it’s just not as good, particularly in the stealth department. The glaring difference between the J-20 and the F-22 are the front canards, which are similar to the elevator surfaces usually found on the tail of an aircraft. These surfaces, while making the jet aesthetically different than the American fighter, also severely inhibit the plane’s stealth capabilities.

The Chinese may have had the blueprints for our planes, but they lacked the thorough understanding of stealth technology and the methods that need to be utilized in order to reduce a radar signature from all directions. Based on the design of the craft, Aboulafia suggests that the J-20 would only be stealth from the front, but would otherwise be detectable due to how the radar waves would bounce off of plane’s angled surfaces. “In head-to-head combat, the J-20 would lose in seconds,” Aboulafia went on to claim.

To add insult to knock-off injury, China also has another next generation fighter in production: the J-31, itself a direct aesthetic copy of the F-35. Of course, based on current issues with the original F-35, it might be in China’s best interest to wait it out and steal another copy of the Joint Strike Fighter’s plans once we can keep them in the air.

The United States may not need to be too concerned about China’s new plane, but other nations in the region may. Although the J-20 doesn’t seem to be a technological match for the US, nations like Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam are all generations behind China’s counterfeit-fighter, giving the People’s Republic a distinct advantage in any skirmish that could develop in the area. It is also likely that China will make the J-20 available for sale to its allies in Asia and the Middle East.

If China decides to mass produce the J-20, as they tend to with military aircraft they hope to utilize as well as sell, it could cause issues for the U.S. and allied defenses worldwide. A single J-20 may be no match for our F-22, but ten J-20s would certainly pose a threat. Because China’s production methods are less expensive, and they were able to skip over the costly research phase, China could easily out-produce the United States in terms of fifth generation fighters.

Justin Bronk, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, believes the mass production of J-20s could spell trouble in the future, “They might not be a matchup one-on-one with the F-35 but they may well be able to put far more of them in the sky in the next few years.”

China may not have beat the U.S. with their copy-cat plane, but that doesn’t mean the new fighter doesn’t dramatically increase China’s tactical capabilities. The fighter will provide China with longer range strike capabilities with far larger weapon payloads than ever before available to the communist nation.

The J-20 likely won’t go into mass production until 2018, and until we get a better look at the craft and what it’s capable of, most analysts agree that the best we can do is speculate. One thing is certain, however, regardless of where China got the plans, they just took a major leap in offensive capability. With a number of ongoing territorial disputes with U.S. allied nations in the South China sea, the unveiling of this new fighter must be seen as a bit of indignant posturing toward an already tense region.

https://sofrep.com/67488/j-20-chinas-counterfeit-fighter-still-mean-trouble/

Btw, Zarvan. Posting this kind of low quality article is an insult to your own intelligent and a degrade of your own standard.

 

[Dungeness]

They claimed Chinese fastest supercomputer which uses Chinese processor is a copy of US one. Funny that US can't even produced a supercomputer that fast. So may I know where Chinese copy from?

Then they would say Chinese stole or hacked they secrets.

Chinese are busy "stealing", West is busy bitching about Chinese stealing, and the supa power is busy waiting for ToT of the art of "stealing".

 

[General General]

I think Richard Aboulafia might need to look up what he's talking about in order for his "analyst" band to be taken seriously.

As for the article writer Hollings, I think he's getting a bit confused with the meaning of a "copy". It would seem in his book, anything that is a copy is automatically inferior. China has their own robust scientific base in house, and of course, like every other country they will spy on their rivals to gain an advantage. If they find any thing worth implementing, they would obviously tweak it to their needs.
During a conflict no one will be paying attention to whether a particular sub system is influenced from somewhere else. If it works, it won't matter even if the Chinese are levelling American cities with planes that have U.S.A.F flags painted on them.

 

[volatile]

I stopped reading when author starts 10:1 comparison . Any ways one of my favourite teacher in Business school once taught us .

"Strategy is to win" In the end whether its stolen /copied / blue printed .Its a functional 5th Gen plane .Espionage is not an easy thing and specially from US so if and when China was able to do so its a great mastery .

 

[war&peace]

Copy ??? How does the world progress?...Isn't USA that stole not only the technology of rockets, turbojets, materials from Nazi Germany but also the entire teams? and then created its counterfeit NASA, then again a few decades later they copied Mig-25 to produce their counterfeit F-15 of which they are very proud of.. rather the best USA aircraft that has proven record.

If China has been able to spy on USA, that means failure of US agencies and success for China. Furthermore, if he can use his idiotic racist mind for any useful purpose, it will become visible to him that there are huge differences between F-22 and J-20 in configuration and sizing...but we should rather let these ego-bruised fools to live in their paradise until the conflict takes place.

 

[Djinn]

Btw, Zarvan. Posting this kind of low quality article is an insult to your own intelligent and a degrade of your own standard.

He's only concerned about posting. The narrative a particular articles tows is never his concern. He generally posts articles with Indian twisted version of events regarding Pakistan, so never mind him.
As far as topic is concerned, every one knows that with such rambling they are eventually killing their own credibility(which for me is already non-existent). Any person having an iota of knowledge about J-20 and it's American overrated counterparts knows that they are nothing alike except for stealth capabilities.

 

[maximuswarrior]

Another angry redneck spewing his anger. Why are these people so angry?

Copy ??? How does the world progress?...Isn't USA that stole not only the technology of rockets, turbojets, materials from Nazi Germany but also the entire teams? and then created its counterfeit NASA, then again a few decades later they copied Mig-25 to produce their counterfeit F-15 of which they are very proud of.. rather the best USA aircraft that has proven record.

If China has been able to spy on USA, that means failure of US agencies and success for China. Furthermore, if he can use his idiotic racist mind for any useful purpose, it will become visible to him that there are huge differences between F-22 and J-20 in configuration and sizing...but we should rather let these ego-bruised fools to live in their paradise until the conflict takes place.

Sour grapes.