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China, Japan, South Korea and India are all developing advanced aircraft. How and why is this happening?
By Benjamin David Baker
December 01, 2015
Tensions are rising high throughout the Asia-Pacific. From the Indo-Pakistani border, through Australia’s controversial border policies to China’s disputes with its neighbors in the South and East China Seas, Asian states have been increasing investments in their military capabilities. In all these cases, having forceful and credible aerial assets is a crucial part of deterrence. This is reflected in regional defense spending.
Meanwhile, the world is facing a generational shift in military aircraft. Since the final decade of the Cold War, the skies have been dominated by so-called “fourth-generation” combat aircraft: supersonic jets with increasingly sophisticated electronic capabilities, equipped with weaponry able to engage the enemy over several kilometers distance. These still make up the backbone of basically every modern air force around the world.
However, several states with large budgets and a high degree of military research and development spending are attempting to develop so-called “fifth-generation” aircraft. These jets incorporate stealth technology, which makes them difficult to detect on radar, powerful and secure communications, and advanced sensors that help pilots and ground control teams to keep “full spectrum dominance” of the battlespace.
The U.S. has been leading the way in this field. Although there is some contention as to what actually qualifies a combat aircraft for inclusion into the fifth-generation category, most sources agree that only one currently fully operational model meets the criteria: the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor. The specs surrounding this aircraft are closely guarded secrets, and Washington does not export it to even close allies. Lockheed-Martin’s other fifth-generation aircraft, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is slated for export to a number of allied states. However, the F-35 remains mired in controversy due to delays, overshot budgets, and technical glitches (see here, here and here).
The United States isn’t alone in its ambition to field fifth-generation tech. Several Asian countries are attempting to develop their own fifth-generation aircraft. China is attempting to design and produce a fighter which can offset the American advantage. In response, both Japan and South Korea are in the process of acquiring their own indigenous fifth-generation birds, with varying amounts of technology borrowed from the F-35. India is also pursuing a next-generation aircraft (although New Delhi’s is mostly looking to Moscow and its own indigenous research and development for its needs).
China
As The Diplomat has covered extensively, China is currently in the process of developing two different models of fifth generation fighters. The Chengdu Aerospace Corporation J-21 is supposed to be the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF) version of the U.S. Raptor. Although much of the information surrounding the J-21 is unavailable, it is probably primarily intended as an air superiority fighter. This is due to the fact that it is primarily equipped with hardpoints for air-to-air missiles, including the short-range PL-9 and the long-range PL-12 and PL-21.
Like many of the PLAAF’s jets, important issues remain with the J-21’s twin-engine propulsion. It is currently unknown what kind of engine powers the aircraft, but it is assumed that this is either the indigenously designed WS-10 or the older Russian Saturn AL-31F. China is developing a new turbofan, theWS-15, which will be exclusively used by the J-21. It is currently unknown how near completion this engine is today. In the meantime, as reported by Franz-Stefan Gady for the Diplomat, there is speculation that China will attempt to reverse-engineer some of the technology in the Russian Saturn AL-117S turbofans installed in the Sukhoi Su-35, of which China has recently announced that it will buy 24 units. According to the PLAAF, the J-21 will be fully operational by 2018, although this timeframe is questionable and may be optimistic.
This is also true for PLAAF’s F-35 counterpart: the Shenyang J-31. Like the J-21, much of the specifications surrounding the J-31 are classified, but it is reasonable to assume that it is intended to provide advanced defense capabilities in close-air support, aerial bombing, and air interdiction operations. It can also perform suppression of enemy air defenses and can be used as a carrier-based fighter on China’s future aircraft carriers. Initial operational capability of the aircraft is expected in 2020. Like the F-35, China announced last month that it is intending to export the J-31. Unlike its U.S. counterpart, it has yet to find any buyers.
Some in the U.S. believe that both the J-21 and the J-31 have been developed at least partially with designs stolen from the F-35. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, said the Chengdu J-20 twin-engine stealth fighter bears similarity to the F-22 Raptor while the J-31 fighter resembles the F-35 design.
“What they’ve been able to do in such a rapid period of time without any R&D, do you believe that that gives them a competitive advantage?” Manchin said during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on cybersecurity this September.
By Benjamin David Baker
December 01, 2015
Tensions are rising high throughout the Asia-Pacific. From the Indo-Pakistani border, through Australia’s controversial border policies to China’s disputes with its neighbors in the South and East China Seas, Asian states have been increasing investments in their military capabilities. In all these cases, having forceful and credible aerial assets is a crucial part of deterrence. This is reflected in regional defense spending.
Meanwhile, the world is facing a generational shift in military aircraft. Since the final decade of the Cold War, the skies have been dominated by so-called “fourth-generation” combat aircraft: supersonic jets with increasingly sophisticated electronic capabilities, equipped with weaponry able to engage the enemy over several kilometers distance. These still make up the backbone of basically every modern air force around the world.
However, several states with large budgets and a high degree of military research and development spending are attempting to develop so-called “fifth-generation” aircraft. These jets incorporate stealth technology, which makes them difficult to detect on radar, powerful and secure communications, and advanced sensors that help pilots and ground control teams to keep “full spectrum dominance” of the battlespace.
The U.S. has been leading the way in this field. Although there is some contention as to what actually qualifies a combat aircraft for inclusion into the fifth-generation category, most sources agree that only one currently fully operational model meets the criteria: the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor. The specs surrounding this aircraft are closely guarded secrets, and Washington does not export it to even close allies. Lockheed-Martin’s other fifth-generation aircraft, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is slated for export to a number of allied states. However, the F-35 remains mired in controversy due to delays, overshot budgets, and technical glitches (see here, here and here).
The United States isn’t alone in its ambition to field fifth-generation tech. Several Asian countries are attempting to develop their own fifth-generation aircraft. China is attempting to design and produce a fighter which can offset the American advantage. In response, both Japan and South Korea are in the process of acquiring their own indigenous fifth-generation birds, with varying amounts of technology borrowed from the F-35. India is also pursuing a next-generation aircraft (although New Delhi’s is mostly looking to Moscow and its own indigenous research and development for its needs).
China
As The Diplomat has covered extensively, China is currently in the process of developing two different models of fifth generation fighters. The Chengdu Aerospace Corporation J-21 is supposed to be the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF) version of the U.S. Raptor. Although much of the information surrounding the J-21 is unavailable, it is probably primarily intended as an air superiority fighter. This is due to the fact that it is primarily equipped with hardpoints for air-to-air missiles, including the short-range PL-9 and the long-range PL-12 and PL-21.
Like many of the PLAAF’s jets, important issues remain with the J-21’s twin-engine propulsion. It is currently unknown what kind of engine powers the aircraft, but it is assumed that this is either the indigenously designed WS-10 or the older Russian Saturn AL-31F. China is developing a new turbofan, theWS-15, which will be exclusively used by the J-21. It is currently unknown how near completion this engine is today. In the meantime, as reported by Franz-Stefan Gady for the Diplomat, there is speculation that China will attempt to reverse-engineer some of the technology in the Russian Saturn AL-117S turbofans installed in the Sukhoi Su-35, of which China has recently announced that it will buy 24 units. According to the PLAAF, the J-21 will be fully operational by 2018, although this timeframe is questionable and may be optimistic.
This is also true for PLAAF’s F-35 counterpart: the Shenyang J-31. Like the J-21, much of the specifications surrounding the J-31 are classified, but it is reasonable to assume that it is intended to provide advanced defense capabilities in close-air support, aerial bombing, and air interdiction operations. It can also perform suppression of enemy air defenses and can be used as a carrier-based fighter on China’s future aircraft carriers. Initial operational capability of the aircraft is expected in 2020. Like the F-35, China announced last month that it is intending to export the J-31. Unlike its U.S. counterpart, it has yet to find any buyers.
Some in the U.S. believe that both the J-21 and the J-31 have been developed at least partially with designs stolen from the F-35. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, said the Chengdu J-20 twin-engine stealth fighter bears similarity to the F-22 Raptor while the J-31 fighter resembles the F-35 design.
“What they’ve been able to do in such a rapid period of time without any R&D, do you believe that that gives them a competitive advantage?” Manchin said during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on cybersecurity this September.
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