In China, the third time postpones the completion of tests of the carrier-based fighter J-31: about possible reasons

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In China, problems have shown themselves with the completion of the ambitious project of the carrier-based fighter J-31, which in China is classified as a new generation fighter (5th in the world classification). In December last year, as previously reported, the tests of this fighter were to be completed with the subsequent adoption of it into service. The J-31 carrier-based fighters are planned to be the main combat wing of Chinese-made aircraft carriers, starting with the Type003. We are talking about aircraft carriers with a flat deck.

Thus, we can state the fact that in China for the third time it is necessary to postpone the completion of tests of the carrier-based fighter J-31. Initially, it was about putting into service (according to plans) in December 2019, then the process was shifted to December 2020. Now we have to revise the terms again.



In China itself, experts say that this is "uncharacteristic for a modern military-industrial complex." In this regard, possible reasons are being discussed that lead to the third revision of plans for putting the J-31 into service.

According to recent reports, one of the problems associated with this combat fighter concerns the combination of parameters such as payload and combat range.

It turned out that in an attempt to reduce the aircraft's visibility to enemy radars, Chinese aircraft designers decided to change the design, including the design of the air intakes. This led to the fact that the volume of internal space for the placement of missiles of various classes has decreased.

It was decided to change the geometry of the in-fuselage compartment for weapons, but a new problem arose - any attempt to maintain volume led either to the need to change the design of the air intakes, or to a decrease in the volume of fuel tanks. As a consequence: the J-31 either loses stealth parameters, but carries more missiles and has a combat radius of about 1200 km, or remains invisible, but its combat radius decreases by about a third, and the missile and bomb load in terms of its mass becomes such that questioned the very effective use of the aircraft as the main carrier-based fighter.

How China is going to solve this problem has not yet been reported.
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    19 comments
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    1. -23
      25 January 2021 11: 47
      China has several 5th generation fighters at once. We have one and that with claims, especially on stealth, raises huge questions.
      1. +9
        25 January 2021 11: 50
        Quote: Prax1
        China has several 5th generation fighters at once

        Wow ... How many is "a few"? One option - J-20 and one J-31, who does not want to finish building ... Are there any more?

        Quote: Prax1
        especially on stealth, raises huge questions.

        Have you even seen him "in the eyes"? They will also say.

        Although for a "sketch", of course, it will do ...
        1. -20
          25 January 2021 11: 56
          I have enough pictures, and they deservedly criticize him, instead of a normal physical, flattened su-27. How much money they sawed to imagine is terrible.
          1. +9
            25 January 2021 11: 58
            Quote: Prax1
            I have enough pictures

            It's five! Expert opinion)))
          2. The comment was deleted.
      2. +7
        25 January 2021 11: 51
        Quote: Prax1
        China has several 5th generation fighters at once. We have one and that with claims, especially on stealth, raises huge questions.

        Where does "a few" come from?
        Two, which still bring and bring ...
        1. -19
          25 January 2021 11: 54
          They will bring no doubts, but ours should at least change the physical
          1. +13
            25 January 2021 11: 56
            Quote: Prax1
            change physicality

            Yeah. Change "physical" to "physical". Only this way, only this way ...
            1. +16
              25 January 2021 14: 55
              Yes, he trolls you.
          2. +5
            25 January 2021 12: 28
            They will bring no doubts, but ours should at least change the physical

            it was in the 90s, with pro-American puppets in the government of the Russian Federation, they actively changed the "flesh" of combat aircraft for handouts to the IMF
          3. 0
            25 January 2021 16: 35
            The Chinese will need to change the fuselage and create a new engine! The Su-57 is a very balanced aircraft in design and outperforms all aircraft of this class when using internal suspensions, including the F22 ... The Chinese on the J-31 will either have to change the aircraft, or change the tactics of its use! It is very difficult to make a full-fledged aircraft of the 5th with a large rocket and bomb load inside! The Su-57 is the most successful in this regard ... Moreover, there is an opinion that the 5th generation aircraft are not universal, but rather play the role of covert scouts for targeting other aircraft, so to speak, mini-avax on the front line, and do not completely replace the aircraft 4th generation.
      3. -3
        25 January 2021 11: 52
        So we are not China, but 10 times less, we should not be equal ...
        Okay, at least there is some progress.
      4. +2
        25 January 2021 12: 15
        Prax1 - the Chinese do not have a few aircraft of the 5th generation, because loud statements are not yet the fact of the existence of such an aircraft, or its compliance with the criteria of the 5th generation de facto! !!
      5. +6
        25 January 2021 12: 35
        The guy trolls without hiding it, and you feed him. I thought after "I have enough pictures" even the slowest will think of it. And the Berlin patient on the profile picture emphasizes all the absurdity.
      6. +1
        27 January 2021 00: 18
        if you were in the know, you would know that China has only the 4th generation. He counts the generation of his aircraft by his number. And a few projects because they only have their own clones of the mig-21 and 23.
        The Su-27 analogs do not have their own good engines. And there is really no aircraft building school. And the ambitions are ogogo.
        Hence the practice, similar to the early USSR, when parallel development is ordered from different teams.
    2. +4
      25 January 2021 12: 23
      Yes, you can't decide, if you want a small "Raptor" - suffer. The AMCA and the Korean fighter will have the same problem (so they have no compartment for now).
    3. +1
      25 January 2021 13: 45
      They will take away the pilot and make a drone, the enemy will turn on electronic warfare and they end up in the sea laughing
    4. +17
      25 January 2021 14: 16
      So the Chinese, when they plunged into design to the fullest, understood the complexity of this process. "You can't copy this!"
    5. +1
      25 January 2021 14: 23
      We need to remove one engine and there is enough space for everyone. It remains to make such an engine.
    6. -1
      26 January 2021 01: 52
      The J-31 carrier-based fighters are planned to be the main combat wing of Chinese-made aircraft carriers, starting with the Type003.


      Is this already official data?

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