Sembra che ci sappiano fare:Cina. Il caccia J-20 potrebbe stare all’altezza dell’F-22 Raptor.
Giuseppe Sandro Mela.
2018-04-25.
«Il Chengdu J-20 è un aereo da caccia stealth di quinta generazione sviluppato dall'azienda aeronautica cinese Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group negli anni duemila e dal 2016 in fase di preproduzione. ....
Pare sia un bireattore con configurazione alare delta canard con elevate caratteristiche di invisibilità, supercruise e maneggevolezza, nel complesso comparabile all'F-22 americano. Il design dovrebbe trarre parzialmente ispirazione dal Mig 1.44 e dal Northrop-McDonnell Douglas YF-23 Black Widow II.Tra le caratteristiche innovative figurerebbero un radar AESA a scansione elettronica sviluppato localmente, una stiva interna, un'interfaccia digitale, un sistema di spinta vettoriale e una grande capacità di trasporto di armi e carburante in stive interne.
Le informazioni in possesso dai media affermano che siano stati realizzati 9 prototipi (le cui foto sono apparse in rete il 22 dicembre 2010), e che si stanno effettuando numerosi test a terra; mentre sembra che il primo test in volo si sia tenuto l'11 gennaio 2011 sui cieli della città di Chengdu.
Anche il J-20 è attualmente equipaggiato con due turbofan di fabbricazione russa, anche se il caccia di linea dovrebbe essere dotato di un motore di concezione e produzione nazionale.» [Fonte]
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Dai dati disponibili, sembrerebbe che il J-20 abbia una velocità massima di Mach 2.5, un raggio di azione di 2,000 kilometri ed una tangenza di 20,000 metri.
Sull'armamento corrono voci discordanti, forse perché riferite a versioni differenti.
«Il J-20 dovrebbe trasportare internamente fino ad un massimo di quattro missili BVRAAM, beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles e due a corto raggio PL-10.»
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«- With Russia and China beginning to field stealth jets, Business Insider sat down with Michael Kofman, a military analyst, to get his impressions on how they match up with the US's stealth planes.
- Kofman said Russia's Su-57 didn't match the stealth capabilities of the US's F-22 or F-35 but would be a capable platform.
- He also said that while China's J-20 had good avionics and software, it was inferior to the Su-57 because of its older engine model and large surface.
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With more countries now fielding and trying to market stealth jets, Business Insider spoke to Michael Kofman, a senior research scientist at the think tank CNA and fellow at the Wilson Center focusing on Russia's military and defense, about how the Su-57 and the J-20 match up with the US's stealth planes. ....
What do you think overall of the Su-57? I think it's a stealthier aircraft than your typical fourth-generation design. I don't think it matches the stealth capability of the F-22 or F-35, nor does it match the price tag of them. I think it's a poor man's stealth aircraft. I think it'll be a very capable platform. I don't think it'll match or compete the low-observation parameters of US aircraft. ....
The F-22 is actually really good in maneuverability too. The F-35 not so much, but the F-22 is actually a brilliant aircraft. We still have a lot of them. But the Su-57 is not meant to be a direct competitor to the F-22 or F-35. ....
Is the Su-57 better than the J-20? Well, it's certainly far — if not further — along in technology design. ....
What do you think about the J-20 compared to the F-22 or the Su-57? I suspect that the J-20 probably has great avionics and software but, as always, has terrible engine design. In fact, Chinese low-observation aircraft designs like J-31 are flying on older Russian Klimov engines because the Chinese can't make an engine. Others are Russian saturn engines, or Chinese engines based on western designs.»
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Gli esperti del The Diplomat sembrerebbero dare una migliore valutazione del J-20.
«The J-20’s rapidly evolving combat capabilities could make it a world leading aerial warfare platform»
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«China’s Chengdu J-20 fifth generation air superiority fighter first entered service in early 2017, providing the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) with an analog to the U.S. F-22 Raptor»
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«the J-20 to become a world leading aerial warfare platform»
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«Other upgrades for the J-20 include improved software, improvements to radar capabilities, enhanced avionics and superior electronic equipment»
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A nostro personale parere, le discussioni tecniche interessano ben poco, specialmente per il fatto che nessuna delle parti in gioco ha reso note e pubbliche le vere specifiche dei propri mezzi.
Senza tener poi conto che questa tipologia di caccia necessita di tutta una lunghissima serie di servizi che spaziano dalle comunicazioni satellitari, all'integrazione in una rete radar a livello almeno locoregionale, e così via.
Ci sembrerebbe invece più proficuo soffermarci su di una considerazione ovvia, che poi ovvia sembrerebbe non esserlo molto.
Trenta anno or sono l'industria aeronautica cinese era praticamente inesistente. La società Comac è stata fondata l'11 maggio 2008, ed il suo prototipo C919 è già in fase di testaggio avanzato.
Al momento sta muovendo i suoi primi cautissimi passi, però c'è.
Il mercato interno cinese ha raggiunto livelli di tutto rispetto.
«La Cina acquisterà seimila aerei per 869 miliardi entro il 2035»
E senza un mercato civile interno resta ben difficile pensare di poter ottenere un'industria aerospaziale bellica efficiente.
In sintesi.
Nessuno sa né può prevedere il futuro, questi trend di crescita indicherebbero però la concreta possibilità che la Cina possa diventare in tempi brevi egemone .
The J-20’s rapidly evolving combat capabilities could make it a world leading aerial warfare platform.
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China’s Chengdu J-20 fifth generation air superiority fighter first entered service in early 2017, providing the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) with an analog to the U.S. F-22 Raptor. The platform was the first fifth generation fighter to enter service anywhere in the world outside the United States, and came equipped with state-of-the-art radar evading capabilities, avionics, and air-to-air missiles. The fighter’s canard configuration served to further enhance stealth capabilities while maintaining high levels of maneuverability. With less than a year having passed since the J-20 was inducted into service, the next generation platform has already received its first set of upgrades aimed at enhancing its combat performance. These upgrades are but the first of many to come, which could well lead the J-20 to become a world leading aerial warfare platform.
A notable shortcoming of prototypes and early production models of the J-20 was their use of fourth generation engines, the WS-10G, which were heavily based on the Russian AL-31 used to power fourth generation heavy fighters. The platform lacked an engine comparable to the F119 used by the F-22 Raptor, leaving it underpowered and significantly less capable in an air superiority role. China’s military aviation industries have since the induction of the fighter however developed a fifth generation fighter engine, WS-15, with analogous capabilities to the F119. These new and superior engines will be installed on future fighters and represent a significant upgrade over previous capabilities. Reports from a number of analysts indicate that several J-20 fighters which took part in major military drills at the Zhurihe base in Inner Mongolia in mid 2017 were already equipped with the WS-15 for testing purposes.
Other upgrades for the J-20 include improved software, improvements to radar capabilities, enhanced avionics and superior electronic equipment. A lead engineer working on the J-20, speaking to the People’s Daily, said his team were making further modifications to the elite fighter’s engine, stealth coating and weapons bay. This would improve the platform’s flight performance, survivability, and firepower. The rate at which the J-20 has received upgrades is particularly significant when compared to the rate of upgrades for the F-22 Raptor, which has yet to complete installation of its second set of upgrades after almost 13 years of service. Upgrading the J-20’s weapons bay in a number of months, for example, represents an accomplishment the U.S. Air Force has attempted for years to achieve to improve the firepower of the F-22 and allow it to operate more advanced air to air missiles. F-22 upgrade programs such as the Raptor Agile Capability Release have taken years, not months, to implement and arguably are less significant than the upgrades China was able to so quickly apply to its J-20. By the time the U.S. Raptors have all been equipped with the new 180 km range AIM-120D air to air missiles, the J-20 is likely to have already begun to operate the new ramjet powered variants of the PL-21 and PL-12D air to air missiles with higher speeds, maneuverability and ranges estimated at 200-400 km. The pace at which the Chinese fighter’s capabilities are improving far exceeds those of the F-22.
The U.S. Air Force’s ability to improve the capabilities of the Raptor is limited largely due to the termination of production of the fighter, meaning it is no longer a “live program” undergoing continuous development in the same way as the F-35, F-15, and J-20. The age of the Raptor’s design, meaning it uses software and computer architecture developed in the 1990s with a core processor speed of just 25MHz, further complicates upgrades – causing particular issues when attempting to equip the fighter with newly developed weapons systems. The J-20’s far newer computer architecture is far easier to work with for China’s own military. While the J-20 was considered unable to match the capabilities of the F-22 upon its induction into service, the far faster rate at which upgrades can be applied are set to rapidly narrow the gap and could well lead the Chinese fighter to soon surpass the capabilities of its U.S. counterpart and in future go on to transcend them entirely. With both fighters representing the elite of each country’s respective aerial warfare capabilities, this will inevitably have significant implications for the balance of power in the Pacific.
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