Obama's pilots shitting pants as Pentagon discover PRC jets eats F-22 F-35 alive

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http://news.usni.org/2014/11/05/u-s-...qual-f-22-f-35


U.S. Pilots Say New Chinese Stealth Fighter Could Become Equal of F-22, F-35

By: Dave Majumdar
November 5, 2014 12:53 PM • Updated: November 6, 2014 7:00 AM

An undated photo of the Shenyang-J-31

China’s new Shenyang J-31 stealth fighter — making its debut next week at the Zhuhai international airshow — could eventually become more than a match for American stealth fighters in battle, several U.S. military and industry officials told USNI News.

The J-31 is China’s latest crack at developing a modern so-called fifth-generation stealth fighter — equivalent in ability to Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor or F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter.

“They’re still in the glossy brochure phase of development, so they still look ten feet tall and bulletproof,” one senior U.S. fighter pilot familiar with the F-35 program told USNI News.
“I think they’ll eventually be on par with our fifth gen jets — as they should be, because industrial espionage is alive and well.”


An undated photo of the Shenyang-J-31

Many suspect the J-31 is designed using technology stolen from the Pentagon’s nearly $400 billion Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

“They sure look like F-35 and F-22s don’t they?” one Air Force operational test pilot told USNI News.


A U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Lockheed Martin Photo

The senior U.S. pilot familiar with the F-35 — who has extensive experience flying the Lockheed Martin F-16 Falcon — told USNI News the Chinese jet is now likely more than match for existing fourth generation non stealth American fighters like the Air Force Falcons, Boeing F-15 Eagles and the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

“They’ll probably be a handful right off the bat for all of our fourth gen stuff,” the pilot said.

One former Air Force fighter pilot extensive experience with foreign hardware told USNI News potential air battles might be more about sheer number of jets the Chinese might be able to put into the air versus the superior training of U.S. pilots.

“I worry about numbers more than particular platforms,” the former fighter pilot said.
“I imagine their jets and their weapons are pretty good. Don’t know about the pilots or their capacity to employ.”

Further, the retired pilot noted, airshows are designed to show off weapons to potential buyers, but offer no real information about what jet can really do during an actual combat mission.

“Just remember that airshows are exactly that — airshows.” the former pilot said. “Airshows provide no real clue to capabilities. As such, airshows generally rely on spectacular maneuvers to garner attention without providing substance. No different from the F-15C or the F-22.”

One current Air Force test pilot told USNI News that it would be difficult to gauge just how good the Chinese jet will be.

“Overall at this stage they’re not [operational] so it’s hard, for anyone to truly make a reasonable assessment,” the test pilot said.

There are still many unanswered questions about how the Chinese will operate their aircraft and what kinds of weapons the jets will carry. Perhaps the most important question is how good are the Chinese radars and other sensors compared to their American equivalents.

“How well will organic sensors work to support those weapons?” the test pilot asked rhetorically.


An undated photo of the Shenyang-J-31

For U.S. industry officials, the J-31’s debut at the Zhuhai airshow signals that the Chinese are planning on selling the jet on the open market.

“I would characterize the J-31 flying at the Chinese airshow as ‘incremental and measured,’” a senior industry official told USNI News.

“There have been some reports that the J-31 maybe be exported. If so, then showing it off makes even more sense to attract prospective buyers,” the official said.

The Chinese are making a lot of progress in developing their aerospace industry.

However, jet engines remain a weak spot for China.

“They have yet to field many of their “new” designs in any quantities,” the industry official said.
“Time will tell.”

Meanwhile, the Russia’s advanced Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E is also making it debut at the Zhuhai airshow.

The Chinese are reportedly interested in the purchase of 24 examples of the modernized Russian-built jet.

There has been much media speculation that the Chinese intend to reverse engineer the aircraft as they have with previous Flanker variants.

“I view the Su-35 buy as a conservative stop-gap measure while they wait for the J-20 and J-31 to enter service,” the industry official said.
“Gotta have aircraft to have an air force.”




http://nationalinterest.org/feature/...-brewing-11676








China vs. America in the Sky: A Stealth-Fighter Showdown Is Brewing

"China’s new stealth fighters might one day be able to match their American equivalents in battle, Pentagon and industry officials fear."
Dave Majumdar
November 14, 2014

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China’s new stealth fighters might one day be able to match their American equivalents in battle, Pentagon and industry officials fear. Indeed, China is showing off its latest Shenyang J-31 stealth fighter at the Zhuhai air show in the Guangdong province. To meet the challenge, the Pentagon needs to continue to buy the F-35 and start developing a future fighter to counter the rising threat.

“The J-31—along with the J-20 [the other Chinese stealth fighter]—is a tangible demonstration of the efforts made by China to counter the significant advantage the U.S. has with the [Lockheed Martin] F-22 and F-35,” said one senior U.S. military official with extensive experience with so-called fifth-generation fighters. “They recognize that fourth-gen airplanes [like the F-15, F-16, F/A-18, Russian Su-27 and so on] are quickly becoming obsolete. The price of admission to a fifth-gen war is a fifth-gen airplane and they get that.”


Indeed some senior U.S. aviators believe that the J-31—which is thought by many U.S. military and industry officials to be based on stolen F-22 and F-35 technology—will eventually be the equal of the American fighters. “I think they’ll eventually be on par with our fifth-gen jets—as they should be, because industrial espionage is alive and well,” as one senior pilot familiar with the F-35 told USNI News.

(You May Also Like: Will the F-35 Dominate the Skies?)

Even if the J-31 doesn’t sit at 100 percent parity with the F-22 and F-35, it might not matter, because those Chinese aircraft might be able to do enough damage to the U.S. military to make it too expensive to fight. “I think we can probably keep a slight advantage for quite some time, but a slight advantage means significant losses and less of a deterrent,” said one senior Air Force official. “Lets pretend the F-22 confronts current air-to-air threats outside of a SAM [surface-to-air missile] environment and has a 30 to one kill ratio today versus a [Sukhoi] Su-30 or [Shenyang] J-11. When the J-20 and J-31 come around, even a three to one kill ratio advantage becomes costly.”

China is developing the J-20 and J-31 because the F-22 and F-35 are so superior to existing fighters. The Chinese cannot afford to lose thirty jets in exchange for killing a single F-22 any more than the U.S. could if the situation were reversed. “Our competitors know the current reality and are working very hard to avoid the wide gap we have created by investing in those planes,” the senior military official said. “They represent their attempt and creating parity in the skies.”

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The senior military official said the very fact that China is developing aircraft like the J-20 and J-31 shows that the Pentagon needs the F-35. “The J-31 should make anyone who questions the need for the F-35 to rethink their logic,” the official said. “Regardless of whatever criticisms you have heard about the Raptor and the Lightning, they are incredible machines that are insanely superior by virtually every metric to anything else flying in the world. They may be complex, expensive and still immature, but they are a quantum leap over every other fighter in our arsenal.”

The senior military official said, however, that while the J-31 looks impressive, there is a lot the United States does not know about its capabilities. “Anyone can make a plane that flies fast and looks stealthy,” he said. “The J-31 looks gorgeous. Aside from the fact it’s an obvious rip-off of the F-35.”

It takes a very long time to develop a stealth fighter—much of that is not because of the aircraft itself, but rather the radar, other sensors and cockpit systems. Developing and perfecting those technologies takes a long time. Further, it takes a long time to perfect manufacturing techniques for an extremely complex warplane like the F-22 or F-35. “The most impressive and important qualities of our fifth-gen fleet are what is on the inside—fused sensors and information dominance,” the official said. “We didn’t develop those over night. It takes a lot of time to get where we are today, which is why we continue to preserve our advantage.”

(You May Also Like: America's F-35- Coming In for a "Crash Landing"?)

China will eventually perfect the J-20 and J-31, however—it is just a matter of time. “They are going get there one day, make no mistake,” the senior official said. “It won’t be tomorrow or the next day, but the fact this place is debuting now should tell you something about China’s commitment.”

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