catapult aircraft carrier was launched, news about the carrier-based aircraft began to fly all over the sky. After all, the speed of building aircraft carriers is so amazing, and the carrier-based aircraft should be relatively faster. Sure enough, China Aviation Industry did not disappoint. Photos of Air Police 600 early warning aircraft and J-35 fighter jets have been released these days. While celebrating the Fujian ship, it also made military fans extremely happy. For example, the latest test flight photo of the J-35 looks like it is about to burst into flames under the sunlight. The golden armor all over the city really does not deceive others.
J-35 fighter jet
The development history of the prototype FC-31 "Falcon Eagle" is bumpy enough. When Shenfei bid for the fourth-generation aircraft with the "Snow Owl" and lost to the J-20, in order to ensure that there will be more in the future You can eat from mouth to mouth, but at the same time, there will be no gaps in technology. So he began to raise funds to develop a medium-sized twin-engine fourth-generation aircraft, which is the FC-31 "Falcon" stealth fighter. Due to unclear positioning and technical problems, it stumbled after its first flight in 2012 and took ten years to come out. At least this includes There are two models of navy and air force. Then there is the passage "The snowy owl goes away in the dark clouds, and the falcon comes with a long rainbow." Although the source is not very clear, the meaning it wants to express is very clear. Since "Snowy Owl" failed to win the bid, then a new one will be launched. The first generation " Falcon " can find a place in advance whether it is used for export or the next generation of carrier-based aircraft.
In 1997, when the U.S. YF-22 stealth fighter made its first flight, the Chinese Air Force also began to assign the task of developing fourth-generation aircraft, and signed development contracts with Chengdu Aircraft and Shen Fei respectively. As the two leading companies in China's aviation industry, the two sides will compete on project requirements. Whoever wins will ultimately depend on their strength. The winner will receive an order from the Air Force and a J-20 number. Thanks to the three principles of China's aviation industry: equipment first generation, development first generation, pre-research first generation, both units have pre-research results in fourth-generation aircraft. Chengdu Aircraft uses the J-9 with dual-wing air intakes on both sides. Prototype, Shen Fei uses the new three-wing K98 plan as the prototype.
YF-22 stealth fighter made its first flight
Comparison chart between "Snowy Owl" and "Vyron"
K98 scheme experimental data is very ideal, canard, main wing, horizontal tail three-wing layout blessing, the comprehensive performance evaluation is quite good. So Shenfei was greatly excited and modified a J-8IIB into a digital four-redundant fly-by-wire control system, and a three-wing demonstrator was successfully launched. It first flew in December 1996 and completed all experimental subjects in June 1999. Its full name is the J-8IIACT verification machine.
's proven three-wing plan design is quite fashionable, with forward-extended side wings, and the main wing is designed as a double delta wing , emphasizing the high maneuverability of the fighter aircraft. Even when the vector engine is not used, it can reach a controllable angle of attack of 65 degrees. Under extreme conditions, the angle of attack can still be controlled at 90 degrees. It is equipped with a Garrett air intake and dual full-motion vertical tails. In the bidding plan, the maneuverability is ranked first. First, the project was eventually named "Snowy Owl."
J-8IIACT verification aircraft
The "Snowy Owl" three-wing layout
was greatly influenced by the Soviet Union, with special emphasis on mobility, including Su-47, Su-30 and other models have a certain impact on it. Obviously, the "Snowy Owl" "The three-wing layout is not conducive to stealth, and the stealth effect of the Garrett inlet is not as good as the DSI inlet . The three-wing layout has a high lift system but high drag, which puts a lot of pressure on supersonic cruise . In order to reduce drag, a small nose design is adopted, which results in the nose radar being too small to obtain more advanced avionics equipment. support. At the same time, the double delta wing design forms a natural power wave reflection source at the turning point of the large and small sweep angles, which is a huge blow to the stealth of the entire aircraft. Due to the three-wing surface plus edge wing design of
, the "Snow Owl" has the longest body length among the fourth-generation aircraft, about 23 meters, which is larger than YF-23. The body is too large, resulting in a heavy body and high resistance, which requires a more powerful engine to support it. The inherent constraints in the design directly create a vicious cycle.If successfully selected, it will bring complex procurement and maintenance costs in the later stage, and the high resistance and poor stealth effect will directly lead to weak supersonic cruise capability, short combat radius, small nose and poor avionics equipment, which cannot obtain powerful battlefield information perception. Therefore, in the 4S standard of the fourth-generation aircraft, stealth, supersonic cruise, and battlefield information perception are all at a disadvantage. In the end, losing to the J-20 "Vyron" is not an injustice.
"Snow Owl" and "Vyron" comparison chart
"Snow Owl" fighter jet
After Shenfei lost to Chengdu Aircraft in the third and fourth generation aircraft, although it still has J-11, J-15, The J-16 project is under development, but the problem is that the third-generation aircraft based on the "Flanker" series will sooner or later run out of potential. After the large-scale production of the J-20 enters service, it will directly affect the number of orders in the future and become unsustainable, which basically means closing down for the enterprise. Since Shen Fei lost two games in a row, it no longer has an innovative model to develop. The practice of resting on its laurels will eventually form a technological gap, and the loss of the R&D team will directly lose the right to speak in the future.
Therefore, in order to ensure that they will not go hungry in the future, Shenyang Aircraft Company made a surprise move and raised funds to independently develop the FC-31 "Falcon" twin-engine medium-sized fourth-generation aircraft in response to the potential future needs of the international market or the military. There is a time gap of at least 10 years from the development of the J-20 to its mass entry into service. During this time period, there are no competitors. The international military trade market is definitely a seller's market of and . Moreover, it is unlikely that the Air Force will equip only one heavy fourth-generation aircraft. In the future, it is also possible to equip medium-sized fourth-generation aircraft, which will be matched with the J-20 to replace the J-7, J-8, J-11 and other models. In addition, the Navy's and J-15 carrier-based aircraft are also produced by Shenyang Aircraft Carrier. After the advent of the next-generation aircraft carrier, it will be equipped with Haisi stealth fighters, leaving room for it to be put on the ship due to the sustainability of similar products.
J-11 fighter jet
J-15 fighter jet
Sure enough, market-oriented operations are easier and freer. Without military requirements, it is risky to rely entirely on oneself, but they are very motivated and always want to use this to come back to life. So in 2012, one year after the J-20 made its first flight, the FC-31 "Falcon Eagle" finally made its first flight successfully. With its handsome appearance and the world's fourth stealth fighter , this reputation really made the "Falcon Eagle" famous. for a while. But then it made its debut at the Zhuhai Air Show in 2014. The appearance of the twin-engine smoke billowing like coal was greatly reduced, which seemed to indicate that it would not develop smoothly. After
made its public debut at the air show, FC-31 disappeared, and it took another two years for a modified version to appear. The fuselage of the 2.0 version is flatter, with the vertical tail tilted to a large angle toward both sides and rear and cut corners. It is obvious that the stealth performance is optimized, and a large number of wave-absorbing composite materials are also used. In the following years, the size was slightly adjusted from time to time. In addition to the avionics materials, the biggest difference in the final 3.0 version was the integrated bubble canopy and low-visibility painting.
Zhuhai debut
2.0 version
Integrated cockpit
In the early days, there was no choice but to use the Russian-made RD-93 engine . The maximum thrust of a single unit was 8 tons. The performance was not much better as shown by the smoke at the air show. The domestic WS-13E engine will be used in the future, with a single thrust of up to 9.5 tons. The performance of the dual-engine FC-31 "Falcon" basically reaches the level of F-35. It appeared at the Paris Air Show in 2017 and 2019, and at the and defense exhibitions in Saudi Arabia in 2021. Such actions made the outside world once think that it might start to sell well abroad.
As new photos of FC-31 test flights have appeared in the past two years, everything from appearance to publicity has confirmed that it will definitely be put on the ship, and it is highly likely that the corresponding number will be the J-35 fighter jet. It is obvious that the decision-making made at that time was forward-looking. Independent research and development carried big risks and huge profits, and the navy's catapult aircraft carrier became its largest demand platform. At the same time, the F-35 fighter jets that are constantly being equipped by surrounding countries are also forcing it to achieve equipment balance as soon as possible, so that the FC-31 "Falcon" becomes a common version for the navy and air force.In addition to meeting the needs of the next generation of stealth carrier-based aircraft, it can also be equipped with the air force and the J-20 in high and low configurations. Of course, more importantly, it can be exported to become a strong enemy of the F-35. For the first time, you do not have to worry about sales from the perspective of the seller's market.
FC-31 "Falcon" stealth fighter
FC-31 "Falcon" stealth fighter
FC-31 "Falcon" stealth fighter, starting from the development time, has taken fifteen years to finally come to fruition. Judging from the first flight time, ten years have passed. In the near future, not only the navy and air force will be able to use it, but it will also be a big surprise for customers in the international military trade market. After all, not everyone can provide stealth fighter jets. Saudi Arabia You even have to buy a production line.
FC-31 "Falcon" stealth fighter
