Our fifth-generation fighter, initially had two plans . One of the design solutions of
, , determined the canard layout in the early stage of the research. After that, during the continuous optimization of the design, the design details continued to deepen, and it defeated the competitors and was recognized by our Air Force.
This is the J-20 fighter we see now .
At this open day, our Air Force's J-20 performed a very exciting flight performance, 's maneuverability was very good .
But the very interesting thing is that in the competition at that time, the J-20 was a solution with relatively poor maneuverability, and the other solution was designed with more powerful maneuverability! The
scheme has no official number because it has not been recognized by the Chinese Air Force . only has a code name of called "Snow Hu".
During the ground display at the Open Day, some staff showed a souvenir designed based on the "Snow Falcon" . The two former competitors met again at the Air Force Open Day.
The appearance of the "Snow Hu" is an extremely sci-fi three-wing stealth design , and it has strong maneuverability.
It is said that among the indicators proposed by the Air Force at that time, there was an indicator called high angle of attack flight . The Air Force's requirement was that reach 60 degrees .
J-20 can meet this design indicator and reaches 60 degrees. But "Snowbird" is stronger, and the indicator exceeds 70 degrees .
So, why could the "Snow Hu" at that time not be able to compete with the J-20?
This is because "Snowbird" took the wrong route !
We pre-researched fifth-generation fighter jets very early. In the mid-to-late 1990s, we began to demonstrate fifth-generation fighter jets.
At that time, the world's fifth-generation fighter jets had two technical routes, namely the main stealth and secondary maneuverability represented by the American F22, and the main maneuverability and secondary stealth represented by the Russian Su-47/Mig 1.44. Which technical route is better for
?
Now we all know that the stealth technology route of F22 is the correct , and the J-20 and F35 fighter jets developed later have further strengthened their informatization capabilities on the basis of stealth!
But in the 1990s when we started to argue, which of the two technical routes was better and which was worse, had not yet decided the final winner .
So for the sake of safety, we are exploring two technical routes at the same time. is compared with during the exploration, so that we can make a better choice.
When the United States began research on next-generation fighter jets in the 1980s, it also conducted a large number of research and demonstrations on technical solutions. The wealthy Americans conducted in-depth research on more than two-digit solutions!
It is with sufficient research and demonstration that Americans can create fighter jets like the F22. After
went through detailed technical demonstration, the plan proposed by Institute 611, which is also known as Chengfei , defeated the plan proposed by Institute 601, which was Shenfei , and was recognized and supported by the Air Force. Finally, it was With the J-20.
Compared with the J-20, "Snowbird" has three design disadvantages. The first disadvantage of
is the technical route problem we mentioned earlier. The wrong technical route makes "Snow Hu" focus on mobility and less on stealth .
A very unfortunate problem is that even today, high stealth and high mobility are still very contradictory designs.
The J-20 is already the best fighter aircraft aerodynamic performance while maintaining a high degree of stealth. For this reason, the aerodynamic design of the J-20 is extremely complicated, and it almost died due to flight control problems.
The aerodynamic design of the "Snow Hu" is more complex. While the three-wing design brings strong maneuverability to the "Snow Hu", it also destroys the stealth design of the "Snow Hu" .
Many friends may think that the invisibility of airplanes is due to the stealth paint .
But in fact, among the stealth capabilities of an stealth aircraft , appearance design can account for 90% , which largely determines the aircraft's stealth capabilities!
"Snowbird" has too many airfoils, and a lot of modifications have been made for aerodynamics. As a result, "Snowbird" is not designed according to the principle of parallel reflection, its stealth effect is greatly reduced.
According to the calculations made during the preliminary demonstration of by 601 at that time, if the "Snowbird" was manufactured, the RCS radar reflection cross-section area, which is an indicator of stealth capability, would be about 0.1-1.
Our current J-20 fighter jet, RCS indicator is about 0.0001-0.001 level!
The "Snow Hu" is a bit like the current Su-57 fighter . It has good maneuverability, but its stealth indicators are difficult to compare with the J-20, F22, etc. .
Because Russia chose the technical route of mobility and created the current Su-57 fighter jet.
The second disadvantage is that the design of "Xuehu" has too high requirements on the engine .
From a few design sketches of the "Snow Hu", we can see that the fuselage length of the "Snow Hu" is longer than that of the J-20.. The fuselage length of the
J-20 is about 20 meters. In comparison, the length of the J-11B fighter is more than 21 meters, and the "Snow Hu" is longer than these two fighters.
This means that the "Snowbird" body is larger in size and heavier , so the requirements for the engine will obviously be much higher!
The only power we could theoretically use at that time was the turbofan 10 engine. In fact, it was not until 2010 that the reliability problem of the turbofan 10 engine was solved and it could be truly put into use.
Before that, the Chinese Air Force was powered only by the Russian-made AL-31F engine , including the early J-20, which also used this engine.
AF-31F engine can barely propel the J-20. To propel the larger and heavier "Snowbird", is obviously more difficult to meet the demand!
The third disadvantage is the disadvantage of informatization, which cannot be reflected from the design drawing.
However, judging from some information disclosed so far, the J-20 has determined open avionics architecture, optoelectronics, radar and other advanced avionics equipment during the program demonstration.
The installation and use of these information equipment is part of the entire design phase of the J-20, allowing the J-20 to have strong information capabilities as soon as it is born.
Judging from the data, when the "Snow Hu" program was demonstrated, the emphasis on information combat capabilities was obviously not as high as that of the J-20..
The stealth index is not high enough, the engine technology cannot support the high mobility of the "Snow Hu", and the information technology capability is insufficient. These reasons led the Air Force to reject the "Snow Hu" plan and choose the later J-20.
If the "Snow Hu" is manufactured, it will at best be a Su-57 fighter with more powerful maneuverability, which obviously cannot meet the needs of the current Chinese Air Force.
So we chose the J-20 fighter jet at that time, which was a very correct approach!
Today, J-20 fighter jets have become the main fighter of the Chinese Air Force. There are more than 100 J-20s in service, responsible for combat readiness duties in the East China Sea and Taiwan Strait.
It is rumored that the fighter jets that will escort the remains of volunteer martyrs back home this year will also be J-20s.
And "Snow Hu" has become a quite commemorative project . Its sci-fi appearance also allows it to be artistically processed and become a souvenir, allowing people to remember the exploration stage of China's fifth-generation machine .
