The characteristic stealth shapes and angles are clearly based on the F22. Their cyber-espionage appears to be paying off.
'The J-20 has a canard delta layout (like Chengdu’s J-10) with two canted, all-moving vertical stabilizers (like the T-50) and smaller canted ventral fins. The stealth body shaping is similar to that of the F-22. The flat body sides are aligned with the canted tails, the wing-body junction is clean, and there is a sharp chine line around the forward fuselage. The cant angles are greater than they are on the Lockheed Martin F-35, and the frameless canopy is similar to that of the F-22.'
Yes, but will it blend? errr, I mean will it actually be invisible to SAM batteries?
Copying the general shapes and design aren't going to get you very far if you don't get the details right, or work out your own. My guess is they actually did put a good deal of engineering into this.
Amusingly, it looks like the front is stealthy but the exhaust isn't. I guess China only cares that their pilots deliver their payload, and not as much whether they come home.
Seriously though, sounds like the plane will be testing for about 5 more years, so they've got time to figure out low-observable exhaust configurations.
Nothing about the fact that the J-20 looks like the F-22 implies cyber-espionage. If I were trying to build a stealth fighter, the first thing I'd do is look at pictures of it and make something that looks similar. (Since aviation week, or whoever, was able to tell what the angles of the J-20 are, I assume China would have no problem figuring out the shape of the F-22 from the numerous pictures available.) Even if you just knew the idea of shaping the plane to deflect radar signals, you'd probably end up with something similar. I expect that the really important stuff is in things not in the pictures: materials to use, paint to use, paints not to use, how to make non-radar-reflective joints/weapons/mounts, how to get good aerodynamics with all those sharp edges, etc.
I just finished reading Skunk Works, and actually the biggest contributor to stealth technology IS the angles and the shape. The materials definitely help (or hinder, if you get them wrong), but thing #1 is having the right shape.
Aerodynamics relies heavily on having a good computer-assisted flight system, since stealth shapes tend not to be aerodynamic.
Yup, great book, amazing stories. Ironically, the understanding for how shape an aircraft to redirect radar was inspired by a journal article by a Soviet aerospace engineer on how to design fighter nose cones for optimal nose radar transmission.
One has to wonder that by the time manned stealth air-superiority fighters are deployed, whether they will be operationally inferior to, and greatly outnumbered by, adversary air-superiority fighter UAVs.
What a waste of resources on behalf of pilot-dominated air forces.
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[ 5.3 ms ] story [ 41.5 ms ] threadhttp://www.aviationweek.com/aw/jsp_includes/articlePrint.jsp...
2c, I think the fixation on 4th-Gen, 5th-Gen or whatever is distracting. How fast, how far, How much would be more interesting questions.
'The J-20 has a canard delta layout (like Chengdu’s J-10) with two canted, all-moving vertical stabilizers (like the T-50) and smaller canted ventral fins. The stealth body shaping is similar to that of the F-22. The flat body sides are aligned with the canted tails, the wing-body junction is clean, and there is a sharp chine line around the forward fuselage. The cant angles are greater than they are on the Lockheed Martin F-35, and the frameless canopy is similar to that of the F-22.'
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/jsp_includes/articlePrint.jsp...
Copying the general shapes and design aren't going to get you very far if you don't get the details right, or work out your own. My guess is they actually did put a good deal of engineering into this.
Seriously though, sounds like the plane will be testing for about 5 more years, so they've got time to figure out low-observable exhaust configurations.
Aerodynamics relies heavily on having a good computer-assisted flight system, since stealth shapes tend not to be aerodynamic.
What a waste of resources on behalf of pilot-dominated air forces.