China, according to some reports, has independently created a prototype of a fifth-generation aircraft using stealth technology - it can take off today. The first images of the stealth plane appeared on the Internet at the end of December, but it is still not clear where these photos came from and how authentic they are. The Chinese Defense Ministry left the sensational photos without comment, Vesti reported.
Considering that the Chinese government tightly controls all media in the country, and the photos are still available for viewing online on some Chinese resources, it looks as if they were deliberately leaked online, observers note.
Experts interviewed by the influential American edition of The Wall Street Journal say that the photographs seem to them to be real. Several signs indicate that the test flight of the "Chinese stealth" is just weeks, if not days away. Meanwhile, the US military points out that so far it is only a prototype, and China is still years away from the creation of a full-fledged stealth fighter.
Photos of the alleged new Chinese fighter jet give rise to fears that China will secure a military advantage in the western Pacific ahead of schedule, writes Britain's The Guardian. High-tech armaments of the PRC will become a hindrance to the US Air Force and Navy when demonstrating their power in the Taiwan region and in other coastal regions of China.
"The photo appears to depict a prototype J-20 fighter jet during runway tests. The photo has been circulating online since last week and has fueled speculation that the Chinese fifth-generation fighter jet will take off earlier than predicted," the article said. … The picture may have been taken with a telephoto lens near the Chengdu Aircraft Engineering Institute. The author of the photograph is unknown, the origin of the photograph and the motives of the person who disseminates it, as well as the question of its authenticity, is a mystery.
The news about the fighters came at a sensitive moment - on the eve of the summit, where Barack Obama and Hu Jintao will try to resolve bilateral differences, quoted by The Guardian InoPressa.
Chinese fighter plane threatens Russian T-50
Meanwhile, Andrei Chan, editor-in-chief of the Hong Kong-based military news agency Kanwa, told ITAR-TASS that China has independently created the fifth-generation J-20 fighter, the Jian-20, and is now starting to test it.
According to Chan, ground tests of the fighter took place on Wednesday in Chengdu, Sichuan province, and its test flight may take place "today, weather permitting."
Describing the aircraft's design and maneuverability as "very impressive," Chiang stressed that Chinese aircraft manufacturers have made great progress in a relatively short period of time. The fighter is equipped with a Chinese-made aircraft engine - WS-10 ("Taihan") in a modernized version.
According to the expert, although this is a fifth-generation aircraft, the Chinese aircraft "does not yet meet the standards inherent in the Russian T-50 fighter and the American F-22." Among the shortcomings of the J-20, he named insufficient engine power, the inability to fly at supersonic speeds, as well as the imperfection of the radar system and stealth technology.
According to Chan, the current prototype is more likely a generation 4+ aircraft, which could later be brought to the fifth generation by improving engines, radar and other equipment.
The new fighter is quite capable of competing with Russian manufacturers on the international market, since it will be significantly cheaper, the editor-in-chief of the Kanwa agency believes.
Note that the "Chinese threat" to the Russian aircraft industry is spoken about not only in the PRC. Over the decades, China has mastered Russian military technologies and is now starting to actively export, undermining the position of the Russian Federation among developing countries and threatening to change the balance of power in a number of hot spots, The Wall Street Journal noted just a month ago, analyzing China's technological policy and its first results.
The "epoch-making shift", according to the WSJ, was clearly reflected in the Airshow China show in November in Zhuhai. Previously, the aerobatic team "Russian Knights" shone there, and Russia signed multi-billion dollar contracts. This time, there was not a single real aircraft in the exposition of the Russian Federation, only plastic models, but the military technologies of China were presented in abundance ("almost entirely based on Russian know-how"), and the stars of the exhibition were the participants of the Pakistani aerobatic team Sherdils, who performed at fighters of Russian origin, which are now produced in China and Pakistan.
China is not shy about cloning Russian warplanes. This, in particular, happened with the famous Su-27, which Chinese engineers turned into a J-11B fighter. China began to export similar products abroad, taking away earnings from the Russian defense industry and causing outrage in Moscow.
Now the "Chinese threat" may also be looming over the Russian fifth-generation aircraft, the T-50 fighter (PAK FA), which began testing last year. The first flight of the ultra-modern Russian combat vehicle took place on January 29 at the Sukhoi aviation production association in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
The Russian Federation plans to become the second country after the United States to be armed with new generation fighters. The Americans are using the F-22 Raptor, which is priced at more than $ 140 million. In 2009, the US administration and the Senate decided to stop production of the F-22, saving $ 1.75 billion on this. Most Senators supported President Barack Obama, who demanded to abandon the cost of expensive and unnecessary aircraft, moving to the production of new F-35 Lightning II fighter-bombers.
