Due to the rules of the platform, you will only be recognized as a fan if you have more interaction with me. If you like my articles, you can click "Follow" and receive the article push as soon as you become a fan.
Recently, a news from the United States' "National Interest" detonated the world, in which it was revealed that China is the only country other than the United States that has two fifth-generation fighters at the same time.
Its main fighter, the J20, is now receiving the favor of countries in the Middle East, and the United Arab Emirates has already expressed strong interest in it.
The article said that during the previous interview with the UAE Joint Operations Commander in China, he had expressed interest in advanced fighters, and now the UAE media has made it clear that they want to buy the J20.
Eagle-eyed readers found that there was no mention of the F35, the world's best-selling fighter in the world, and the J31, China's cutting-edge fighter, in order to point out that the two fighters did not meet the UAE's selection criteria.
So what did the J20 rely on to defeat its fellow brother J31 and its old rival F35? Does the UAE's statement mean that the arms trade between the two countries is coming?
1. Humble background
Fearless of hardships and dangers, shouldering heavy responsibilities has always been synonymous with the Chinese Air Force's fight against foreign fighters.
Due to the thinning of technical reserves, since the 70s of the last century, China's air force equipment has lagged behind the world's major countries by a large margin.
In the 80s of the last century, countries around the world entered the era of third-generation fighters, and at that time China could only patch up on the basis of the J-8.
Against the world's mainstream Su-27, F15, F18, etc., there was still only the power to parry, and the United States at the beginning of the new century, the F22 Raptor fighter was put into service.
The 4th generation aircraft crisscrossed the world with the 4S standard, and the battle loss ratio of the 4th generation aircraft to the third generation aircraft was at least 1:100 without considering the bomb load.
However, at that time, the J-10 fighter was still in gestation, and China's long sky could only be barely carried by the J8.
Due to the backwardness of aircraft technology, in 2001, in order to intercept the invading electronic reconnaissance plane of the United States, the No. 81192 fighter plane piloted by Wang Wei collided with the US fighter plane and died a heroic martyr.
At that time, the foreign military threat facing China was unprecedentedly strong, and the American F22 fighter jets were almost invincible.
In order to survive in the air battle, the eight-for-one tactic was formulated.
The content of this tactic is to use 7 J-8s to exhaust the enemy's F22 bombload, and then the only remaining J-8 will complete the final hunting mission.
It was the only plan that could succeed in those desperate times.
It can only be said that with the emergence of the 911 incident, the United States has put its main military goal on counter-terrorism, which has given China valuable time for development.
Otherwise, today's Chinese Air Force may not be able to compete with the US Air Force.
On January 11, 2011, China's first J-20 prototype made its first successful flight.
Previously, the United States had just shut down the production line of the F22 under China's strategic deception and turned to the development of the more cost-effective F35.
On March 9, 2017, the J-20 officially entered the Chinese Air Force sequence.
The number of units in service is increasing, and as an old adversary, only more than 100 F22s can be lifted into the air due to the demolition of the production line.
The mountain that used to press on the top of the head is no longer a problem, and Chinese and Western equipment are standing at the same height for the first time.
After the J-20 was put into service, China's surroundings were much quieter, and the era of foreign fighters wantonly violating China's territorial airspace in the sea is gone.
二、J20比F22/F35/J31强在哪？
Previously, many people considered the American F22 to be the world's strongest 4th generation aircraft, but in fact it was just an embroidered pillow with an empty surface, far from being the opponent of the J-20.
Here we have to talk about the reason why the lift coefficient of Chinese fighters far exceeds that of the United States.
Previously, the US submarine was exposed to steel fraud, which involved a large number of news about the fraud of military equipment.
When the F22 first came out, the United States advertised that its lift coefficient was as high as 2.0, and you must know that the excellent traditional fighters were only about 1.5.
The higher the lift coefficient, the better the maneuverability of the fighter.
Chinese fighters have long had the problem of heart disease, and if they want to rely on backward power to achieve the same maneuverability as American fighters, they must make a breakthrough in the lift coefficient.
Therefore, in order to benchmark against the United States, China's J-20 continued to polish the shape of the aircraft, and finally succeeded in surpassing the 2.0.
Later, the United States revealed the true coefficient, only to learn that the original F22's lift coefficient was only 1.5.
Now the J-20 has solved the problem of heart disease, coupled with the gallium nitride radar technology that is ahead of the United States, the Thunderbolt-17 air-to-air missile with a longer range.
Only then did China's military industry discover that the J-20 had already become the world's strongest fighter.
When it comes to the new generation of F35 fighter jets in the United States, although this aircraft has the advantage of being a latecomer, its battlefield positioning is to match the existence of the F22 high and low, and pay attention to versatility.
In order to consider the relationship between the various military branches, the F35 was made very thick and heavy, and was nicknamed the fat electric fighter by the world.
Due to the small size of the aircraft, the range and bomb load of this aircraft are far inferior to that of the J-20.
According to public data, the combat radius of the Chinese J-20 is 2,000 kilometers, and the F35 is only 1,200 kilometers.
The bomb load of the Chinese J-20 can reach up to 11 tons, and the F35 can reach a maximum of about 8 tons.
The maximum flight speed of Chinese fighters can exceed Mach 2, and the afterburner of F35 can only reach Mach 1.6.
Now the only advantage of the F35 over the J-20 is that with the joint efforts of the main allies of the United States, the average selling price of the F35 has been lowered.
With the same funds, the F35 can be produced in more quantities than the J-20.
However, there are still huge doubts about whether the obvious quantitative advantage can really compensate for the obvious quality advantage.
Finally, when it comes to the J-20's brother J-31, first of all, it must be said that the J-31 has never been the official number given by the official.
The full name should be FC-31, which is a foreign trade fighter exclusively for export.
Previously, the Chinese Navy relied on the template of the J-31 to develop the J35 stealth fighter.
Compared with the two, the J-20 is built with the strength of the whole country.
The J-31/J-35 is only a product developed by Shenfei Group with its own funds, and it is bound to be inferior to the J-20 in terms of technology and design.
In terms of size, the J-35 is only a medium-sized stealth fighter with a maximum take-off weight of 28 tons, while the J-20 can reach a maximum take-off weight of 37 tons.
It can be said that the reason why the J-35 was successfully developed is not unrelated to the technology transfer of the J-20.
However, the J-35 still has its advantages over the J-20.
Due to the earlier locking time of the latter technology, it lags behind the former in radar technology, stealth coating technology, weapons and ammunition technology, and engine technology.
In order to integrate the latest technology, the J-20A fighter was revealed to have made its first successful flight, and its comprehensive combat effectiveness has stabilized the world.
Compared with the latest fighters, the advantages of the J-35 are only in its cheapness, small fuselage and good maneuverability.
With such a world-class fighter, it's no wonder that the UAE is tempted.
3. The UAE is tempted
The UAE is located on the Arabian Peninsula with a total area of 83,600 square kilometers and a population of less than 10 million.
The reason why such a country is interested in the J-20 is the urgent increase in military pressure.
In order to cope with the complex situation around the United Arab Emirates and the growing military pressure from Israel, the UAE's need for advanced fighters has become more and more urgent.
Behind Israel is the United States, and the advanced American F35 fighter jets have changed the balance of air combat in the Middle East.
Looking around the world, the countries that can provide advanced fighters are none other than China, the United States and Russia.
The Russian SU57 fighter, which has been in service for many years but has never been mass-produced, has a rough process and is doubted by the world about its stealth performance.
Although the F35 fighter jet exported by the United States can be purchased, it has been reported many times that the existence of American weapons has a backdoor and can be controlled by the United States at a critical time.
In order not to put the country's life in the hands of the United States, the UAE can only go to China.
China's stealth fighter technology is very mature, and the J-20 already has actual combat experience.
On March 12 this year, CCTV's official media released a video showing that the "Wang Hai Brigade", equipped with the latest J-20 fighters, successfully repelled the invasion of the new stealth fighter of the United States, and the model is suspected to be F22.
The pilots said that they had repeatedly engaged with enemy fighters, and that the mainland fighters had completely suppressed the US fighters in terms of stealth and maneuverability.
You must know that the fighters equipped with the "Wang Hai Brigade" are early J-20 fighters, which cannot be compared with the latest J-20 at all.
However, the arms trade will not be as expected by the UAE.
At present, there is no heavy fighter to replace the J-20 in service, and this fighter is still an important weapon for China to seize air supremacy.
The instrument of the town and the country cannot be given away easily.
For many years, it has been difficult for J-31 to open up sales channels in the world, and if the J-20 is sold to the outside world, it is bound to seize many customer groups and squeeze the J-31 market.
At this stage, China's J-20 fighter is not in the sequence of exporting fighters, and the only export is the J-35 prototype J-31.
According to the news, Pakistan and Singapore have now clearly expressed their desire to buy J-31 fighter jets.
So for the UAE, it is impossible to buy the J-20, but the J-31 can sit down and talk.
epilogue
It is undeniable that the UAE has enough financial resources to buy an armed arm overnight as long as China can sell it.
However, there is a good saying that national defense cannot be obtained by buying, and even a country with good relations will not give away its most advanced equipment.
Although China will not sell reduced equipment like the United States and Russia, and will not leave the backdoor of the system, but a heavy weapon like the J-20 should not even think about it.
The most likely scenario is that China will develop a targeted stealth fighter based on the reality of the UAE.
In this way, there will be no loss of state secrets, and the needs of customers will be met.
References:
Talk History 2024.4.29 "Don't want the American F35 and don't want Shen Fei J31, UAE media roll call: as long as Chengfei is the active J20"
Poplar Observation Room 2024.3.20 "China's J-20 forced back the fifth-generation aircraft of the US military, and the live video was released, which is really proud"