NEWS
China’s new fighter plane has been unveiled. Photographs of a new fighter aircraft that have appeared on Chinese websites recently are creating a buzz in military circles as they are the first indication that Beijing is close to getting an indigenous fifth generation fighter, barely a year after the first flight of the Russian T-50 PAK-FA. While there is no official communication from the Chinese Government, the clearer images that are now available on the net have led experts to concede that the aircraft seems to be real. While it could still be part of an elaborate hoax, this is not the first time that there has been a limited release of photographs that reveal a new Chinese military system.

VIEWS
The first indications that China was embarked on the development of a fifth generation combat aircraft (FGCA) with “stealth” characteristics came in 2009 in a Chinese media interaction with a senior military functionary of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) where it was revealed that the new fighter aircraft was scheduled for its maiden flight in 2010-11 and would enter service with the PLAAF by 2019. It was around Christmas time in 2010 that pictures of the new aircraft undergoing ground handling trials at the Chengdu airfield appeared on Chinese websites. With a canard delta wing plan-form and possessing distinctly stealth features, the aircraft designated as the J-20, has a striking resemblance to both the Russian T-50 PAK-FA and the US F-22 Raptor. Expected to enter the flight test phase in the next one year or so, the J-20 is a single-seat, twin engine aircraft, approximately 75 feet in length and is estimated to have a maximum takeoff weight of around 36 tonnes.

Since the 1950s, China has been producing military aircraft of Russian design either under licence or by cloning to impart Chinese identity and a semblance of originality. The J-10, perhaps the only exception, is believed to be based on the Lavi design acquired from Israel after the project there was cancelled. However, in the production of military aircraft of Russian origin, the Chinese aerospace industry has been trailing both in quality to varying degrees and in timeframe by a decade or more. But the experience gained in the production of modern combat aircraft such as the J-11, copy of Su-27, the J-11 BS, said to be a copy of the Su-30 MKK and the carrier-based fighter J-15, copy of the Su-33, has provided the Chinese aerospace industry a breakthrough into contemporary aerospace technologies and perhaps the confidence to attempt a quantum leap in the development of aircraft of the next generation.

Aspirations notwithstanding, the Chinese aerospace industry is afflicted by notable inadequacies in a number of areas. China has not been able to successfully reproduce the renowned and highly efficient Russian AL-31F engine that has been in use for the last nearly three decades. The less efficient Chinese version of the AL-31F, the WS-10, powers a number of Chinese-made fighter aircraft. Timeframe for the development of the improved version WS-15 is yet uncertain. Besides, China is not known to produce the quality or quantity of composite materials required in the construction of the airframe of modern stealth aircraft in significant numbers. Although improving steadily, China still lags behind in avionics and aerial weapons in respect of sophistication as compared with Russia or the West. China, therefore, will have no option but to continue to lean heavily on Russia in the J-20 programme as has been the pattern since the 1950s.