Pictures of a previously unknown brand new fighter jet have started to appear online over the weekend.
Built by the Shenyang company, the new aircraft, could be the answer of the aerospace firm to the Chengdu J-20, whose two prototypes have already become quite famous across the world since the first images of the large, short-take off and landing stealth plane, leaked on the Chinese defense forums about two years ago.
Image credit: Tixue.net
The new aircraft, coded 31001 (hence, believed to be designated J-31) it’s a sort of copy of the F-22 Raptor the most advanced (and troubled), (multi-role) fighter jet in the U.S. Air Force inventory: same nose section, same twin tails and trapezoidal wings along with the distinctive lines of the stealth design. Anyway, even if it has two engines, the new aircraft doesn’t seem to feature thrust vectoring capabilities. At least on this first prototype.
It has also some F-35-like features, as the air intakes and wings dimensions.
The J-31 is smaller than the J-20, from which it differs for the grey paint job and the presence of a colored emblem on the tails (in place of the typical red star) with the text 鹘鹰, Chinese for “Falcon Eagle”
Image credit: Tixue.net
Although it’s almost impossible to say whether the new aircraft will eventually reach production phase, for sure it proves that China has at least two stealth projects for future combat capable aircraft.
Considered all the cyber attacks targeting Lockheed Martin stealth projects in the last years, one could believe Chinese hackers were able to put their hands on some useful technical drawings of the Raptor. Still, it would be the avionics, radar-evading features, equipment and weapons, rather than the shape, to make the difference in a dogfight. Unless the Chinese will build some thousand examples such jets.
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HeY,
copy is not bad once when you can copy those advanced things which other people are not able to copy and those things which never ever exist or even just the imaginaery of others.All in all, it needs a lot of effort and intellegent to copy,not the mindless people can do it!
ES UN AVION DE EXCELENTE PRESENTACION Y SIENDO DE QUINTA GENERACION PUEDE DAR BATALLA A CUALQUIER AVION OCCIDENTAL. NOSOTROS EN LA FUERZA AEREA ARGENTINA NOS GUSTARIA EMPLEAR EL J – 10 ,SIENDO QUE NUESTROS MIRAGE Y A – 4 HAN CUMPLIDO SUS MISIONES CON HONOR
At the end of the day who cares if who copies from whom? The guy with the badassest piece of hardware wins and it’s as simple as that.
I genuinely don’t understand why ppl keep arguing the originality of high-end military hardware. It’s pointless in my pov.
Agreed, sometimes you copy, sometimes you change the game, it is finding the best solution. The bigger question is who has the next great solution (2 person fighter where the electonics officer controls 2-4 figheter drones for example.)
I don’t think it is a F-22 copy, it’s a F-35 copy pretty much if you take a front side by side look at the two you will see what I am saying. Guess all the cyber attacks by China worked !
Seriously guys. All designers copy each other. The B-2 is a copy of the German WW2 plane the Horten. F-15 is a copy of the Foxbat. At the end of the day, it is the pilot and the avionics that count. There is even an article on this site of a Growler with an F-22 “kill”.