CHINA'S new super-stealth fighter is a flop after experts revealed the jet is a disaster with Beijing forced to use 20-year-old engines after the new ones kept exploding.
By JOHN THALASSITES
China boasts it has the only fifth generation stealth fighter jet outside the United States - as state media announced the J20 stealth jet has officially entered into service as a combat ready platform.
But military sources are believed to have acknowledged the J20s do not measure up to their American counterparts in the way that has been suggested - with one major design flaw after tests were reportedly speeded up amid heightening tensions in the region.
The jets entering service do not feature custom-built Chinese engines, as they were thought to have, but are using older versions instead which cannot fly at supersonic speed - the mark of a fifth generation jet.
And the engines are believed to have failed in tests in 2015 after the custom built WS15 engine exploded.
A source told the South China Morning Post: “The WS-15 engine designed for the J-20 exploded during a ground running test in 2015.
“The explosion indicated the WS-15 is not reliable, and so far there is no fundamental solution to overcome such a problem, that’s why the J-20 is using WS-10B engines now.”
Experts believe China has yet been able to consistently build engines that can handle the extreme heat of jet propulsion.
The engine failure is is a blow to China’s attempts to establish itself as a major military power.
Sources suggest the J20 will be deployed in response to potential threats from the US, Japan, South Korea and India.
But the J20 cannot fly faster than the speed of sound unless it ignites its afterburners, without new engines.
By contrast, the US F22 and F35 can fly at ‘fifth generation’ speed and it is the only country to have that kind of firepower.
And with the wrong engines the jet is no longer capable of "supercruising" unlike its American counterpart.
Justin Bronk, a combat aviation expert at the Royal United Services Institute, said: “The major drawback from not having the ability to supercruise in this case would be having to choose between using a great deal of fuel to go supersonic or stay subsonic and accept shorter effective range from the fighter’s missiles and an inferior energy position compared to a supercruising opponent.”
Experts anticipate the goal of China’s new J20 platform is to be able to successfully launch long range missiles at supersonic speeds.
One expert, who demanded anonymity, said the J20 had a reasonable stealth profile from the front angle.
But it could be exposed from other angles - and the older engines might even exacerbate that problem.
The Chinese are also developing a second stealth fighter, the FC-31, which will be flying off PLA Navy aircraft carriers. The hope is to target international markets with this model.
Original post: express.co.uk
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