Military and Commercial Technology: The new J-20B was unveiled, with black squares on the left side of the fuselage. Is it a cannon or a hard tube fuel port?

Thursday 3 June 2021

The new J-20B was unveiled, with black squares on the left side of the fuselage. Is it a cannon or a hard tube fuel port?

Sunson Guo

2021-06-01 12:18

Since its launch and service, the J-20 has not stopped improving and upgrading. The outside world speculates that it will have two-seater, carrier-based, and combat-bombing models. Now, the first derivative model of the J-20 has appeared. According to online photos, a new J-20 yellow-skin aircraft flew into the sky recently. Judging from the number of the aircraft 2022, it may be the second prototype of the J-20B.

2022 J-20 prototype

At present, the J-20 has at least 10 flying prototypes. 2001 and 2002 are the 718 project demonstrators. The number 201X is the first stage prototype, including 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017. The number 202X is the second stage prototype, which is the J-20B. The first prototype of the J-20B, 2021, flew for the first time during the 2018 New Year, and the now-appearing No. 2022 is the second prototype of the J-20B.

Compared with the first batch of the J-20, the J-20B is mainly replaced with the latest improved Taihang engine and equipped with vector thrust nozzles as standard. This vector thrust nozzle is a perfect upgrade on the basis of the J-10B TVC that was unveiled at the Zhuhai Air Show in 2018, realizing the "integration of flying, fire, and thrusting", which greatly releases the combat capabilities of the J-20. Although the thrust of "Taihang" is not as good as that of the target engine turbofan 15, it has already given the J-20's success in 1989.

This picture is very vivid

However, the biggest highlight of the new J-20 picture exposed this time is not the engine and the vector nozzle, but a black square on the left side of the air intake. There are two speculations about its use from the outside world. First of all, some people think that it may be a long-rumored cannon.

The first possibility is the machine gun

After the J-20 came out, everyone has been arguing whether it has a cannon or not. Countless pairs of eyes searched every inch of its skin for thousands of times, but no real hammer was found for the cannon. This time, the official has drawn the position on the J-20 with a black border, which can be described as a crazy "hint". Judging from the screen, the large rectangle in the front may be a high-temperature stealth skin, the small rectangle in the back may be a muzzle that can be opened and closed like the F22, and the small hole on the back may be the platoon of the J-20 gun. Smoke outlet.

F22 cannon on the right

The J-20's air inlet is S-shaped. After the entrance, it shrinks sharply inward to make room for the side bomb bay. The F-20 cannon may be installed on the left side of the fighting bomb bay. For the J-20 cannon, some people wishfully thought it might be a laser cannon. Judging from the energy density of the current battery, this is just an illusion. Under current technical conditions, the battery of a high-power laser cannon suitable for fighter jets may be very large.

Fighters use laser cannons, so I can only think about it for the time being

Of course, there is a second possibility for the black square above the left side inlet of the J-20, which is the oil port for hard pipe refueling. At present, the J-20 has exposed the hose refueling rod. According to the analysis of the CCTV picture with thick mosaics, its location is in the front right side of the cockpit, with a built-in design and can be retracted. But at the same time, everyone understands that hard-tube refueling is the future development. The J-20 has been studying hard-tube refueling technology since its launch. There is even a view that the J-20 may be equipped with two aerial refueling systems at the same time. Both soft and hard.

F22 hard pipe oil port

Generally, the hard-pipe fueling port of an aircraft is in the middle of the back, where the force is the most balanced. When a large amount of fuel is injected, the aircraft will not roll over. Previously, there were many opinions and analysis that even if the J-20 is to be equipped with a hard-pipe oil port in the future, it will be arranged at the center of the back like the F22. However, there are also some aircraft whose hard pipe oil ports are arranged on the side. For example, the F15 is the same as the new picture of the J-20, which is above the left air inlet. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the J-20 uses a side-mounted similar to the F15. Hard pipe oil port.

The fuel port of most aircraft is in the middle of the back

But the F15 is on the side, maybe the J-20 is the same.

Whether it is a cannon or a hard tube fuel port, it is a huge improvement for the J-20. It represents the continuous improvement of the details of my country's aviation industry. What you want can basically be achieved in time. It is an important source of self-confidence. The J-20 will show us more surprises in the future.