nestia.com
- Twin-seater version of the J-20 Mighty Dragon could make its debut as part of PLA Air Force’s 72nd anniversary celebrations
- Military analysts say China is trying to apply the US doctrine of next generation air dominance
Minnie Chan
Published: 8:00pm, 29 Oct, 2021
Pictures and video clips of China’s ground-breaking twin-seater variant of its J-20 stealth fighter jet have emerged on social media, suggesting it could be about to make its maiden flight. Photo: Handout
The world’s first twin-seater stealth fighter could make its maiden flight in less than a fortnight, as China prepares to show off its latest home-grown breakthrough in military technology.
Pictures and video clips have emerged on mainland social media platforms in recent days to reveal a variant of the J-20 Weilong – which means Mighty Dragon – taxiing on a flight test airfield at Chengdu Aerospace Corporation’s plant in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
The prototype, with an elongated canopy, was unveiled two weeks before the PLA Air Force’s 72nd anniversary on November 11, suggesting its maiden flight could be part of the celebrations, according to a military source who requested anonymity.
“It’s not clear when the maiden flight will take place, maybe on November 11. The final decision will depend on the weather situation and other technical issues,” the source said.
Experts said the variant showed China had beaten the US and other competitors. It was an attempt to prove that the US concept of next generation air dominance (NGAD) could be successfully applied in Chinese aircraft technology, they said.
NGAD is aimed at developing US air force superiority in the 2030s by creating a network of advanced fighter aircraft, sensors and weapons with jets and autonomous drones fighting side by side.
“The twin-seat variant of the J-20 … attests to the upward trajectory of the Chinese aerospace industry, showing that Beijing is capable of indigenous breakthroughs and does not need to rely on foreign technology as it has in the past,” said Ben Ho, an air power researcher from the military studies programme at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
“The extra human brain could help profoundly in making sense of information – that is coming in hard and fast – as well as maintaining situational awareness, which are so critical in aerial operations, especially air-to-air combat which the J-20 is primarily designed for,” he said.
Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Tong said that other dual-seat fighters to date have been designed as training planes, with the back seat reserved for a coach. In contrast, the J-20 variant’s second pilot could control nearby drones – dubbed the “loyal wingmen” by aircraft designers – in dogfights.
The looming maiden flight will take place in very different circumstances to the unveiling of the first J-20 Mighty Dragon on January 11, 2011, during a visit to Beijing by then US defence secretary Robert Gate aimed at defusing military tensions between the two countries.
Zhou Chenming, a researcher from the Yuan Wang military science and technology institute in Beijing, said the 2011 flight was not just a show of muscle. “[It was] also aimed at showing China’s efforts to increase military transparency, as both sides hoped to enhance the two militaries’ political trust.”
However, the change in China-US relationships, especially during the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency, meant the twin-seater J-20’s debut would highlight the pure weaponry technology competition between the world’s two superpowers, he said.
“The significance of the two maiden flights are totally different in the one decade. Now it’s a pure weapon technical issue. China wants to show its advantages in testing the employment of manned-unmanned teaming and loyal wingmen drones developed by the American’s NGAD concepts on the platform of the twin-seat J-20 variant.”
US efforts to develop a two-seater stealth fighter stalled in the 1990s, when a variant of the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 was dropped to save money.
In the early 2010s the Pentagon announced two next-generation programmes – NGAD for the air force, and a long-term naval plan known as F/A-XX to develop next-generation ship-borne aircraft to complement and eventually replace the current F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters.
Source scmp.com
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