J-20 is the most advanced plane to come out of Asia

It has advanced AESA radar, glass cockpit, full digital FBW, powerful engines, electro optical sensors including EODAS, internal weapons bays. The bumpy intakes is also unique in Asia. Overall, it resembles European planes more so than American planes due to large foreplanes.

a reply to: allsee4eye

Beg to differ. Betcha the J-20 and the X-2 Shinshin are probably more advanced. The latter being a tech demo only though.

a reply to: anzha

Of course. J-20 is not in active service yet. I think Japan will go for F-35 rather than its own plane.

How does this compare to an F-16?

a reply to: iTruthSeeker

I guess more advanced than any F-16.

a reply to: allsee4eye

Japan will do both. It's in line with their industrial policy.

The J-20 has entered service at the Chinese equivalent of the IOC.

And whether the J-10B is better than the F-16, it really depends on which block the F-16 is.

a reply to: anzha

It's costly to develop a plane. Japan lacks the funding to do that. They have an ever aging population to take care of.

I looked up J-20. I'm surprised it's already achieved IOC. Faster than I expected.

Please excuse this old grunts ignorance...

What is IOC?

The aircraft does look sharp though.

a reply to: allsee4eye

Japan is collaborating with the British on their next fighter. They are also working with we Yanqi. They have a lot of economic slack to build up more military if they want to. And Abe wants to.

If you are comparing to the US, we have been dragging our tails on our fighter development for a while. The F-22 was dragged out for saving a penny now policy. And the F-35 was also intentionally delayed. The original IOC for the F-22 was to be ... 1995. The B-21 and the next fighter will come a lot faster.

The Russians are under severe economic sanctions and their economy was very, very dependent on oil. Oil prices are not going to recover for decades. So, they're pretty screwed. Plus they didn't have the experience needed for a 5th gen. They're different than the 4ths by a lot. There was an article recently basically saying the Russians are in deep trouble because of the lack of modern tech in their defense industry.

PS. For some reason, I thought you had posted this as the J-10 was the most advanced. Now I see you meant J-20. Did I blink and it changed or do I really, really owe you an apology for my misunderstanding?

a reply to: Terminal1

IOC means it is in active service with at least 1 squadron raised. Not all capabilities may be implemented at the time of IOC. For example, usually air to air is available at IOC but air to ground not fully implemented.

a reply to: anzha

I wasn't aware J-20 is in active service. I haven't been following planes for quite a while.

I don't think Japan will develop its own plane. It takes a lot of resources. Japan now is not Japan in the past. Japan has become soft.

a reply to: allsee4eye

The J-20 looks like an impressive bird and appears it is meant to be an AWACS killer.

That's a matter of belief then. Russia is building a 5th gen fighter and it only has the economy the size of Canada! Japan's economy is considerably larger. Slack is there. If there is will. I think Abe, if he is going to stick around, has the will.

a reply to: anzha

Russia has huge natural resources and a small but significant population. Russia has more people than any country in Europe. Germany built plenty of high tech military hardware in before and during WW2 even though it has less than half the people Russia has now. On top of that, Russians are Norsemen and genetically they are very intelligent so they build lots of advanced military hardware.

a reply to: allsee4eye

No, the Russians are not Norse. They are Slav. The original founders of Kiev were Norse, but that was a millennium ago. Little remains of that and their genetic heritage has no baring on their technical capabilities. It's also a nonsequitor for the board.

Germany of WW2 was in the midst of a radically different world. The Germans had a higher percentage (almost .3%) of the world population (then only 2.3 billion) vs Russia today (.2%). Germany had an economy that was almost 1/2 the US on the eve of WW2. Russia has 1/15th the economy of the US. Japan has 3x Russia's. Russia has just as bad a demographics problem as the Japanese. Except they are poorer. A LOT poorer.

If Japan wants to, it can make a stealth fighter.

a reply to: allsee4eye

Thank you for helping my ignorance...

a reply to: Terminal1

It's Initial Operating(or Operational, I've seen both) Capability. It means that they have a set number of aircraft (it varies from country to country and service to service), they're combat coded (meaning they have production systems and sensors on board, not just test systems), are certified for at least a basic weapons load (in the case of the F-35, basic air to ground and air to air weapons), and can be used in combat.

Once IOC is achieved, the aircraft is considered operational. It's not completely operational until FOC is achieved, usually anywhere from 2-5 years after IOC. Once FOC is achieved, all the weapons designed for the aircraft are integrated and ready for use, as are all the sensors and systems.

Front canards are a sign of stability at high Angles of Attack..

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Terminal1

It's Initial Operating(or Operational, I've seen both) Capability. It means that they have a set number of aircraft (it varies from country to country and service to service), they're combat coded (meaning they have production systems and sensors on board, not just test systems), are certified for at least a basic weapons load (in the case of the F-35, basic air to ground and air to air weapons), and can be used in combat.

Once IOC is achieved, the aircraft is considered operational. It's not completely operational until FOC is achieved, usually anywhere from 2-5 years after IOC. Once FOC is achieved, all the weapons designed for the aircraft are integrated and ready for use, as are all the sensors and systems.

Thanks Z...

So does that mean all support are also combat ready?

a reply to: Terminal1

Yes. They have everything they need to be used in combat. They aren't at their maximum effectiveness, and probably won't be used, but they're available at this point.

The big questions are doctrine and tactics though. Reaching IOC is a big step for a new platform, but they still have a long way to go. At this point, they have enough aircraft to be able to start to really begin writing the book on their tactics.

a reply to: allsee4eye

I still don't see how it is going to hide from an ever improving radar network. It has some very obvious flaws for being a stealth aircraft. We don't have to keep rehashing them all but I don't see the J-20 getting close enough to kill an AWACs or tanker or SIGINT like it is designed to. I see it skimming the ocean and slinging long range anti ship missiles as well but there again is the problem with the availability of look down shoot down weapon systems today also makes that a less survivable tactic. It is a beautiful aircraft though the more you see it fly. Those canards are gorgeous in flight.