China conducts first test-flight of stealth plane

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China conducts first test-flight of stealth plane

China has conducted the first test-flight of its J-20 stealth fighter, Chinese President Hu Jintao has confirmed to US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

The confirmation came after images of the 15-minute flight in Chengdu appeared on several Chinese websites.

Mr Hu said that the flight had not been timed to coincide with Mr Gates' visit, the US defence secretary said.

The US is currently the only nation with a fully operational stealth plane.

But both Russia and China are known to be working on prototypes of stealth fighters, which are invisible to radar.

Mr Gates' three-day visit to Beijing comes amid US concern over the speed at which China's military is modernising and upgrading its technology.

"I asked President Hu about it directly, and he said that the test had absolutely nothing to do with my visit and had been a pre-planned test. And that's where we left it," Mr Gates was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
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Analysis
image of Shirong Chen Shirong Chen BBC China Editor

Before the official confirmation from the president, pictures reportedly taken by fighter jet spotters had appeared on all major Chinese web portals, including the state-run Xinhua news agency.

There is also a video clip showing the stealth fighter taxi-ing, taking off and landing, accompanied by a trainer jet, with fans chatting and shouting "magnificent".

The spotters have been camped out near the fighter jet design institute in Chengdu, in south-west China. They have dubbed the prototype "Black Ribbon", meaning black 4th generation fighter.

They also say that Xi Jinping, China's Vice-President and Vice-Chairman of the Military Commission, visited the airfield on Saturday, presumably to witness a test flight that was aborted due to bad weather.

Leaked images of what was said to be China's J-20 fighter first appeared earlier this month during taxi tests at the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute.

On Tuesday, the plane took off and flew for about 15 minutes, according to eyewitness accounts published on unofficial Chinese web portals.

A video clip of the flight was also posted on the web.

China says it expects the stealth plane to be operational some time between 2017 and 2019.

But earlier this month the Pentagon played down concerns over the fighter.

"Developing a stealth capability with a prototype and then integrating that into a combat environment is going to take some time," said US director of naval intelligence Vice Admiral David Dorsett.

China's official military budget quadrupled between 1999 and 2009 as the country's economy grew. In 2010 it stood at $78bn (£50bn).

But the US has by far the largest defence budget in the world at just over $700bn.

BBC News - China conducts first test-flight of stealth plane

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Experts surprised by quick development of Chinese stealth fighter jet

Hu Jintao confirms China has carried out first test flight of stealth fighter aircraft


Photos leaked online appear to show a prototype of China's J-20 stealth fighter jet. Photograph: Photoshot


Leading experts on China today expressed surprise at the speed with which the country's J20 stealth aircraft was developed, but said the country's military prowess was still relatively backward and way behind that of the US.

The J20 was not as stealthy as the US F22 stealth fighter, but was "good enough for what China wants to do with it", Gary Li, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said.

He noted that it was also bigger than the F22, suggesting that it was designed potentially to carry more bombs and fuel against a "larger variety of targets".

The J20 would provoke more concern in India, South Korea, and Taiwan in particular, analysts said. But Li said the US was not going to be alarmed or dragged into a new arms race "just because of two prototypes".

Kerry Brown, of the Chatham House thinktank, said the J20 demonstrated the ability of the Chinese to conceal military research, but added that they were "still way, way behind the Americans". China's military interests were limited to its region, he added.

"The PLA [People's Liberation Army] is surprisingly defensive, [it thinks about] being hit rather that to hit – it believes it is weak and vulnerable", Brown said.

"It is not going to be a global policeman, but [will] have enough strength to maintain pressure on Taiwan and defend its own maritime borders."

He said that while the Obama administration was pushing hard to develop a proper dialogue with Beijing, the relative influence of China's political leaders and the military was becoming increasingly unclear. The country's current leaders had no military background, he added.

China's defence minister, Gen Liang Guanglie, said after talks in Beijing earlier this week with Robert Gates, his US opposite number, that while China had made progress in developing its military technology, "we can by no means call ourselves an advanced military force".

He was referring to the J20 and to reports of China's development of a long-range anti-ship missile.

Guanglie added: "The gap between us and that of advanced countries is at least two to three decades.

"I also want to emphasise that the efforts that we placed in research and development of our weapons systems is by no means targeted at any third country and it will by no means threaten any other country in the world."

Gates said the US and Chinese militaries must become closer partners.

Experts surprised by quick development of Chinese stealth fighter jet | World news | The Guardian

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YouTube - China's J-20 Stealth fighter jet makes first test flight

YouTube - China's J-20 Stealth fighter jet makes first test flight

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Wonder what kind of message they are sending with this apparent break with normal development?

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Jane's Defence Weekly

Russian industry sceptical about China's 'fifth-gen' fighter.

Reuben F Johnson JDW Correspondent - Kiev


Key Points
China's J-20 next-generation fighter was being prepared for its maiden flight as JDW closed for press on 7 January

Russian aerospace sources with experience of co-operation with China are sceptical about the J-20's fifth-generation credentials


The Chinese fifth-generation fighter being called the Jian-20 (J-20) by numerous media sources is being prepared for a first flight from the aerodrome at the Chengdu Aerospace Development Institute (CADI) and the adjacent Aircraft Plant No 132. The programme is represented by two prototype aircraft, with fuselage numbers 2001 and 2002.

Russia's aerospace industry has a long history of co-operation with China's main fighter production centres at CADI and Shenyang, and is familiar with the capabilities of both. One source from a major Russian enterprise that began aerospace industrial co-operation with China in the 1990s told Jane's : "We have heard about this aircraft and have even seen photographs and drawings of it as far back as six months ago. When you see it [the J-20] you will realise that at least half of this aeroplane is of Russian design. There is practically no other place that they could have come up with a planform for a stealthy or blended body design in - what is even for them - such a short period of time."

The J-20's design follows the pattern of the other recently developed fighter, the J-10, in that there are "pieces of several different aeroplanes seen in its planform - the Lockheed YF-22, the Northrop YF-23, the Mikoyan MFI Project 1.42/1.44 and the Sukhoi S-37/Su-47," said a Russian industry analyst. "It is not a direct imitation of something else, like the Shenyang J-11 that is copied from the [Sukhoi] Su-27," he said, "so, at least as the Chinese define it, this qualifies the aircraft as an 'indigenous' design."

Chinese and Taiwanese reports have also referenced a recent article by Ilya Kramnik, a military analyst for Russia's RIA Novosti news agency, in which he points out that, despite the Chengdu aircraft being a major advancement, it is still far behind the rest of the world in terms of stealth.

"The J-20 fighter was produced nearly 20 years after the US YF-22, 17 years after the Russian MiG-1.44 MFI and 14 after Russia's S-37/Su-47. If the J-20 is accepted as the prototype for a new series, China will be able to produce a fifth-generation fighter plane within 10 years," wrote Kramnik. "If not, it will begin batch production no sooner than 15 or 20 years from now."

Russian industry representatives with hands-on experience working on the Su-27 and Su-30MKK programmes in China are even more sceptical.

"It is entirely possible that Chengdu have been able to 'kludge' an airframe together that is almost entirely aluminium alloy in composition, but there are unlikely to be any exotic or stealthy materials there," said one such source. "Chinese industry is also behind Russia's and the rest of the world in almost all critical technologies: jet engines, radar, composite materials and avionics. Even most Chinese air-launched weapons have their genesis in some other country's design."

The Russian experience in working with Chinese industry in the licensed production of the Su-27SK (J-11) is also less than encouraging, claimed the same source. "The Chinese never proved themselves proficient to our level in building Su-27s - even when we were there to hold their hand all the time. So whether or not this programme can move forward on its own without encountering real problems is a big question."

One of the big unknowns is what powerplant is used in the two J-20 prototypes, as there is some contention over whether or not they are Saturn/Rybinsk 117S engines or a variant of the Shenyang-based Liming Aeroengine Manufacturing Corporation (LMAC) WS-10. There have never been any 117S models officially shipped to China, but Russian industry representatives say that does not discount the possibility of China having acquired these engines.

"It would not surprise me at all to learn that some of these engines have been somehow transferred to China already," said the Russian industry source. "The Chinese have purchased a great deal of hardware from Russia over the years, but they have also acquired plenty of other items that they did not procure 'officially'."

Just after the November 2010 China Airshow, Russian Defence Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov returned to Moscow from an official visit to China "carrying a number of proposals in the sphere of military-technical cooperation", according to Russian daily Vedomosti . Its article, entitled 'China Has Not Copied Everything', quotes sources from inside both the MoD and Rosoboronexport, the Russian arms export monopoly. According to these sources, the list of items China's military is seeking to purchase includes an unspecified large number of 117S engines and the Almaz-Antey S-400 air defence system. China purchasing the 117S can only mean that it is intended as the powerplant for an entirely new aircraft programme, as well as confirming China's continuing dependence upon Russia for jet engines.

China's next-generation J-20 fighter has been photographed conducting taxi trials at the Chengdu Aerospace Development Institute and was believed to be close to its maiden flight as JDW closed for press on 7 January.

Russian industry experts are sceptical of the J-20's stealth and other capabilities.

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