why all enemies fear china's latest aircraft
since the consolidation of communist party rule over mainland china in 1949
china's military aviation sector has owed a tremendous debt to the russian bear
right away in 1950 the soviet union provided beijing with capable mig-15 jet fighters
and entire squadrons of russian pilots that eventually compelled the us
air force to curtail daylight strategic bombing raids along the yalu river during the korean war
china subsequently began production of domestic clones of soviet mig-17 mig-19 and mig-21 fighters
the j5 j6 and j7 respectively on such a scale it exported large numbers abroad
after the soviet collapse in 1991 russia sold china 4th generation su-27 and su-30 flanker jets
a powerful twin-engine fighter known for its super maneuverable flight characteristics
the shenyang aviation corporation went on to develop three separate clones of the
flanker the j11 carrier-based j-15 flying shark and strike-oriented j-16 however
according to a study published by the royal united service institute the world's oldest military
think tank the apprentice may have surpassed the master to be sure china still imports
turbofan engines from russia as it struggles to perfect domestic alternatives such as the ws-10b
and eventually the powerful ws-15 however the latest chinese fighters increasingly
incorporate weapons and avionics that are more capable than those of their russian counterparts
factors behind the shifting fortunes of china and russia's military aviation sector include
beijing's annual military spending exceeds moscow's
two or three times over russian spent 70 billion dollars on defense in 2020
china 190 billion cross applicability of china's well-developed civilian electronics industry to
manufacturing advanced avionics resulting in western-style computers sensors and data links
willingness of chinese firms to copy technologies from across the globe through reverse engineering
or industrial espionage particularly hacking western sanctions on russia
have reduced moscow's access to components necessary for high performance sensors
that isn't to say that chinese military holds all the advantages most notably russian military
aviation has far more combat experience with most of its fighter and bomber crews rotated
into combat tours in the syrian civil war the chinese military has only begun in the last
decade to implement more realistic joint combat training with other branches of the military
more extensive use of composite materials one of the key weight saving tricks in modern aircraft
design is to substitute metal components with lightweight composite materials those weight
reductions translate into major improvements in agility and range extensive use of composites
can be pricey and technologically demanding bronk writes that china nonetheless has taken a lead in
incorporating composites in j11b j11d and j16 fighters all derived from russian flanker jets
the end result is jets that incorporate additional systems compared to the russian original
yet still achieve a superior thrust weight ratio the xi'an aircraft corporation further advanced
composite technology by 3d printing composite components and implementing
new computer assisted design techniques for its y20 chubby girl transport planes
techniques sure to make their way into future combat aircraft
better long-range air-to-air missiles in addition to sensors beyond visual range
bvr warfare depends on missiles that can engage enemies at greater distances at higher speeds
and with greater resistance to decoys and jamming in the last decade china has begun fielding two
highly capable bvr missiles the first is the pl-12 which approached the us am-120c missile
in performance and out ranges the russian r-77 bvr missile however china has also developed a pl-15
missile believed to match or exceed the range of even the latest us aim 120d bvr missiles the
pl-15's dual pulse motor allows a lethal second burst of speed as it's close with its target
russia meanwhile has had difficulties fielding the r-771 missile in adequate numbers however the vks
does field small numbers of very long range 200 plus miles r-33 and r-37m missiles used
mostly on mig-31 fighters that don't currently have a direct chinese or u.s equivalent yet
russia's short-range r-73 heat-seeking missiles have a more solid overall reputation though
the rusi report notes that they lack an infrared imaging sensor that's better at distinguishing
aircraft from flare decoys unlike us aim 9x and chinese pl10 short-range missiles
the su-57 still has some good qualities and is harder to detect than prior russian warplanes
but the report emphasizes it is not a direct competitor with the us f-22 or chinese j-20
as very low observable air superiority machine
beijing simply has spent far more money to develop refine and procure the j-20 over the years
photos reveal the j-20 has gone through numerous iterations with improved engines
and stealth technology the shenyang aircraft corporation has also independently developed
another stealth fighter called the fc-31 or j-31 grey falcon with some resemblance to the us f-35
it is unclear whether the chinese military will introduce the j-31 into service
though it's rumored it may be adapted for service on china's growing aircraft carrier fleet
better integration of precision-guided weapons modern air-to-ground warfare is increasingly
premised on the idea that plastering a target area with lots of big bombs is less effective
than getting just one or two munitions to land precisely on target but scaling up
from limited to wide scale use of precision guided weapons poses formidable challenges
russia has developed a variety of pgms but stocks are limited so in practice the vks has primarily
relied on unguided bombs and rockets when bombing targets in syria contributing to this problem
have been limited accuracy of russia's glonass satellite network used to calculate bomb release
and the inability of most russian combat aircraft with exception of dedicated attack aircraft like
the su-24 su-25 and su-34 to mount targeting pods for precision air to ground strikes that relegates
most russian pilots to more difficult and less accurate methods of targeting such as hewing the
entire plane around to paint a target relying on the secrets of the wing mounted munitions
or using tv guided weapons manually guided by the weapon systems officer of a two-seat jet like the
su-30 or su-34 by contrast targeting pod support or organic electro optical targeting systems
reportedly feature in later chinese jets including the j-10 j-16 and the j-20 stealth fighter
furthermore china is developing and exporting a diverse array of precision guided missiles
and bombs many of which are available in scaled-down form for deployment on combat drones
all the emphasis on comparing high-performance jet fighters shouldn't lead one to forget that
the unmanned systems are increasingly poised to supplant manned warplanes in the 21st century
some of these future robotic air warriors may be as exquisite and expensive as stealth fighters
but most will be far less costly and capable and far easier to risk using an action due to
their relative expendability over the last two decades china has developed a broad spectrum of
both reconnaissance and combat drones you see avs ranging from relatively small and cheap
ch2 and wing loon ucavs widely exported abroad to the jet powered cloud shadow and
high-flying divine eagle hail surveillance drones and the supersonic wz-8 spy drone
russia meanwhile neither operates nor export any ucavs though it has announced it will begin
fielding an unidentified ucav in 2021 to be fair the russian ground forcers
does field a variety of tactical reconnaissance drones like the orlan 10 that have proven
effective over ukraine and syria while russia's uciv programs may eventually bear important fruit
it doesn't change the startling fact that china israel and turkey operate and export multiple
types of combat drones today that have no equivalent currently in russian service