| PRC’s fifth-generation jet
pictures cause stir in US
By William Lowther / Staff reporter in
WASHINGTON
Signaling a greater-than-ever military threat to Taiwan, new information emerged
this week showing that China might be much further ahead in its development of a
fifth-generation fighter aircraft than previously believed.
In what has caused a major stir within the Pentagon, Beijing Internet censors
earlier this week allowed high-resolution photographs of the Chengdu Aircraft
Corp stealth fighter to be published for the first time.
“For Taiwan, this means that even a sale of the latest versions of the Lockheed
Martin F-16 will only provide a brief period of technical parity with the
People’s Liberation Army,” Rick Fisher, a senior fellow at the International
Assessment and Strategy Center in Washington, told the Taipei Times.
Fisher said it was now possible China could deploy significant numbers of the
fifth-generation fighters — codenamed the Chengdu J-20 — within 10 years.
“There is now even greater reason for Taiwan to consider shifting its air
defense resources to the more survivable short take-off fifth-generation F-35B,
with modifications that increase its air combat potential,” he said. “Today, it
is doubly tragic for Taiwan that Washington does not appear to be willing to
sell either fighter to Taipei. Such a lack of resolve by Washington will only
hasten the military confrontation it has successfully deterred since the Korean
War.”
Taiwan is urgently pressing US President Barack Obama to sell it 66 advanced
versions of the F-16, but with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) scheduled to
visit Washington later this month, a sale is unlikely to be approved anytime
soon.
Credible sources claim China could build at least 300 J-20s.
Aviation Week and Space Technology reported that China has begun flight-testing
the J-20, which puts it only a few years behind the troubled F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter, which is being developed by the US and a coalition of countries.
While it is possible that the newly released photographs of the J-20 are fakes,
most US analysts believe them to be the real thing.
One military analyst said the plane had a chiseled front--section, triangular
wings, all-moving tail-planes and seemed to combine the front fuselage of the
US’ F-22 with the back half of the Russian T-50 stealth prototype.
“The J-20’s appearance could signal a big step forward for the Chinese air
force, which to date relies mostly on airplanes bought from Russia or
reverse--engineered from Russian or Israeli designs,” an analyst said.
Judging from the photographs, the J-20 is at least 21m from nose to tail, which
means it would have a lower “supercruise” performance and agility than the F-22.
However, with larger weapon bays and more fuel, it would have a longer range and
carry more arms.
US military sources told the Taipei Times that China may be getting Russian help
with the J-20 and that Moscow may be supplying 14.5 tonne thrust 117S engines
for the plane, which is expected to double as a bomber.
Fisher said the J-20 could “supercruise,” or fly supersonically, for extended
periods without using fuel-guzzling afterburners.
One commentator, writing on the Aviation Week and Space Technology Web site,
said the new plane was “something to hang out at 50,000 feet [15.2km] over the
Taiwan Strait with a large downward looking radar and serve up a large payload
of AAM’s [air-to-air missiles] at anything underneath.”
Dean Cheng (成斌) of the Heritage Foundation think tank has linked the unexpected
leak of the J-20 photographs with news earlier in the week that China had
reached initial operational capability with a ballistic missile that may be
capable of hitting and sinking an aircraft carrier, and reports that Beijing
would soon launch a refurbished former Soviet aircraft carrier.
“All of these news items serve to underscore that China’s military development
has proceeded more rapidly than many had expected and all of these military
efforts are occurring without any pressing military threat to China’s borders or
interests,” Cheng said.
“The US should never be afraid to engage the PRC [People’s Republic of China],
but neither should it give the Chinese the impression that Washington is dealing
with them out of fear. Only a consistent national security policy, including a
sustained US presence in the region, can do that,” he said.
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