Turkey Pushes T-129 Gunships for Pakistan, but US Could Scupper Deal

Turkey has offered to gift Pakistan three T-129 gunships with further hopes of setting up production in Pakistan. (Turkish Aerospace Industrie

ISLAMABAD AND ANKARA — Turkey is aggressively lobbying to give T-129 attack helicopters to Pakistan to replace its aging AH-1F fleet and is prepared to agree to generous terms with cash-strapped Pakistan to do so, according to sources.

However, the US could sink the deal and make a counteroffer of helicopter gunships to Pakistan that could be too good to refuse.

Pakistani media reports state a deal with Turkey could lead to local production of the T-129 at Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), but speculation that preparations are already underway to build a new helicopter production facility there could not be confirmed.

Turkey made its latest push during Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Sept. 16-18 visit to Turkey for the Third High Level Cooperation Council meeting. Sharif was given a demonstration of the T-129’s capabilities and a potential deal was discussed.

Turkish officials confirmed talks have “matured to a certain extent,” and Turkey remains committed to any possible deal, not only for financial benefits but also potential strategic gains.

“We see that both countries are keen to cooperate,” said one senior procurement official in Ankara. “We have a longer-term vision over any deal. We do not aim to win just one foreign contract but also view spillover benefits for the local industry. The Pakistani market may win international recognition for the T-129 and pave the way for future contracts.”

The official declined to comment on the modality of any deal.

However, a Pakistani source familiar with the negotiations said Turkey had offered to gift three T-129 helicopters to Pakistan with 2,300 items of spares. The T-129 variant in question was not clarified. The initial T-129A is being used for flight testing while the full specification T-129B is still under development.

Turkey followed the same approach in securing a deal for MKEK 155mm Panter howitzers with Pakistan in 2009. It is now produced in Pakistan by Heavy Industries Taxila.

However, a Turkish procurement official dealing with international agreements and financing voiced doubt over Pakistan’s ability to afford a deal.

“We know that Pakistan is not in the best financial shape. But this could be overcome with political will,” he said.

Salma Malik, assistant professor at the Department of Defence & Strategic Studies at Islamabad’s Quaid-i-Azam University, is uncertain, but not dismissive, saying this “depends on how and what kind of budgetary allocation the concerned offices have, and how they have outlaid it.”

A more serious potential obstacle, however, is obtaining US permission to export the LHTEC CTS800-4N engine powering the T-129.

A US industry source in Ankara said a US export license for the T-129’s engine would be critical. “This may require complex deliberations in Washington, involving many industrial and political parameters,” he said.

Brian Cloughley, former Australian defense attache to Islamabad, said Congress holds the key to the deal.

“It is most unlikely that either the White House or the Pentagon would attempt to deny an export license to Turkey for T-129 power plants and ancillaries, but the Defense Security Cooperation [Agency] is required to notify Congress of most proposed sales and obtain approval,” he said.

“Given the mood of Congress, it is extremely difficult to predict what they might or might not do. It takes only a couple of members or senators to demur, and the whole process could be halted. Everything depends on the political mood of the moment.”

Nevertheless, Turkey hopes the T-129 will be an export success.

In remarks carried by Turkish daily Today’s Zaman, Turkey’s procurement chief, Murad Bayar, said Sept. 23 that the T-129 attack helicopter “had strong export potential.”

The T-129 has been going through acceptance tests before deliveries for the Turkish military. Officials expect the first delivery to be made within the next few weeks.

“We may complete the delivery of the first nine helicopters by the end of the year,” Bayar said. “After these helicopters make their way into the Turkish inventory, I believe they will have strong chances for export.”

Azerbaijan is reportedly looking to buy 60 T-129 helicopters. Jordan’s King Abdullah, who was in Turkey in March, visited Turkish Aerospace Industries, co-maker of the T-129, and examined both the helicopter gunship and Turkey’s first locally-developed drone, the Anka.

Despite Turkey’s hopes, however, the US might try to tempt Pakistan with a deal for the AH-1Z Viper helicopter.

No one at the defense section in the US Embassy would comment on the matter, but details were confirmed by sources in Pakistan familiar with the deal.

Pakistan has been awarded US $300 million in foreign military financing for FY2013-2014, which could be used to procure the Viper attack helicopters, made by Bell.

This is part of a wider deal discussed during US Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s trip to Islamabad on Sept. 17.

Cloughley, however, does not believe Pakistan will be tempted.

“I do not think that Pakistan would be tempted to ditch the T-129 deal if there were an offer of Vipers. There might be a good deal proposed by the US, but operating costs are high and would [argue] against acceptance. Further, and probably more significant, there is decided and most strong opposition in Pakistan to further deals with the US.”

Concerns Mount Over Turk-China Defense System

The FD-2000 export variant of the HQ-9 at the Zhuhai Air Show. (Wendell Minnick)

ANKARA — A Turkish decision to commission a Chinese company to build Turkey’s first long-range air and missile defense shield presents any number of challenges to Turkey’s Western allies, both politically and militarily, defense analysts and Western diplomats said.

“How could Turkey, protected by NATO assets, ignore the alliance’s concerns and opt for an air defense system to be built by a non-friendly country?” asked a NATO defense attaché in Ankara.

Turkey announced on Sept. 26 that it awarded the initially $4 billion contract for the air defense architecture to China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp. (CPMIEC), maker of the HQ-9 system.

CPMIEC defeated a US partnership of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, offering the Patriot air defense system; Russia’s Rosoboronexport, marketing the S-300; and the Italian-French consortium Eurosam, maker of the Surface-to-Air-Missile Platform/Terrain Aster 30. Industry sources say the Chinese proposal would cost Turkey $3 billion to $3.5 billion, although officials did not confirm the price.

In February, the United States announced sanctions on CPMIEC for violations of the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act.

The Turkish program consists of radar, launcher and intercept missiles. It has been designed to counter both enemy aircraft and missiles. Turkey has no long-range air defense system.

A Turkish procurement official admitted that Ankara does not fully know at this stage what level of integration it could achieve between the planned air defense system and the NATO and national assets the country possesses. “We will be striving to make this a national system, not a Chinese one, although we will use Chinese technology,” he said. He did not comment on whether the proposed system could be integrated into the NATO assets stationed in Turkey.

But experts, analysts and officials say integration with NATO assets is unlikely. “NATO has the technical capabilities to isolate the Turkish air defense architecture by denying Ankara the interface data necessary for any integration,” a Western defense official said.

A London-based Turkey specialist said Turkey would most likely end up having a standalone system. “[NATO] member nations will refuse any cooperation with Turkey for the integration of the Chinese system into the alliance’s assets deployed in Turkey. This will leave the eventual Turkish architecture in a senseless standalone position,” he said.

About half of Turkey’s network-based air defense picture has been paid for by NATO. They are part of the NATO Air Defense Ground Environment. Without NATO’s consent, it will be impossible for Turkey to make the planned system operate with these assets.

To defend against missile threats, Turkey needs satellite and dedicated ballistic-missile detection and tracking radar, like the NATO radar deployed last year in Kurecik, in southeastern Turkey.

For the anti-aircraft component, Turkey needs an overall picture for data fusion. The Patriot system, for instance, can detect threats with its own radar. So does the Chinese system. But without integrating into a full air picture, the Chinese system could not work efficiently, analysts said.

“Abstracting the air defense system from NATO assets would mean that Turkey will lose half of its radar capabilities,” said one defense analyst here. He said Turkey would need interface data to make its own air defense architecture interoperable with NATO assets, primarily data on the identify friend or foe system. “This is top secret and cannot be installed into any Chinese system,” the analyst said.

The Turkish move also is viewed as a political challenge to the country’s Western allies.

“This is clearly a nod to the SCO [Shanghai Security Cooperation],” a European and NATO ambassador here said. “And a powerful message to [Turkey’s] NATO allies… that Turkey may no longer be the staunch ally it used to be.”

The SCO member states are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Turkey in 2012 won the dialogue partner status at the SCO. This year, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would seek membership in SCO, an organization often viewed as a rival to NATO.

But some analysts say awarding the contract to CPMIEC does not mean it will take effect and Turkey will eventually build a system based on Chinese technology.

“At the moment, the average contract negotiation time in the Turkish procurement system [after a winner has been announced] is about two years,” a source said. “And there have been several negotiations ending up in failure before a contract was signed. Even after signing a contract, some programs have failed to materialize. This is a possibility for this one, too.”

Airbus Delivers First A400M Military Transport Plane

SEVILLE, Spain — After years of delays and huge cost overruns, Airbus on Sept. 30 delivered its first A400M military transport plane, handing over the huge turboprop to France.

The pan-European aircraft maker hopes the official handover ceremony at the Airbus Military plant in Seville will launch strong sales to air forces worldwide following a difficult birth.

"It is an extremely high-performance aircraft and I am quite proud that France is number one for delivery," French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said at a handover ceremony also attended by Spain's Prince Felipe.

Already, though, there are concerns about orders for the plane.

The French minister, who was returning to a military base in Orleans aboard the plane after the ceremony, said France still planned to take 50 of the A400M aircraft, which has propellers more than 5 meters (16 feet) long.

But the minister, who celebrated the A400M as a "technological feat," said France would take only 15 planes "right now" in its 2014-19 supply program currently being debated in parliament.

Originally, France had agreed to take 35 planes up front, and it will likely have to negotiate the downsized schedule to avoid penalties.

But France's minister described the change in plane orders as a minor correction with final objectives remaining the same.

Airbus parent EADS has expressed concern that any decision by France to ax orders could lead other nations such as Spain and Germany to do the same, squeezing the entire program.

It took 10 years to bring the A400M to the skies in one of the European military industry's most ambitious projects, backed by seven partners: NATO members Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg Spain and Turkey.

The project was dogged by delays and broken budgets as developers struggled with the complex engine and the divergent requirements of client nations.

Finally, four years late and 6.2 billion euros ($8.3 billion), or 30 percent, over budget, Tom Enders, chief executive of Airbus owner EADS, officially handed over the revolutionary aircraft to France, its first client, though the plane was actually ready Aug. 1.

Designed at the request of European chiefs of staff after the first Gulf War of 1991, which exposed the need for such a plane, the A400M is a multitask military airlifter.

"It will transform the way military operations work," Ian Elliott, vice president of Airbus Military, told AFP.

"For the first time ever, it will allow combat delivery in the point of need," he added.

Equipped with four turboprops, it can transport up to 37 tons including armor or helicopters over a distance of 3,300 kilometers (2,050 miles) but also land on unprepared terrain such as sand.

"I have flown about six or seven times and it's fantastic," Elliott said, touting the comfort in the cabin, modelled on that of the Airbus double-decker superjumbo A380, and other assets such as its quietness and its seats, developed with the advice of paratroopers.

The A400M will be the sole plane on the market to challenge the US-made Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules, which has a capacity of 20 tons and was designed more than 50 years ago.

Its other rival, the C-17 Globemaster, which can lift 76 tons, will exit production from 2015, US manufacturer Boeing announced recently.

Within a month, France will receive its second A400M and Turkey its first.

A third plane is scheduled to be delivered to France by the end of this year.

Airbus Military aims to export 400 A400M planes in the next 30 years, beyond the 174 already ordered in Europe and Malaysia. Germany has ordered 53, France 50, Spain 27 and Britain 22. The manufacturer will assemble 10 planes next year, and then about 30 a year.

Airbus Military is targeting the Gulf and the Asia-Pacific region, where several countries are renewing fleets.

The reaction of French and British air forces will be key, said Elliott.

"The French Airforce and the Royal Air Force have a great credibility all over the world so if they are really happy about it, their opinion will matter," he said.

"We are already talking to many US military officials," Elliott said, adding that the aircraft would also be "perfect" for humanitarian operations.

Latest IRGC UAV, Shahed-129 became operational

Turkey Could Face Huge Fighter Bill

Turkish ambitions to develop and build the first ever made-in-Turkey fighter aircraft and at the same time buy a new generation, multinational combat jet may go beyond Turkey's financing capacity, industry sources and experts said.

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Italy, Norway Jets Part of $3.4B F-35 Deal

The Pentagon awarded Lockheed Martin a $3.4 billion contract for 35 F-35 joint strike fighters, a contract that includes the first aircraft orders for Italy and Norway.

Sweden seeks more BvS10s

       

Sweden is looking to purchase around 100 more BvS10 Mk IIB vehicles to add to the 48 vehicles across four variants it has already ordered. Source: BAE Systems

Sweden is looking to purchase around 100 more BAE Systems BvS10 Mk IIB all-terrain vehicles, Swedish Defence Minister Karin Enstrom has stated.

Enstrom made the call on 24 September in a local newspaper article, although no formal request to that effect is understood to have been made to contractor BAE Systems.

Sweden ordered 48 BvS10s across four variants after selecting the vehicle in a competitive tender in January 2012. The initial order, worth SEK700 million (USD109 million) also include options for a further 127 vehicles across three batches.

Enstrom stated that Sweden wanted "approximately 100" more BvS10s, with a BAE Systems spokesperson telling IHS Jane's on 26 September that "we intend to start that discussion [around the number of vehicles] now and foresee that the deliveries will be 2014-16".

BAE Systems expects that Sweden will ask "for a mix of variants" in the new order, although these will be the same as from the initial order (armoured personnel carrier; command & control; logistics; and ambulance) and "not any completely new variants".

Deliveries of the original 48 BvS10s are ongoing and set to be completed in the second quarter (Q2) of 2014 - a delay from the original completion date of November 2013. According to BAE Systems, there have "been some minor changes technically and therefore a new timeplan", adding that this was "fully agreed with the Swedish customer … [and] they now are going for new batch".

Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (TAI, Ankara, Turkey), a major international F-35 Lightning II supplier to Northrop Grumman Corp. (El Segundo, Calif., USA), reported on March 22 that it has delivered its first composite production air inlet duct for the jet.

The delivery of the all-composite duct, a major structural element of the F-35′s center fuselage, will support Northrop Grumman’s production of F-35 center fuselages for conventional takeoff and landing variants of the fighter jet at Northrop Grumman’s aerospace production facility in Palmdale, Calif.

“This delivery reflects the growing maturity of TAI’s composite fiber-placed manufacturing processes, and the steady evolution of its role as a second source supplier of center fuselages for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program,” said Mark Tucker, vice president and F-35 program manager for Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector.

TAI produced the air inlet duct at its composites manufacturing facility in Ankara, Turkey, as part of a five-year, $28.4 million contract awarded to the company in September 2009 by Northrop Grumman.

“The delivery of this first production duct represents the successful culmination of a training process for TAI that began in El Segundo approximately two years ago,” said David Dominguez, manufacturing engineering lead for international production for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. “Over the course of that instruction, TAI’s engineers and manufacturing specialists have grown from having limited knowledge of composites manufacturing processes to now being able to produce large, complex, high-precision parts for one of the most advanced weapon systems in the world.”

According to Dominguez, TAI training included classroom and hands-on work to teach employees how to fabricate an F-35 inlet duct from start to finish. The training was conducted at Northrop Grumman’s Advanced Composites Center in El Segundo.

TAI is a second source supplier of F-35 air inlet ducts and center fuselages to Northrop Grumman. The company is slated to produce inlet ducts to support both the current production of center fuselages on Northrop Grumman’s F-35 assembly line in Palmdale, Calif., and the 400 complete center fuselages that it will produce in Turkey.
Deliveries of the TAI-produced center fuselages are scheduled to begin in 2013, as part the F-35 program’s fifth phase of low-rate initial production.

Northrop Grumman is responsible for designing and producing the center fuselage for all three variants of the F-35.

Pakistan Soon To Get J-10 Fighters

PAF J-10 Model

n February 2, Iran unveiled an advanced home-made aircraft, named Qaher 313, in a ceremony attended by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 

Addressing a group of Iranian soldiers on Tuesday, Deputy Defense Minister General Majid Bokayee pointed to the confused remarks made by the US military analysts about the features and specifications of the aircraft, and said that enemies claimed the aircraft is just a paper model but later they said that it is an aircraft designed by the Islamic Republic for anti-chopper missions. 

"That was the Americans' analysis, but we bravely declare that Qaher, (designed and developed) at a cost of $2 to 3 million, is a Basiji (volunteer) aircraft to protect the Persian Gulf," Bokayee noted. 

In February, the aircraft's project manager told FNA that Qaher 313 has a "unique" structure and will be armed with home-made weapons and equipments in the future, adding that it enjoys such capabilities which will stun the enemies in battlefield. 

"The new aircraft has a unique face in terms of shape and structure and its design is unique in the world," Managing-Director of Iran's Aviation Industries Company Hassan Parvaneh said at the time. 

He added that the aircraft's broken wing design has gifted it the ability to fly in different low, mid and high altitudes. 

"Of course, the specific capability of Qaher is its capability of flying at low altitudes and that is a capability seen in no other similar aircraft." 

India to order large number of Javelin anti-tank missiles from US

India to order large number of Javelin anti-tank missiles from US

EW DELHI: Faced with a huge shortfall of anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), coupled with the delayed induction of the indigenous `Nag' missile, India will order a "large'' number of the quite-expensive Javelin ATGM systems from the US. 

The deal for the man-portable, fire-and-forget Javelin ATGM systems will once again be a direct government-to-government one under the American foreign military sales (FMS) programme, without any global multi-vendor competition. 

Much to the dismay of Russians and Europeans, India is increasingly taking the FMS route to ink big arms deals with US. The biggest on the verge of finalisation, of course, is for 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giant strategic airlift for upwards of $3 billion.

As for the Javelin contract, defence minister A K Antony told Parliament on Monday the "letter of request'' to US government for procurement of the third-generation ATGM, along with "transfer of technology'', would be issued soon.

This means India will buy some of the 2.5-km range Javelin systems off-the-shelf, while a much larger number will be indigenously manufactured under licensed production. The US has already showcased the ATGM system during bilateral combat exercises like `Yudh-Abhyas' in Babina last October, as reported earlier.

While the exact number of Javelin systems India will induct is yet to be decided, it could well run into thousands. The Army, after all, has a shortfall of around 44,000 ATGMs of different types. "Though Army has an authorised holding of 81,206 ATGMs, not even half that number is present in its inventory,'' said a source.

This when Pakistan is inducting a wide array of missiles, including 2,769 TOW-2A heavy anti-armour guided missiles from US. Mechanised as well as regular infantry units armed with advanced ATGM systems are deemed critical to slow down, if not halt, enemy armoured thrusts into one's territory.

Indian infantry units are as of now equipped with variants of the second-generation 2-km-range Milan and 4-km-range Konkurs ATGMs, produced by defence PSU Bharat Dynamics Ltd under licence from French and Russian companies.

As for the third-generation Nag ATGM, with a 4-km strike range, Army has placed an initial order for 443 missiles and 13 Namicas (Nag missile tracked carriers). After 20 years of development, the Nag is only now getting ready to enter the production/induction phase.

The urgency about the fast-dwindling ATGM stock can be gauged from the fact that Army has ordered 4,100 "advanced'' Milan-2T missiles, with "tandem warheads'', as well as 15,000 Konkurs-M missiles over the last couple of years.

CM-400AKG Becomes Pakistan's Hypersonic "Carrier Killer Missile "

CM-400AKG Becomes Pakistan's Hypersonic "Carrier Killer Missile "

CM-400AKG Hypersonic Carrier Killer Missile

China has developed a hypersonic Aircraft carrier killer missile and has been deployed by the Pakistan's  PAF.

The missile has been described as the PAF’s Hypersonic ‘Carrier Killer Missile’

Pakistan has deployed a new hypersonic long-range air-launched missile that officials in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) have described as “a hypersonic aircraft carrier killer missile”.

The CM-400AKG is a Mach 4 plus-capable air-to-surface weapon developed in China and now in service with JF-17 fighter aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force. The weapon, designated CM-400AKG, was designed and developed in China by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) and was revealed at Airshow China 2012, held in Zhuhai in November.

The CM-400AKG is now part of the operational weapon set of the PAF’s JF-17 Thunder multirole fighter. “This is a mature weapon that has been fully tested. It is not conceptual. It is in service,” Air Commodore Mahmood Khalid, PAF JF-17 Deputy Project Director stated. “The CM-400AKG is a very high-speed missile that is very tough to intercept. It hits the target at Mach 4 or above and its kinetic impact alone is enough to destroy any high-value target, like an aircraft carrier.”

The CM-400AKG first appeared, briefly, in public at last year’s Dubai Airshow, when a placard for the weapon was placed alongside a PAF JF-17 – and then removed. The weapon itself was not shown. At the time PAF personnel acknowledged it was a new Chinese-built air-to-surface stand-off missile. However, the initial assumption that it was a derivative of the C-802 anti-ship missile has proved to be very wide

Top 5 Fighter Planes Under Development

Top 5 Fighter Planes Under Development

F-35: 

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of fifth-generation, single-seat, single-engine stealth multirole fighters. After entering service it would be considered as the  most advanced fighter aircraft in the world, performing ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions.

The F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), integrates advanced very low observable stealth into a supersonic, highly agile 5th generation fighter. The capabilities built into the F-35 Lightning II provide the pilot with unprecedented situational awareness and unmatched lethality and survivability.

Some of its salient features are :
- Dominates all adversaries in the air or on the surface.
- Has the ability to survive and prosecute the most formidable threats expected to emerge beyond 2020.
- Conducts air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions simultaneously.
- Incorporates the most powerful and comprehensive sensor and mission avionics package ever to fly in a fighter.

Sukhoi’s T-50  PAK FA:

The Sukhoi PAK FA is a fifth-generation jet fighter being developed by Sukhoi for the Russian Air Force.The current prototype is Sukhoi’s T-50. The PAK FA, when fully developed, is intended to replace the MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-27 Flanker in the Russian inventory and serve as the basis of the Sukhoi/HAL FGFA project being developed with India. As a  fifth generation jet fighter, it is designed to directly compete with Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II. The T-50 performed its first flight January 29, 2010.Its second flight was on February 6 and its third on February 12. As of August 31, 2010, it made 17 flights in total.Sukhoi director Mikhail Pogosyan has projected a market for 1,000 aircraft over the next four decades, which will be produced in a joint venture with India, two hundred each for Russia and India and six hundred for other countries.He has also said that the Indian contribution would be in the form of joint work under the current agreement rather than as a joint venture. The Indian Air Force will “acquire 50 single-seater fighters of the Russian version” before the two seat FGFA is developed. The Russian Defense Ministry will purchase the first ten aircraft after 2012 and then 60 after 2016.

Medium Combat Aircraft (MCA):

The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), formerly known as the Medium Combat Aircraft (MCA), is a twin-engined 5th generation stealth multirole fighter being developed by India. It will complement the HAL Tejas, the Sukhoi/HAL FGFA, the Sukhoi Su-30MKI and the yet undecided MRCA in the Indian Air Force. The main purpose of this aircraft is to replace the aging SEPECAT Jaguar & Dassault Mirage 2000. The Medium Combat Aircraft [MCA] is envisioned as a replacement for the British Jaguar and Mirage 2000 the IAF flies, which as of 2002 were to be phased out by 2015. Development costs were expected to be over US $2 billion. At that time, India’s DRDO intended to develop a stealth Medium Combat Aircraft, a further extension of its LCA design, in order to replace the Jaguar and Mirage inventory beginning around 2010.The MCA designers plan to pursue technologies superior to anything currently on offer. India’s aeronautical designers see the MCA programme as crucial for taking forward the expertise that has been painstakingly accumulated in the Tejas LCA programme.

J-XX Stealth Fighter:

China has already launched its next generation stealth fighter aircraft programme, and Shenyang Aircraft Industry Co. (SAC) has been selected to head research and development of a new fighter for the PLA Air Force (PLAAF). According to the reports, development of the subsystems including the engine and weapon suite for the next generation fighter, which was code named by the Western intelligence as J-XX, has been underway for some time. Images of the concepts show a twin-engine aircraft sharing some design traits with Lockheed Martin’s stealth F/A-22 “Raptor” multirole fighter such as the internal carriage of its weapons.

Not too much public information about the programme is available at the moment. Sources within China’s confirmed that the SAC is looking at a twin-engine, single-seat, single vertical tale fin design, but other design proposals has yet been ruled out.  As China has developed close ties with Russia’s aerospace industry and has license produced many planes of formal Soviet designs, it can be predicted that the J-XX would include some, if not many Russian technologies and designs. China has been offered a ‘joint development and production’ of a new fifth-generation fighter by Russia -LFI. Russia has been trying to sell this concept both to China and India for some time, but neither of them has committed fully yet. Stealth and thrust vectoring are two must-have features in all aircraft being designed in the 21st century. It is not clear that how much progress Chinese designers have made in these areas, and Chinese aircraft industry may have to take Western/Israeli/Russian helps to make the J-XX truly fouth-generation (or fifth-generation using the Russian standards). Once introduced, the J-12′s immediate rival will be U.S. F/A-22, JSF and India’s MCA (Medium Combat Aircraft).

JASDF Stealth Fighter ATD-X:

JASDF (Japan Air Self-Defense Forces) planners have been attempting to acquire the American F-22 Raptor jet fighter to replace their current F-15 Eagle fighter planes. The F-22 Raptor is packed with the latest avionics and stealth technology but its high tech features have the Pentagon concerned about security leaks. Even though the United States would lose out financially by not selling Japan the F-22, security issues are front & center these days and Japan is now looking to its own aircraft designers to provide a home-grown solution.

The Mitsubishi ATD-X Shinshin is a Japanese aircraft being developed by the Ministry of Defense Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI) for research purposes. ATD-X is an acronym which represents “Advanced Technology Demonstrator – X”. The main contractor is Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. This aircraft will be used as a technology demonstrator and research prototype to determine whether domestic advanced technologies for a fifth generation fighter aircraft are viable. The aircraft’s first flight is scheduled for 2014. The design of the aircraft reflects those of several American fourth and fifth generation fighters, most notably the F-22. Japan is set to develop its own next-generation stealth fighter jets to reduce its dependence on foreign technology and counter similar moves by China and Russia.

China Stealth Heli!!!

Here is what the US experts have to say:
"One aircraft concept that caught the attention of reporters was a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft -- China's answer to the United States' developmental F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. A model of the aircraft, which was on display at the show, appears to incorporate some aspects of stealth technology."

J-20

The J-20 #2001 prototype was photographed when it was preparing for high-speed taxi trial at the CAC airfield in late December 2010, wearing a distinctive dark green color scheme (RAM coating applied?). The prototype features a pair of all-moving tailfins and Russian 1.44 style ventral stabilizing fins, which shield the engine nozzles but might increase RCS. 

It also features an F-22 style forward fuselage, including Caret intakes but with DSI bumps installed at the upper inner corners, as well as a one-piece frameless canopy. However the canards appear to extend slightly above the plane of the main wings and there are four large underwing actuator fairings which might not be stealth optimized. First disclosed by US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) in 1997 as XXJ, J-20 is the 4th generation multi-role fighter to enter the service between 2015 and 2018. Since 90s both CAC/611 Institute and SAC/601 Institute had been working their own designs for a twin-engine multi-role heavy fighter with stealth capability and maneuverability comparable to American F-22.



It was speculated that 601 Institute was working on a "tri-plane" design (J-18?) based on canard/conventional layout/V-shape tailfin while 611 Institute working on a design based on canard/tailless delta wing/all moving V-shape tailfin/lateral DSI/bump inlet layout. All designs were expected to feature an internal weapon bay to reduce RCS, which has been speculated to be <0.05m2 (head-on). J-20 also incorporates an advanced FBW system fully integrated with the fire-control and the engine systems. Its fire-control radar is expected to be AESA (Type 1475/KLJ5?). The aircraft may feature a "pure" glass cockpit (a single F-35 style color LCD display and a wide-angle holographic HUD).

Many of these subsystems have been tested onboard J-10B to speed up the development (see above). The exact type of engine powering J-20 prototypes is unclear, even though a Russian turbofan engine such as 117S or 99M2 (14t class) or D-30F6 (15t class) with an axisymmetric TVC nozzle has been speculated. It was reported in November 2006 that a T/W=10 17t class turbofan (WS-15/"large thrust") is being developed and will eventually power J-20. Russian assistance was also speculated in terms of software support for calculating the RCS of various designs. The overall performance of J-20 is thought to be superior to that of Russian T-50 (maneuverability & supercruise) but still inferior to that of American F-22 (electronics & supercruise). In August 2008 it was reported that 611 Institute was selected to be the main contractor for the development of J-20 and 601 Institute as the sub-contractor. Subsequently a full-scale metal mockup was built at CAC. 



One rumor in May 2010 claimed that 611 Institute started to construct the first prototype, which was expected to fly by the end of 2010, even though the full configuration model won't fly until a few years later. Currently two prototypes (#2001 & 2002) have been constructed and the first high-speed taxi trial by 2001 took place on December 22, 2010. 

 

Chinese air force for new UAV

During the Airshow China here at Zhuhai, Avic Defense and one of the country's aeronautics academic institutions, launched a competition with the Chinese air force for new UAV designs. The prize is to be awarded next year and to spur some innovative thinking.

On one of the Chinese CD handouts were a couple of concept drawings. Where they are from or what they represent is unclear, but they are nonetheless entertaining.

And with China already working on its J-10 follow-on, here's some fodder for speculation (the airframe, below, actually looks very little like what China's 5th Gen Fighter is believed to look like, let's just call it the 6th Gen concept.

here,
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