Author: Zonghengshi Source: Flower City (ID: hqsycn)
On February 16, Japan’s Nikkei Shimbun reported a message to the effect that by the end of 2022, China had about 150 J20s, more J20s could be launched into the air than F22, and the number of J20s owned by China would exceed that of F22 of the United States in 2023.
The question of the number of J20 must be a secret. We don’t know how Nikkei Shimbun learned it. If the news is true, it means that the world’s sky pattern is undergoing major changes.
First, let’s see if the message is credible.
It is 12 years since J20 first flew on January 11, 2011. On March 9, 2017, China Central Television reported that the J-20 fighter plane officially entered the air force sequence, that is, officially entered service.
In the six years from the first flight to service, many verification aircraft and prototypes have been produced. Whether they have combat effectiveness or not will not be included. Just say that in the six years from 2017 to 2022, one assembly line will produce more than 10 units a year, and two lines will produce 30 or 20 units a year. It is possible to produce about 150 units in six years.
F22 has produced a total of 195, including 8 testing machines and 187 standard models. Later, due to some damage, there are only 183 left. Due to the suspension of production for more than 20 years, many parts have been unable to find suppliers. It is said that the integrity rate of F22 is very low, and only 123 have combat effectiveness.
Even if it is fully staffed, 183 aircraft can fly and all have combat effectiveness. J20 has reached more than 150 in 2022. It is possible to regenerate 30 or 20 aircraft this year, reaching about 180.
Therefore, the information reported by the Nikkei Shimbun has certain credibility.
Secondly, compare the quantity and quality of J20 and F22
In terms of quantity, it has been explained above that it is possible to reach or exceed the level of F22 in this year. After all, F22 has been out of production for more than 20 years, while J20 in China is running at full capacity.
In terms of quality, F22 is also a technology 20 or 30 years ago, while J20 is a product in the new era, and it is likely to have surpassed F22.
F22 Why not produce it? Earlier, it was because the United States believed that F22 could not find an opponent in the next thirty or fifty years. The production of 195 fighter planes with generation difference was enough to absolutely suppress China, Russia and Iraq. It was a waste to produce more.
But then it didn’t happen that way.
At present, many experts say that the United States does not produce F22 because it costs a lot of money to restart the production line, which costs tens of billions. In fact, that’s not the case. If F22 is still a fighter with absolute force, let alone spend 10 billion dollars, even if it spends 20 billion and 30 billion dollars, the United States will not blink. With a wave of its hand, it casually gave Ukraine tens of billions of dollars. What is this money.
What really made the United States decide to continue to stop production of F22 is probably that the technology of F22 is no longer dominant, or even backward, and it is no longer meaningful to restart production. It is better to use the money to restart production to develop the six-generation machine.
In other words, the performance of J20 is likely to surpass that of F22. The WS-10 has shown strong performance. In the future, if the J20 is replaced with the special engine WS-15, its performance will comprehensively surpass the F22.
? J20 video screenshot
It is probably for this reason that the United States has transferred part of its technology to South Korea, which has produced a simplified version of F22 – KF21.
Third, how will the United States go in the future?
One is to focus on cultivating F35. In recent years, it is obvious that the United States is lighter than F22 and heavier than F35.
F35 is actually a low-configuration version of F22. It can’t even carry out supersonic cruise, and its range is very poor. Its advantages are informatization and node, and it becomes an air information node.
However, J20 also has all these things of F35. J20 can do anything, whether it is informatization, node, intelligence, or carrying drones.
The other is to bet on the six-generation machine. If the United States can make the six-generation machine first and form a generation gap, it is also good.
However, China’s jet aircraft has already flown, the key technology of hypersonic fighter has broken through, and the tailless flying wing fighter has also done well. In addition to artificial intelligence, high stealth, unmanned drone and other technologies, this is likely to be the next generation of aircraft.
Once the six-generation aircraft of China and the United States come out at the same time, the plan of the United States to use the generation difference to widen the air gap will be difficult to achieve.
In general, the air power of the United States is still the first in the world. However, China’s fourth-generation heavy fighters have exceeded the total of NATO and Japan and South Korea. With nearly 200 fifth-generation aircraft in the array, the United States’ air superiority in the Asia-Pacific region has ceased and the world’s air space is changing.
This is of great significance to our future recovery of the Taiwan Sea and the Diaoyu Islands, the maintenance of the South China Sea, and the complete breakout of the first island chain.