With the rapid development of military science and technology, the emergence of fifth-generation fighters has made the struggle for air supremacy extremely fierce, and various countries are vying to invest in the research and development of fifth-generation fighters.
There is no doubt that China, the United States and Russia are at the forefront of the world in this regard, and have successfully realized the installation of fifth-generation aircraft. However, in the field of flight distance, there is a gap between the fighters of the three countries. The fifth-generation fighter of the United States has a range of up to 3,000 kilometers, while the Russian fighter has a range of 4,300 kilometers, while the Chinese fifth-generation fighter is considered the strongest in its class.
The United States can be said to be the first country in the world to develop a fifth-generation aircraft, and it is also the first country to put forward the concept of fifth-generation aircraft, and currently has two fifth-generation aircraft, namely the F-22 and F-35.
The F-22, codenamed Raptor and is the first single-seat twin-engine high-performance fifth-generation fighter in the United States, and the first fifth-generation fighter in service in the world. This aircraft was jointly built by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, and entered service with the US Air Force at the beginning of the 21st century, replacing the F-15 fighter and becoming the main equipment of the US Air Force.
The F-22 is best-in-class in terms of stealth, agility, accuracy and situational awareness, and its air-to-air and air-to-ground combat capabilities are also excellent. There is no doubt that the F-22 is one of the best all-round fighters in the world today.
According to data published by the United States, the F-22 fuselage is 189 meters, height 508 m, empty weight 197 tons, the maximum take-off weight is 38 tons, the maximum flight speed is 2Mach 25. The F-22 has a combat radius of 759 kilometers and a range of nearly 3,000 kilometers, specifically 2,963 kilometers.
The F-22 has a conventional aerodynamic layout with a cambered twin tail and has four external hardpoints, two built-in bomb bays, and a bomb load of 2,270 kg. It can carry 6 AIM-120 and 2 AIM-9 missiles for air-to-air combat, or carry 2 GBU-32 joint direct attack ammunition, 2 wind deviation correction ammunition spreaders for air-to-ground strikes, and can also mount 8 GBU-39 small-diameter bombs and other ** equipment according to demand.
However, despite the F-22's powerful performance, the United States has not continued to produce it, and there are many reasons behind this.
First, market demand is limited. The United States imposed an export ban on the F-22 from the beginning, which made the fighter only available to the United States, and the military's demand was relatively limited, which made it impossible for the production line to continue to operate.
Secondly, the manufacturing cost is too high. It is reported that in 2009, the cost of an F-22 was as high as 1$500 million, even as an economic powerhouse, can hardly afford such a high manufacturing cost.
Thirdly, the lack of a clear positioning of the fighters. The delay in the fifth-generation aircraft plans of China and Russia has made the F-22, which came out early, lack a clear combat mission in the air, which has led to a low demand from the United States.
Another American fifth-generation aircraft is the F-35, developed by the American company Lockheed Martin, which is currently the world's largest single-engine, single-seat carrier-based fighter and the only carrier-based fifth-generation fighter in service.
Compared with the F-22, the F-35 has a certain gap in altitude and flight speed, but it can outperform the F-22 in stealth. The stealth design of the F-35 not only reduces the probability of being detected, but also changes the radar reflection and infrared radiation center of the whole aircraft, increasing the probability of the incoming missile missing the target.
According to reports, due to the low technical requirements of the military, the maximum flight speed of the F-35 is only 1Mach 6, supersonic cruising capability is also not high. However, the F-35's maneuverability is not bad, thanks to the sophisticated aerodynamic layout design and advanced flight control computer, the F-35 has superior maneuverability compared to the third-generation fighter.
In terms of range, the F-35 has a maximum range of only 2220 km, which is lower than that of the F-22, and its combat radius is 1081 km, which is 322 km less than the F-22.
Although the F-35 is expected to be one of the major fifth-generation fighters of the United States and its allies in the future, the frequent accidents in recent years have cast a shadow over its future. On July 29, 2022, the U.S. military announced the suspension of all F-35 fighter jets.
Russia is the latest of the three countries to have a fifth-generation aircraft, and the fifth-generation aircraft they have is called Su-57, which is a single-seat twin-engine multi-functional heavy fighter.
The Su-57 was developed from the Russian program "PAK FA", formerly known as the T-50 fighter, and was developed by the Sukhoi Aviation Group, a subsidiary of the United Aviation Manufacturing Corporation of the Russian Federation. On January 29, 2021, the Su-57 was officially put into service with the Russian Air Force, and Russia plans to use the Su-57 to replace the Su-27 fighter jet and compete with the American F-22.
The Su-57 fighter has a maximum take-off weight of 35 tons, which is similar to the American fifth-generation aircraft. Its supersonic cruise speed can reach 1,450 kilometers per hour, the top speed is between 2,140 and 2,600 kilometers per hour, and the combat radius reaches 1,200 kilometers, nearly twice that of the F-22.
It has 4 built-in ** cabins, which can provide a combat load of 6 tons, achieving an excellent combination of flight performance and stealth performance. It has the ability of aerial combat and ground attack, while stealth performance, short take-off and landing distance, super maneuverability, supersonic cruise and other characteristics.
The Su-57 fighter can also carry 10 tons of various types of **, and the Russian side has specially developed more than 10 ** for it, including various types of missiles and aviation-guided bombs, and the most advanced long-range cruise missiles have been equipped with the Su-57.
Its built-in ** cabin accounts for almost 1 3 of the aircraft's capacity and is mainly loaded with long-range and medium-range air-to-air missiles. In combat missions that do not require stealth, the Su-57 can be equipped with smart bombs and missiles. In addition, the Su-57 is armed with a 30-mm GSH-30-1 aviation cannon.
The Su-57 has qualitatively improved avionics, getting rid of some of the "soft underbelly" of Russian-made fighters, and is also equipped with the N036 radar designed by the Tikhmilov Institute, which allows it to detect targets at a distance of 400 kilometers, while simultaneously tracking 30 air targets and launching attacks on 8 of them.
In addition, the Su-57 is equipped with an advanced SH121 radar system and a new radio reconnaissance and countermeasure system, a combination that allows the Su-57 to have a special function, that is, to detect the enemy and jam without turning on the radar and exposing itself.
In terms of range, the Su-57 far exceeds the F-22, with a maximum range of up to 4,300 kilometers, and without refueling, the maximum endurance reaches 5,500 kilometers, and the combat radius also reaches 1,200 kilometers, which is much stronger than the F-22.
Compared with the American F-22 and F-35, the Su-57 also has a major advantage, that is, the relatively low **. Allegedly, the ** of the F-22 and F-35 is the 57 of the Su-25-3 times, while the unit price of the F-22 is about 1$400 million, and the F-35 is around $100 million.
China is the second country after the United States to have a fifth-generation aircraft, and its fifth-generation aircraft is the well-known J-20. The J-20 is a twin-engine heavy fighter with high stealth, high situational awareness, and high maneuverability.
Designed by China's Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute and manufactured by China's Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation, the J-20 is designed to replace the third-generation air superiority multi-role fighters such as the J-10 and J-11 and undertake the task of maintaining the sovereignty of the Chinese Air Force in the air and sea in the future.
On January 11, 2011, the J-20 made its first successful flight in Chengdu. On March 9, 2017, it officially entered the Chinese Air Force sequence, and has been widely deployed in China's eastern, southern, western, northern and other regions, with an increasing number of equipment and a wider range of tasks, providing important support for military training and preparation in the new era.
The J-20 adopts the design of a three-sided wing aircraft, combined with prismatic nose and column large return wave technology, which greatly reduces the radar reflection area, making its stealth ability even better than that of the F-22. It adopts an anti-canard wing layout, which greatly improves the maneuverability in the air, so that the J-20 can quickly adjust the flight attitude in an emergency and take the initiative on the battlefield.
According to published performance data, the fuselage of the J-20 is 212 meters, 469 meters, wingspan 1301 meters, the maximum flight speed reaches 2Mach 0.
In terms of range, the J-20 is far ahead. According to outside speculation, the maximum range of the J-20 can reach 5,500 kilometers, which is much more than the fifth-generation aircraft of the United States and Russia. Its combat radius reaches more than 2,000 kilometers, which makes its combat capability and strategic deterrence quite formidable.
The appearance of the J-20 marks that China has made great progress in the field of aviation technology and occupies an important position on the world aviation industry stage. As an important pillar of China's modernization, the development of the J-20 is of great significance for maintaining regional stability.
The fifth-generation fighters owned by China, the United States, and Russia each represent the latest achievements in the field of military technology in their respective countries. The competition in the performance and technical level of these fighters will have a major impact on the future battlefield and will further shape the pattern of the world's military power balance.
In general, with the continuous innovation of technology and the intensification of military competition, the fifth-generation fighter will play an increasingly important role in future wars and become an indispensable and important part of all strategies.