In fact, everyone knows that the J-12 was not mass-produced, nor did it really enter service with the Air Force, and only 5 prototypes produced were complete. But the appearance rate of the J-12 is quite high, because the only national aviation museum in China made 1 J-12 a symbol and supported it.
This J-12 has been clubbed here since the opening of the Air Expo, because it is too small, it has always been considered a large model by some tourists, and it is often seen that there are commentators and little female soldiers who try their best to explain to tourists. Because the Hangbo also has another J-12 in its collection, but it is these two that are different in appearance. The most obvious thing is that the middle of the air inlet of this frame stored in the room is a vertical partition, and the frame that is propped up, there is obviously an adjustment cone in the middle of the air intake, which at least means that the air intake conditions of this frame have been further improved, but these are not easy for the narrator to explain clearly.
This has to go back to those "unbearable" days. It can be seen from the number of J-12 that before it, at least until the J-11 of these numbers were occupied, but in addition to the imitation J-7 and semi-imitation J-8, the rest have been repeatedly demonstrated, in this case J-12 can make a few prototypes, which can be said to be quite successful, in fact, there is a number behind the J-12 is also occupied, this is left to the back to talk slowly. Some people say that the J-12 is a single-engine reduced version of the J-6, in fact, discerning people know at a glance that the J-12 is only half of the number of engines than the J-6, in fact, the two have little to do with each other, and it is much less than the strong -5 with air intake on both sides.
To put it mildly, in fact, the J-12 may have absorbed some of the J-7 MiG-21 technology. The layout of the nose intake + auxiliary intake valves on both sides, plus the two guns at the lower part of the nose, is almost exactly the same as the J-7 prototype, and the later improvement also added the same adjustment cone, of course, the size has been reduced, and the position has also changed, in addition, the J-12 uses a large sweep angle of the lower wing, and the outside of the wing is slightly reversed, which should also be to improve the needs of maneuverability, install 1 turbojet-6, which can take off and land on the dirt runway.
To be honest, judging from the design goals at the beginning, the J-12 has actually been basically successful. By reducing the size of the fuselage, reducing the weight of the structure and other measures to achieve the original intention of improving mobility, to the final stop of development, the J-12 in the test flight maximum flight Mach number close to 14. The practical ceiling exceeds 17,000 meters, which exceeds the J-6, and many performance indicators related to maneuverability have also been significantly improved, and some even exceed the "Phantom" F1 at that time.
High maneuverability was actually the mainstream direction of military aircraft development in the world at that time, which was not invisible to the domestic design department and the use department at that time, and what was required at that time was small and lightweight, rapid development, easy mass production, highlighting medium and low altitude performance, maneuverability and ground adaptability, so that "it can fly at any time, can fight everywhere, and can take off and land on the highway." Therefore, at this point, the J-12 fits the mainstream. But in terms of specific solutions, it is okay to say that there is a different style, and it may be more appropriate to say that there is helplessness.
The first batch of three prototypes of the J-12 was produced, and the first test flight was successful on December 26, 1970. At the beginning, the total weight of the aircraft was envisaged was about 4 tons, and the maximum Mach number was 15. Although the performance is not fully up to standard, it has been greatly improved compared with previous aircraft, such as the take-off distance of less than 500 meters, far better than the most advanced J-7 at that time, so it was ready to be put into production, but the design team wanted to keep improving, but also wanted to further improve, so that although the performance was improved, the time was delayed, and the first flight of the improved one was successful on July 1, 1975. This is actually the reason why the two aircraft in the aviation museum are different: the indoor one is an early one, and the one erected outdoors is a later improvement.
You have to dig a little deeper here, the earliest prototype airspeed tube of the J-12 was above the nose, and later changed to the bottom, this change is exactly the opposite of the J-7, I don't know how it was considered at the time?And the one that was erected in the airway, although the middle of the air intake is an adjustment cone, which is said to be a late type, but the airspeed tube is still above, and I don't know what happened in the middle......Because some other details are not very good-looking from the **, so it can't be identified, Merlin thinks that the one outside may be some kind of intermediate transitional state, which friend can leave a word if he knows.
Unlike other countries by optimizing the aerodynamic layout of the aircraft, using high-thrust engines, improving on-board electronic equipment, strengthening airborne ** and other measures, the J-12 is more like taking the "zero" road, because there is no suitable engine, so it has to achieve the goal of improving maneuverability at medium and low altitudes by reducing weight and low configuration. At this point, some people should say "power bricks fly", this statement is actually very biased, Merlin does not agree, if it is really a joke to say it, but it is not good for many people to take it as the truth. Aircraft design is a very large comprehensive system engineering, and engine performance does play a very important role in the overall performance of the aircraft, but it is not the only one, because there is no aerodynamic design and even an aircraft is not ......At least, Lu Lao can lead the team to achieve a thrust-to-weight ratio close to 1 with 1 turbojet six engine, which is not good for design, I'm afraid no one can say. Of course, if there is a better engine, then the result will definitely be another matter, and we don't have ......
In fact, the most fatal defect of the J-12 is the lack of equipment and ** payload capacity, which is of course limited by the airframe. There is not much space inside the J-12 for airborne equipment, and the airborne radar is not to be discussedThe small load capacity of the fuselage is also not good, although there are also 3 hardpoints under the fuselage and wings, but the air-to-air missiles have to be avoided, so it is conceivable how strong the air combat capability of the J-12 is. It's also because it's too small, and there's no room for further improvement, the equipment still can't be added, the engine can't be replaced with a better one, and it has to be changed if it's hard stuffed in, but it's not a J-12.
It is said that China's Type 89 heavy machine gun inadvertently made the world's lightest heavy machine gun, in fact, the J-12 also inadvertently won the title of "the world's smallest and lightest supersonic fighter", but the outcome of the two is far from the same.