In the previous article, the author talked to you about a series of stories about the development of China's fighters, such as the J-16 fighters and J-20 fighters of the PLA forces. Today, let's talk about the J-11B fighter. At present, more than 300 J-11B fighters of China's navy and air force have been gradually upgraded to the standard of J-11BG. However, a question arises, why did the J-11BG fighter not cancel the airspeed tube in the nose?Today, we're going to talk about that.
PLA J-10A fighter First of all, let's talk about what is an airspeed tube. The airspeed tube is a device that senses the total pressure (also known as total pressure) and static pressure of the airflow, and transmits the measured pressure data to the air data computer and flight instruments, and the most important function is to measure the flight speed of the aircraft. By the beginning of the 21st century, airspeed tubes were widely used on the main fighters of various countries. For example, China's J-10A, the United States' F15 and F16, Russia's Su-30, France's Mirage 2000 and other fighters generally use airspeed tubes.
Not only *** fighters, but even American F22 fighters, as the fifth-generation main fighters, the early models of F22, also commonly use airspeed tubes. Please note that the airspeed tube is an integral system for the flight of fighters. However, the nose installation of an airspeed tube also brings various negative problems. For fifth-generation fighters, the installation of an airspeed tube in the nose is not conducive to the overall stealth of the fighter.
At the same time, the traditional airspeed tube is generally installed at the front end of the aircraft, and this position is also the most important receiving place for the aircraft radar signal, when the airspeed tube and the aircraft radar work at the same time, the electromagnetic signal emitted by the airspeed tube may seriously affect the aircraft's radar system. Because of similar problems, there have been various accidents with foreign fighters. Therefore, after 2010, in the process of developing a new generation of fighters or improved fighters, countries basically canceled the nose airspeed tube.
For example, the United States' F15EX, F16block72, and FA18E F fighters, China's J-10C, J-16, and J-15B, France's Rafale and other fighters have successively canceled the airspeed tube in the nose. Please note that the mere elimination of the nose airspeed tube is not a complete elimination of the airspeed tube. On the side of the nose, there are generally 4 or 2 embedded air data sensors, which are much smaller than the traditional airspeed tube, also known as the L-shaped airspeed tube.
The American F14 carrier-based aircraft, using the airspeed tube L-shaped airspeed tube, also has the ability to sense the total pressure and static pressure of the airflow, and can transmit data to the computer, and the computer then calculates the flight speed of the aircraft through Bernoulli's formula. At present, the fourth-and-a-half-generation fighters and fifth-generation fighters in various countries in the world are basically of a similar model.
Note that there is no relationship between the nose airspeed tube and the nose phased array radar. It is not the use of airspeed tubes, it is the performance of backward fighters, and in general, the key is the cost of using fighters. With the two latest batches of American F16 fighters, the F16Block72 canceled the nose airspeed tube and used 4 L-shaped airspeed tubes. As for the F16Block70, as the latest batch, the airspeed tube design is still followed.
The American F16 fighter belongs to the fifth-generation fighter of the airspeed tube in the test stage, in order to pursue stability, the airspeed tube will generally be used, such as China's J-20, J-35, the United States' F22, F35, Russia's Su-57, South Korea's KF21 fighter, etc., in the process of flight test finalization, will continue to use the airspeed tube. A question arises, why do China's J-11B series fighters still use airspeed tubes after they are fully upgraded?
We need to talk about the development of China's J-11 series fighters. In the early 90s, in order to improve the comprehensive combat effectiveness and modernization level of the PLA Air Force as soon as possible, China imported more than 70 Su-27 series fighters from Russia in three batches in the 90s. Among them, the Su-27SK fighter is the mainstay. In the 90s, the above-mentioned more than 70 Su-27 fighters belonged to the absolute trump card of the PLA Air Force, equipped with several elite aviation units.
Relying on imported fighters simply could not be equipped in large quantities, therefore, in the late 90s, our country reached an agreement with Russia. In the late 90s, China imported the production line of Su-27 fighters from Russia, and when Russia provided key components, China began to produce its own Su-27 fighters. The localized standard Su-27 fighter is called the J-11A. The J-11A fighter basically belongs to the domestic version of the Su-27 fighter, and the specific improvement is not large.
China is not completely satisfied with the performance of the Su-27 fighter, as of the beginning of the 21st century, China has produced a total of 104 J-11A fighters. Beginning in 2001, our country began the famous J-11B project. For a long time, the situation of the outdated, large and bulky equipment system of the Russian ** equipment system has not been fundamentally solved.
The early model of the American F35 also used airspeed tubes Around 2004 and 2005, China comprehensively replaced, upgraded and improved the radar and avionics systems of the J-11A fighters, such as the use of composite materials in key positions such as wing skin, vertical tail and flat tail. The 1474 pulse Doppler fire control radar was used, capable of simultaneously attacking 2 targets. It adopts a glass cockpit, two-stick control, integrated avionics and composite navigation and positioning system. Due to the use of a large number of composite materials and new processes, the empty weight of the J-11B fighter is reduced by 1 compared with the J-11A fighter5 tons.
The improved production model is known as the J-11B fighter. From the beginning of production in 2007 to the suspension of production in 2015, more than 320 J-11B series fighters were produced in China, which were equipped with the PLA Air Force and Naval Aviation Units. It can be seen that China is still very satisfied with the comprehensive performance of the J-11B fighter.
The PLA J-7 series fighters So, why did the J-11B fighters stop production in 2015?Because after 2016, China began to mass-produce the J-16 fighter, which is one of the peaks of the four and a half generations. In recent years, in the face of the fourth-and-a-half-generation fighters and improved fourth-generation fighters of neighboring countries, the J-11B series fighters have experienced insufficient performance and weakness. After all, the J-11B fighter basically uses various technologies of the early 21st century.
In the past two years, China's substantial upgrading and improvement of the J-11B fighter has begun one after another. After completing the upgrade, the J-11B is called the J-11BG fighter. Compared with the traditional J-11B fighter, the J-11BG fighter adopts the mature technology of the J-16 and J-11D, two four-and-a-half-generation fighters. The new generation of active phased array radar has been replaced, and the reaction speed and detection range have been greatly improved.
The Russian Su-30SM fighter also uses an airspeed tube, and at the same time, it is equipped with a turbofan 10B high-power engine with greater thrust, which has stronger propulsion and a significant increase in the payload capacity of the fighter. It is capable of using various missiles such as Thunderbolt-15, Thunderbolt-10, and Thunderbolt-12, as well as precision-guided munitions such as electronic warfare pods, anti-radiation missiles, and standoff ammunition dispensers. In addition, the integrated avionics system of the J-11BG fighter was completely replaced.
After a comprehensive upgrade, the comprehensive combat level of the J-11BG fighter has reached or approached the level of the fourth-and-a-half-generation fighter. The J-11BG has strengthened its multi-purpose combat capability while ensuring good air superiority combat capability, but its main task is to seize air supremacy. Of course, in terms of ground-to-sea capability, payload capability and attack capability, there is still a certain gap compared with the latest J-16. Note a problem, the mid-term improvement upgrade of the fighter, in any case, does not reach the level of the latest model.
J-11BG fighters, following the use of airspeed tubes such as the United States F16 series fighters, F15 series fighters of various mid-term models, even after various upgrades and improvements (basically the nose airspeed tube is retained, the United States also needs to consider the improvement of the comprehensive cost problem), in any case can not reach the level of F15EX, F16block72. Because in the early stage of the design of the new model, all aspects of the body have been adjusted and improved, and the layout is more suitable. This is an incomparable advantage for fighters that have entered the middle stage of service.
After the J-11BG fighter was fully upgraded, everyone found that the J-11BG fighter was still using the traditional airspeed tube. This is because the J-11BG fighter belongs to the mid-term upgrade and improvement of the fighter, if the fighter is too much changed, the original design of the fuselage and the cost of improvement need to be considered.
The J-11A fighter uses an airspeed tube, and there is not only an airspeed tube on the nose cover. There are also interfaces for a series of equipment such as lightning protection strips, infrared imaging detectors (IRST), communication antennas, etc., which are expensive. The fighter, in the process of upgrading, without the necessary improvements, will definitely not join. Not only the J-11BG, but also the J-10AG fighter that has been comprehensively upgraded in China also follows the layout of the nose airspeed tube. The F16A B fighter in a southeastern province has been fully upgraded to an F16V fighter, and the nose airspeed tube is also used.
The initial model of J-35 uses an airspeed tube As for various newly designed fighters, in the process of design, the nose airspeed tube will basically be canceled. For example, newly designed fighters such as J-10C, J-16, and J-15B all adopt the design of L-shaped airspeed tubes on the side of the nose. Therefore, the use of the nose airspeed tube does not mean that the performance of the fighter is backward, and it is not directly related to the use of a new generation of active phased array radar.
There are many more stories about the development of PLA Air Force fighters in the L-type airspeed tube of fifth-generation aircraft. The author will talk to you slowly in future articles.