It's 2024 now, the F-22 has been in service for 20 years, and the early 30 or so are even going to be retired. Over the past 20 years, the F-22 has received many improvements, but the basic aerodynamic shape has not changed. And although our J-20 has just been in service for 7 years, it has improved even more, and even the aerodynamic shape has been surgical. So, if the two aircraft continue to improve, who is more advanced, the "Ultimate Raptor" or the "Ultimate Veyron"?
Let's start with the avionics system.
The T R component of the J-20 radar is made of gallium nitride, which is a generation ahead of the gallium arsenide of the F-22, but the F-22 will be replaced with the latest gallium nitride radar in the upcoming "medium-term upgrade plan". But since the J-20 has a larger nose diameter and can fit up to 2200 T R components, which exceeds the 2000 of the F-22, in terms of radar potential, the J-20 is larger.
Of course, the performance of the radar depends not only on the front-end components, but also on the back-end information processing system, which depends on the level of the chip. But fortunately, the fighter is not as small and exquisite as the mobile phone, the space is there, and the power is not worried, and the volume and power consumption of the chip are not high. For example, the early F-22 CPU used a 600nm process and only 8 M of memory! Such a poor chip (it was the best in those years), the F-22 was stacked with 6 pieces, and it met the demand. Therefore, the chip advantage of the United States cannot be reflected in fighter jets.
The biggest limitation of the F-22 avionics upgrade is that it is difficult to install an optoelectronic system. In the era of stealth, without an optoelectronic tracking and targeting system (EOTS), the fighter is half blind, because everyone's stealth is not bad, and the distance between F-22 and J-20 is only seventy or eighty kilometers, so it must be supplemented with an optoelectronic system.
The maximum detection range of EOTS for fighter jets is more than 100 kilometers, which can effectively make up for the limitations of radar. In addition, EOTS can also use laser to indicate the target and guide the laser-guided bomb, the F-22 did not have the ability to attack the ground at the beginning, so it suffered the loss of no EOTS, and the small-diameter bomb that was later installed was also GPS+ inertial navigation, and the accuracy was far worse than that of the laser-guided bomb.
The Optoelectronic Distributed Aperture System (EODAS) is even more useful, which consists of 6 optical sensing windows distributed throughout the fuselage, which can provide the pilot with a 360° spherical panoramic view without dead angles, greatly improving the pilot's situational awareness, and providing target guidance for the large off-axis launch of the combat projectile. With EODAS, the cockpit of the fighter does not have to be designed to be as high, which greatly reduces drag. For example, the F-35 has given up the rear vision, and the latest modification of the J-20 also raises the rear of the cockpit, reducing the drag in the low-pressure area and increasing the interior space.
The F-22 was developed too early, and the U.S. military's EOTS and EODAS were not developed at that time, and it was finally used on the F-35. Both of these optoelectronic systems are built-in, which is simply not possible for the Raptor with a very high density of equipment. Of course, the Raptor can also be attached to the optoelectronic pod, but this will destroy the **, and the gains outweigh the losses. The J-20 benefits from the advantage of being a latecomer, and it is designed with EOTS and EODAS at the beginning, which the F-22 will never be able to catch up.
Now the engine of the F-22 still has an advantage, and the thrust of the F119 has increased from the original 159 tons, increased to 17About 7 tons, much larger than the turbofan-20C of the J-10. However, the turbofan-15 may have been installed, and even if it is not, the F-22 will be in service for 20 years in the future, and it will always catch up with the service of the turbofan-15 and face us 18With 5 tons of thrust, the advantages of the F-22 are completely lost. The F-22 has long been discontinued, and one less will be retired in the future, and it is unlikely that the United States will continue to upgrade the F-119 for it.
Once the turbofan-15 is put into service, the J-20 will make up for the last shortcoming of the F-22. Due to the use of 3D printing technology, although the J-20 body is longer, the empty weight of the whole aircraft is almost the same as that of the F-22, and with a more powerful engine, the thrust-to-weight ratio immediately surpasses that of the F-22. Coupled with a more advanced aerodynamic layout, the J-20's maximum speed, supersonic cruise capability, and supersonic maneuverability will surpass the F-22. The longer fuselage is also exchanged for a larger built-in bomb bay, carrying air-to-air missiles with a longer range, and this F-22 cannot be changed.
At that time, the only place where the J-20 is inferior to the F-22 may be subsonic maneuverability, after all, the fuselage of the J-20 is designed to be too long, which in exchange for large range and supersonic drag reduction, at the cost of the decline in subsonic maneuverability such as pitching rate, even with thrust vector, it is not easy to make up for it, after all, F-22 also has thrust vector.
Of course, the United States is also well aware of the limitations of the F-22, so it began the development of the sixth-generation aircraft (NGAD) of the US military early. NGAD launched a tender last year, and this year it was decided who would win the event, and it is now about the stage of the fifth-generation aircraft in the United States in 1985. In 1986, the United States gave Loma and Norge contracts, and the two demonstrators made their first flight in 90, and Loma won in 91, and then it took 14 years to enter service, also because of the collapse of the Soviet Union, there is no hurry. NGAD has the pressure of the J-20, so it is naturally faster, so China's sixth-generation aircraft must also be hurried, if it can be put into service before the United States, it is definitely one of the most important symbols of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Project Sword