Operation Sharp Sword
Saudi Arabia's second international defense exhibition was successfully held in Riyadh in the early morning of 10 February. It can be seen from here that China's air force, naturally, the main attraction is that at the air show, China will show its excellent products to everyone, including JF-17 "Thunder", L-15 "Falcon" trainer aircraft, J-7 E fighter-bomber, Y-20 strategic bomber and so on. Among these models, the FC-31 "Falcon" stealth fighter is the most special, and it has been exhibited several times at home and abroad, but this time, the model of the "Falcon" fighter has been marked, that is, whether it is civilian or civilian, it is possible to enter the Chinese market.
J-10 long-range strategic bomber.
Spraying the J-31 figure on the front of the aircraft.
In this world, there are not many countries that can come up with such a complete set of fighter jets, and China, the United States, and Russia are all top-notch, but recently Russia's air force is too weak to keep up with the pace of China and the United States. FC-31 "Falcon" is the world's four first stealth fighters, but also the world's second export of the fifth generation fighter, the comprehensive performance of this FC-31 fighter is not much worse than the F-35, and the price of up to 200 million US dollars F-35 is different, this "Falcon" fighter in Saudi Arabia is very good, breaking through the United States' monopoly on the world's military industry, giving them a lot of pressure.
Due to the frequent appearance of the J-35 aircraft carrier, coupled with the positioning of the "Eagle Eagle" as one aircraft and four types, people have certain doubts about whether the J-31 is a foreign trade type or a self-produced version of the Air Force. After all, the fifth-generation stealth fighter is not used for its own use, but sold to others. From the point of view of possible competitors, they are competing against the American-made F-35, and if it is a twin-engine, then the competition between the two sides will be even more intense.
FC-31 "Falcon Eagle".
F-35 fighter.
One engine and four diesel engines.
Speaking of which, Shen Fei lost to the J-20 in the bidding for the fifth-generation fighter, and in order to avoid a technological gap in the future, Shen Fei himself invested in a fifth-generation engine to ensure that there would not be too many problems with the future level of science and technology. This is the FC-31 "Falcon Eagle" stealth fighter, due to the lack of funding and insufficient funds, starting from the test flight in 2012, after more than ten years of ups and downs, it was finally favored by the US Navy and re-invested in research and development. In short, it contains two different flight modes, and a long time ago, there was a famous saying: "'Moon Shadow Owl', 'Changhong Meteor', I don't know if you remember, 'Snow Owl' failed, we want to create a new generation of 'Falcon'."
In general, the research and development of fourth-generation and fifth-generation aircraft, Shen Fei is far inferior, even if they have J-11, J-15 and J-16 models, but the modification of the "Flanker" will eventually consume their potential. The FC-31 "Falcon" has also been clearly positioned because of the needs of the global navy and the international market, because the only stealth fighter in the world is the F-35, so if the FC-31 can be launched as scheduled, it will be a very best-selling product. Secondly, the J-20 is a fifth-generation fighter, although powerful, but **expensive, and it is not an easy thing to want to produce in large quantities, so it must be matched with the medium-sized fifth-generation aircraft of the FC-31.
Contrast between "snow" and "weilong".
Snowy Owl stealth fighter.
FC-31 "Falcon Eagle".
In addition, Shen Fei also has a great advantage, that is, one of the first aircraft carriers of the Chinese Navy, both in experience and technology, is the best in China. Therefore, with the development of catapult aircraft carriers, Shenfei must have corresponding stealth fighters, and the "Eagle Eagle" fighter based on FC-31 is the best solution. Therefore, in the past two years, the research and development speed of the Fujian ship has become faster and faster, and the number of J-35 fighters has increased, and even the J-35 can be seen on the deck of the Fujian ship. As soon as the Fujian aircraft carrier begins to launch test flights, then the J-35 will be ready for use at any time.
"Falcon Eagle" with J-15 aircraft carriers.
The J-35J-35 Eagle has two models, one is an aircraft carrier, one is a vertical take-off, and the other is a civilian model, all of which are relatively easy to operate. The FC-31 has been developed for more than ten years, and the electronic systems and equipment are all modeled after the J-20, so the number of the FC-31 is just a formality. Of course, their export models are not the same, such as J-7 E, -9 DE and other models, will add an "E" before the model. Take the J-10 as an example, it is the latest model J-10C produced by the Chinese Air Force itself, and it is the J-10CE that is sold to Pakistan.
In contrast, the domestic version of the FC-31 Falcon fighter will be designated the J-31, a degraded version of the performance that is somewhat limited. The commander of the Pakistan Air Force said earlier in January that the plan to purchase the FC-31 Falcon stealth fighter was almost complete, and the aircraft will soon be integrated into the Pakistan Air Force. If a customer wants it, it means that it is not surprising that the J-31 number will be replaced at the Saudi defense industry exhibition, and perhaps Pakistan will buy it first.
Customers are overflowing. Customers at an air show.
Pakistani military aircraft.