Chinese Chengdu J-20, American Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning, Military Equipment
Chinese J-20 and American F-35 Lightning are
among the most sophisticated fighter jets ever made. The stealth technology of these fifth-generation fighter jets provides the respective Air Forces with the capability to conduct both defensive and
offensive operations. This article makes a comparison
between Chinese J-20 and American F-35 Lightning fighter jets by considering their specifications and capabilities.
Chengdu J-20
J-20 is a fifth-generation fighter jet developed by China. It is a stealth aircraft having twin engines. The aircraft is developed in Chengdu
Aerospace Corporation with an estimated cost of 110 million USD per unit. China formed
the first combat unit of J-20s in 2018, and over 20 J-20s are reportedly
in service. J-20 shows critical efforts made by China to develop an advanced
aircraft in order to improve the capabilities of its regional power projection
and strengthen its abilities to target regional facilities and airbases of its
adversary.
J-20 contains "subsystems" and "field signature" reducing technology that equip the fighter jet with stealth capability, and meet the internationally-accepted definition
of fifth-generation aircraft. Fifth-generation aircraft refers to the fighter
jets meeting the general criteria of stealth technology, highly integrated
avionics, and supersonic cruising speed (China
Power, 2020).
Chengdu J-20 fighter jet contains wide and long fuselage. It also
contains a chiseled nose section having a frameless canopy. J-20 allows only
one crew member. The air intake of the jet is located just behind the cockpit.
Moreover, it has a delta wing having a forward-swept trailing edge.
A canard design provides the jet with transonic turn performance,
excellent supersonic capabilities, and enhanced short-field landing
performances as compared to the traditional design of the delta wing. The
maximum speed of J-20 is 1.7 Mach or 2100 km/h with a cruising speed of 1802
km/h. J-20 is 20 meters long jet having a wingspan of 13 meters. The height of
the plane is 4.45 meters. The plane has 19,391 kg of empty weight and 32,092 kg
of loaded weight. Whereas, the take-off weight of the jet is about 36,290 kg. J-20 is supported by 2 Shenyang WS-10G
afterburning turbofan engines. 76.18 kN dry thrust is produced along with 180
kN of thrust with afterburner (Jeyan, 2016).
As far as armaments are concerned, the J-20 fighter jet has two lateral
bays to contain smaller air-to-air missiles and a bigger bay below the fuselage
to contain various “surface attack weapons” and missiles. J-20 also contains various advanced electronic
systems. These systems include electronically scanned array, passive
electro-optical detection setup (for spherical coverage of 360o around
the aircraft), and chin-mounted infrared track and search sensor (China Power, 2020).
The distributed Aperture system constitutes 6
electro-optic sensors that are similar to EODAS and provides the pilot with
360-degree coverage through sensor fusion system. This setup combines IR image
and radar signals to enable improved situational awareness. Moreover, the
combination of passive-optic tracking setup with integrated targeting pod is
believed to be similar in design with F-35’s avionic suite. On the basis of the
nose cross-section of J-20, and utilizing the known information regarding J-16
AESA radar’s single transmit or receive module surface, it is believed that
J-20 can have space to contain radar that can fit 2000-2200 transmit/receive
modules (Sina, 2016).
Chengdu J-20 possesses a glass
cockpit. Two large LCD touchscreens are located side by side. In addition, 3
small auxiliary displays along with wide-angle HUD (holographic head-up display)
are also present in the cockpit (Reed,
2012). J-20’s
initial production models were containing AL-31 Russian engines. China aims to
upgrade the current J-20 engine with the Chinese WS-15 engine in the coming
years. These upgradations can provide this fighter jet with improved supersonic
travel (supercruise) (China Power, 2020).
Lockheed Martin F-35
F-35 Lightning is a single-engine, single-seat stealth combat aircraft
that can sustain extreme weather. It is supposed to perform strike and air
superiority missions along with providing intelligence, reconnaissance,
electronic warfare, and surveillance capabilities. Lockheed Martin F-35 is the
second fifth-generation aircraft to enter the service in US Air Force and costs
between 95 million USD and 120 million USD (Lockheed
Martin Corporation, 2020).
The US military reportedly has over 450 F-35 including
variants F-35 A, B, and C. F-35A is a standard model that is used by the American
Air Force and provided to Air Forces of some friendly countries. F-35B is the
vertical take-off variant that is designed for the Marine Corps. F-35C aircraft,
on the other hand, is mostly used for carrier-based missions (Lopez, 2019).
The
empty weight of F-35 is 15785 kg or 34,800 lb. F-35 has a height of about 4.48
meters, length of about 15.7 meters, and a wingspan of 13.1 meters. F-35 can
have a maximum weight of 31751 kg or 70,000 lb. The supported weapons payload
is 8160 kg. F-35 has a maximum "g" rating of 7.5, and a maximum speed
of up to 1.6 Mach. The standard load of internal weapons constitutes two
air-to-air missiles (AIM-120C/D) and two 2000 pound guided bombs (GBU-31 JDAM)
(Lockheed Martin, 2020).
The single-engine fighter jet (F-35) is powered by low-bypass augmented
turbofan (Pratt and Whitney F135) with a thrust of 191 kN. F135 has a higher
bypass ratio (that improves subsonic fuel efficiency) and a bigger fan as
compared to F119. The engine of F-35 also contributes to its stealth
capabilities through low-observable augmenter which embodies fuel injectors
into curved vanes. Ceramic radar absorbents are used to cover the vanes that in
turn mask the turbine (JSF, 2020).
Radar cross-section or RCS of the F-35 is minimized by using
radar-absorbent materials and proper shaping of the overall airframe. Alignment
of edges, masking of the engine’s turbine and face, and skin panels’ serration
help reduce the RCS. In addition, the DSI (diverter-less supersonic inlet) of
F-35 makes use of forward-swept cowl and compression bump to eliminate the
diverter cavity that in turn reduces the radar signature further (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2020).
For the preservation of stealth shaping, 2 internal weapon bays having
four weapon stations are provided in F-35 aircraft. Two of those stations are
outboard weapon stations that are supposed to contain ordnance up to 1100 kg or
680 kg. Whereas, the other two stations are inboard weapon stations that
contain air-to-air missiles. Outboard station’s air-to-surface weapons include
JDAM (“Joint Direct Attack Munition”), JSOW (Joint Standoff Weapon), paveway
bomb series, and “wind connected munitions dispenser.” Wingtip pylons can carry AIM 132 or AIM 9X
ASRAAMS (Robert, 2008). Wingtip pylons
are canted outwards in order to decrease the radar cross-section. Additionally, the aircraft can also utilize 6
external weapons stations during operations that do not require stealth.
Moreover, advanced EW (electronic warfare) characteristics of F-35
enable pilots to track enemy jets, disrupt attacks, and jam radars effectively.
The advanced avionics system of the plane provides pilots with real-time
battlespace data with 360o coverage. The Electro-Optical Target
System of F-35 is the sensor that combines IRST (“infrared search and track) functionality
with FLIR ("forward-looking infrared"). The light-weight, high
performance, and multifunction system improves the situational awareness of the
pilot and provides him with precise air-to-surface and air-to-air targeting
capabilities.
Similarly, the “Helmet Mounted Display System” of F-35 provides pilot
complete information including altitude, airspeed, heading, warnings, and
targeting information. The system is projected on the visor of the helmet (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2020).
Concluding Remarks
The comparison of F-35 and J-20 aircraft
reveals that both the fighter planes are highly sophisticated planes having stealth
capabilities. F-35 is a single-engine fighter jet as compared to J-20 which is a
twin-engine jet. F-35 is lighter in weight as compared to J-20. Whereas, J-20
has a slightly higher speed of 1.7 Mach as compared to 1.6 Mach of F-35. The
production cost of J-20 is relatively lower as compared to F-35 (depending on
F-35's variants). Both fighter jets provide pilots with 360-degree vision
coverage and are quite capable of both offensive and defensive attacks. J-20 is
China’s first fifth-generation aircraft whereas, F-35 is 2nd fifth-generation aircraft of the US after F-22, as per “Circa” 1990-present
standards. Chinese criterion is different and they consider J-20 a fourth-generation aircraft despite the fact that J-20 fulfills all the requirements of
fifth-generation jets, and is as capable as F-35. Chinese standards categorize all the jets with respect to the deployment period, and all the jets deployed
during the 2010s are considered fourth-generation aircraft.
America has an edge in stealth technology jets because
of previous experience with F-22 and they have deployed F-35s at a large scale
where over 450 jets are reported to be deployed. The F-35B was deployed by the
U.S in 2015 with Marine, followed by Air Force’s F-35A in 2016 and the Navy’s
F-35C in the year 2019. China, on the other hand, is still bringing more
improvements in the J-20 despite its comparable capabilities with F-35. That is
why China has yet not deployed J-20 at large scale and only a few fighter jets
are in service with Air Force.
Sources
China Power. (2020). Does
China’s J-20 rival other stealth fighters?. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from https://chinapower.csis.org/china-chengdu-j-20/
Jeyan, M. (2016).
Comparative study of F-22 Raptor and Chengdu J-20. Instrumentation
Sciences And Technology, 2(1), 121-124. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324448571_Comparative_study_of_F-22_Raptor_and_Chengdu_J-20
JSF. (2020). Frequently
asked questions. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from https://www.jsf.mil/contact/con_faqs.htm
Lockheed Martin Corporation.
(2020). F-35 Capabilities | F-35 Lightning II. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from https://www.f35.com/about/capabilities
Lockheed Martin. (2020).
F-35 Lightning II Program Status and Fast Facts. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from https://www.f35.com/assets/uploads/documents/F35FastFacts5_2020.pdf
Lopez, T. (2019). DOD
Finalizes Purchase Plan for F-35 Aircraft. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2002585/dod-finalizes-purchase-plan-for-f-35-aircraft/
Reed, J. (2012). Pic of the
Week: China's J-20 Stealth Fighter Head-On - Defensetech. Retrieved 14 May
2020, from http://www.defensetech.org/2012/06/01/pic-of-the-week-the-j-20s-hud/
Robert, H. (2008). UK
changes JSF configuration for ASRAAM. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from
http://www.janes.com/products/janes/defence-security-report.aspx?ID=1065928225
Sina. (2016). Depth: The
J-20 radar has a breakthrough power that is 50% higher than the F22, and the
detection range is farther. Retrieved 14 May 2020, from http://mil.news.sina.com.cn/jssd/2016-05-31/doc-ifxsqxxs8035282.shtml
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