J-31 stealth jet gets bad reviews after Zhuhai Airshow flight
Chang Kuo-wei
2014-11-20
J-10 fighters fly in formation at the Zhuhai Airshow, Nov. 11. (File photo/Xinhua)
China's newly unveiled J-31 stealth fighter has received bad reviews at home and abroad after making its first public demonstration flight during the biennial Zhuhai Airshow in the southern province of Guangdong.
The criticism of J-31, China's second fifth-generation fighter jet, mainly stems from the dark exhaust emitting from the jet's engine, which indicates the engine's poor efficiency in burning fuel.
There are two types of engines used on the J-31 jets — the RD-93 used by Russia's MiG-29 fighters will be fitted to those intended for foreign clients, while the ones deployed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will have the WS-13 engine developed from the RD-93.
It is unclear which type of engine the J-31 on display in Zhuhai used.
Meanwhile, PLA Navy Rear Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong said in a speech in Xiamen on Nov. 17 that China's reverse engineering still has its limitations, and that it will take the country another few years to achieve a breakthrough in developing its own engines.
Zhang said the development of a jet engine involves mechanics and digital control, and the former is far more easy to master than the latter. "This part is too difficult and not something that can be achieved successly in a short time," he said.
Zhang also believes that the J-31 jet is too heavy.
Meanwhile, Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia said prospects for the J-31 jet's export market are not as positive as many have described.
Aboulafia said countries buying Chinese military hardware are mainly poor, with Pakistan the largest customer, and China may have to find new clients for the higher-end fifth-generation fighters. These new clients are most likely China's neighbors, but these countries will have their about Beijing given the tensions existing between them, Aboulafia added.
Moreover, the fifth-generation jets may have already come too late, since the US Air Force and Navy have both begun plans to develop their next-generation fighters to replace the F-22 and F/A-18E/F, respectively
