That sounds like a ChatGPT answer to what I posted in the original post. We don't trust USA. We all can't be an all weather friend to India's enemy, Pakistan like China.
MMRCA 2.0 - Updates and Discussions
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I think what happened in Russia is the usual neglect that happens in authoritarian systems of govt. The executive is so powerful that there is paralysis in the lower chains of command. And to not make their superiors angry, they end up having to lie. Combine that with systemic corruption, you end up with a system that doesn't work when put to the test.
Authoritarian leaders tend to not put too much trust in their military officers. We saw what Prigozhin and Wagner did in the middle of the Ukraine War.
In democracies, this is less common 'cause people tend to do their jobs for the most part. There is a system in place and people use that system and superiors protect their juniors 'cause there's scrutiny and competition. This allows democracies to react faster to emergencies 'cause there's a lot of trust in the military. Something like Wagner's rebellion is unthinkable in mature democracies. This prevents political interference in military affairs, and militaries tend to do well in such environments.
You saw how easily the IAF grounded PAF with just 20 or so missiles and 100 drones when Russia could not even deal with 10% of what PAF had in Ukraine even after so many years.
I don't think much will change in the next 20-30 years. Even 6th gen jets will look the same. Things could change after the 2050s or 2060s.
In front of Trump, everyone is completely submissive—so much for 'democratic nations.' When Xi Jinping visited the United States, he spent his days touring various schools and his evenings clinking glasses and drinking with the plutocrats of Wall Street. Meanwhile, the homeless of San Francisco had to be rounded up and swept away weeks in advance, and metal cages were installed along the streets, just to prevent the untouchables of democracy from defiling the very air Xi breathed.
This so-called 'democracy' is nothing more than letting you say whatever you want, provided you can change absolutely nothing. The exact second you actually start making an impact, they’ll have you 'commit suicide' by shooting yourself eight times in the back in the blink of an eye.
The Wagner 'mutiny' happened because they felt Putin wasn't waging a total war—it wasn't to seize power, and it certainly wasn't to stop fighting. They were truly deeply moving patriots.
India's 20-missile barrage》 Iran's meteor shower 》Russia's annual 7 million drones, 7 million artillery shells, and 120,000 aerial bombs—I am highly skeptical of these numbers.
Over three years, Russia has seized 80,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory, which is equivalent to the actual landmass Saddam Hussein effectively controlled (excluding uninhabited areas and deserts), and roughly on par with the size of Indian-controlled Kashmir,Furthermore, much of Indian-controlled Kashmir consists of mountainous terrain. It stands as the most successful war waged since the Second World War
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In the West, even in India, there's a political war going on between Bolsheviks and Nationalists. Those homeless people in the US are from Bolshevik states where they want to introduce communism. Nationalist states under the Republicans are doing well.
In India, since 1947, was run by Bolsheviks under the Nehru-Gandhi family. That's why our economy almost collapsed once in 1991 and another time in 2014, which led to Modi, a Nationalist, come into power. So now we are doing well. But the Bolsheviks are why we have been poor all these decades. Everywhere they come to power, the Bolsheviks sideline the military, which is why Europe's become militarily so weak.
The Bolsheviks are enemies of Russia too. Why else do you think Russia got pulled into a war with Ukraine?
Anyway, Putin sidelined the Russian military for a long time. I had pointed this out a decade ago. The army was neglected by Putin and Russia had to pay the price. In India too, Nationalists signed large deals like T-90, Vikramaditya, and MKI deals when they came to power for 5 years, that's also when we tested nukes, and then the Bolsheviks came back to power and destroyed all the work the Nationalists had put in. And after Mumbai attacks in 2008, the army wasn't ready to invade Pakistan. Because we were a democracy with a professional military, the army informed the govt of their inability to invade Pak and avoided a potential failed war, but the same did not happen in Russia 'cause the generals are afraid of Putin.
While Russia's winning in Ukraine, it's not a successful war by any metric. The goal was to take over Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Dnipro and Kherson, not just Donbas. And create a land bridge to Transnistria while expanding Russian borders to Moldova and Romania and cut off Ukraine completely from the Black Sea. Anyway I wasn't talking about all this, I was referring to how Putin is feared in Russia, and that resulted in a weaker military than planned, and the aftereffect is Russia is struggling against a very weak country with no air power.
As for Pakistan, after the air battle, the Pakistanis launched 1000 drones and missiles against India on the next night with no effect. Zero hits. The next night the IAF performed SEAD/DEAD using drones and took out a lot of their air defenses and radars. They gave up after that. The following night, we attacked their defenseless bases with a handful of missiles as a warning 'cause the SEAD/DEAD itself had done sufficient damage. In just 1 night, the IAF dismantled a 1000+ aircraft air force equipped with some of the most advanced technologies available that even Russia does not possess.
I cannot verify the claim that a 1,000-drone swarm from Pakistan would inflict 'zero damage' on India. However, it is a recorded fact that Ukraine secured 4 million drones last year—averaging 10,000 drones a day—with the backing of the entire NATO alliance and partners beyond.
Furthermore, we know for a fact that six North Korean drones loitered over the presidential palace in Seoul for two hours. South Korea boasts the highest air-defense density in the world, equipped with F-35s, Patriot PAC-3s, and THAAD batteries. Yet, during the interception attempt, they achieved nothing and instead lost one of their own manned aircraft in a crash. We have also witnessed U.S. military bases, the Fifth Fleet Headquarters in Saudi Arabia, and targets across Israel being turned into a sea of fire by piston-engined Iranian drones.
Given these realities, I am highly skeptical about what so-called 'cutting-edge technology' Pakistan could possibly possess that Russia has not already mastered."
The playbook of modern warfare has completely changed. Look at the seas: you grab 2,000 cheap Honda motors, slap them on a swarm of motorboats, and boom—you control entire oceans and choke points. The shift in military aviation is just as brutal. Front-line attack planes are dead, which means dedicated air-superiority fighters are now a total waste of money—they have no reason to exist anymore.
At this rate, the only unique job left for an air force is flying heavy dump trucks to drop 3,000-kilo bombs and smash buildings. All this hype about stealth penetration and dogfights doesn't mean a thing anymore. We are looking at a future where planes are used strictly as flying gap-filler radars, floating in safe airspace just to paint targets for ground-based missiles
They attacked our air bases. Satellite images show no damage.
Depends on their individual situations. In our case, the Pakistanis attacked already well-defended areas.
NATO has no defenses against such drones. India does.
We have a system called D4, it was first shown off when Trump visited India.
Anti-Drone System - BEL
bel-india.in
New one.
And another system was exported to Armenia.
Anti Drone System - Counter Drone System - Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (CUAS)
Zen Anti Drone System (CUAS)/Counter Unmanned Aerial System works on drone detection, Classification and tracking on passive surveillance, camera sensors and neutralization of the threat through jamming the Drone communication.
www.zentechnologies.com
Many countries now want to import them.
India has already deployed and used the answer to Russia's drone problem.
JF-17C with GaAs radar, J-10C with GaN radar, PL-15 with GaN seeker, NATO AWACS with GaAs AESA radars, satellite support from China. All connected via an IP network and with assistance from Chinese ground controllers. Many of these systems are not yet operational in Russia.
Yeah, it's true, standoff munitions are regaining their primacy. But delivery systems remain important. If your delivery system is not survivable, then your weapon will not be fired.
Next gen SAMs will come with 500-1500 km range. Surviving at such ranges will require stealth to some degree. How you achieve stealth is up to you, whether you use shaping and materials, electronic means, or metamaterials, or a combination of all three.
You claim that China still relies on originally imported Russian large-scale air-search and air-defense radars, and that the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar currently equipped on the J-20 has a detection range of only some 2xx kilometers... Are you trying to tell me this is somehow another piece of monumental, god-tier technology?They attacked our air bases. Satellite images show no damage.
Depends on their individual situations. In our case, the Pakistanis attacked already well-defended areas.
NATO has no defenses against such drones. India does.
We have a system called D4, it was first shown off when Trump visited India.
Anti-Drone System - BEL
New one.
And another system was exported to Armenia.
Anti Drone System - Counter Drone System - Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (CUAS)
Zen Anti Drone System (CUAS)/Counter Unmanned Aerial System works on drone detection, Classification and tracking on passive surveillance, camera sensors and neutralization of the threat through jamming the Drone communication.
Many countries now want to import them.
India has already deployed and used the answer to Russia's drone problem.
JF-17C with GaAs radar, J-10C with GaN radar, PL-15 with GaN seeker, NATO AWACS with GaAs AESA radars, satellite support from China. All connected via an IP network and with assistance from Chinese ground controllers. Many of these systems are not yet operational in Russia.
The performance of a radar system is not dictated solely by whether it utilizes Gallium Nitride (GaN) or Silicon Carbide. Just because your car runs on gasoline doesn't mean it can outrun a Ferrari; technology cannot be reduced to a single, oversimplified label.
In radar engineering, the choice of semiconductor material only defines the theoretical upper limit of power density. The real-world operational capability of a radar is a complex, holistic systems engineering problem. It is determined by a multitude of intersecting factors, including the efficiency of the liquid cooling system, the signal processing algorithms, the anti-jamming wave-shaping capabilities, the back-end computing power, and the overall power supply architecture of the platform
The phrase 'nine out of ten air defense attempts fail' accurately reflects fundamental physics and statistical laws. When it comes to countering drones, there simply is no silver bullet. This reality remains unyielding, whether you are relying on imported Russian radars or hypothetical cybertronian technology.
In terms of probability, air defense is a reactive, point-defense game, whereas a drone assault is a proactive, distributed saturation endeavor. No matter how advanced a single radar system claims to be, it cannot circumvent the hard physical constraints of radar horizon limits, target engagement channel bottlenecks, and the sheer economic asymmetry of war.
The Chinese claim their AESA radars are significantly superior to the Irbis-E. And they currently have 1000+ jets with AESA radars. So their claims have merit.
We have the missiles the PAF fired too, they are pretty good. There are no direct operational equivalents anywhere else.
PAF had both the export version and the PLAAF version.
As I said, I am Chinese.
Currently, China possesses no airborne radar stronger than the Su-35's, no surface-to-air missile system superior to the S-400, and no main battle tank that beats the T-64B in overall capabilities. Let alone a transport aircraft that can even match the level of the Il-76.
Aside from electronics and subsystems—which are just off-the-shelf commodities that can be replaced at any time—when it comes to hard parameters, the gap between China and Russia or the U.S. is at least 30 years in heavily invested sectors. For most other hardware, the gap is over 40 years (such as nuclear submarines, jet engines, tanks, missile systems, and armored vehicles), and can even stretch to 50 years in areas like helicopters, bombers, and strategic transports.
What Pakistan is using is even more of a joke.
The Chinese military brass has never dared to officially claim that China’s radars are superior to the Irbis-E. It’s usually just useless nationalist netizens talking nonsense online. The Joint Staff Department isn't stupid; they are acutely aware of how massive the reality gap truly is."
I'll take your word for it and still say that the IAF thinks the Irbis-E is outdated, they pointed this out 10 years ago and rejected it. Russia promised to develop an AESA radar, but India decided to go for an indigenous radar.
If Irbis-E is PLAAF's best radar, then PLAAF is not going to have a good time against any of its large neighbors.
For most other things you mentioned, yes, China's behind the US and Russia in "hard parameters," especially ground systems like tanks and SAMs. And definitely submarines and helicopters as well. My take is China needs another 5-10 years to catch up in these areas. Bombers and large transports is a new area for China, so a bit longer. I do agree on this point.
But I don't think they are behind the Russians when it comes to electronics. The Russian industry stagnated here and are still playing catch up. Even they admit to that. And even they admitted the Irbis-E is outdated and have developed a new AESA radar for the Su-35.
"Irrbis-E is inferior to domestic AESA"—this kind of argument crops up constantly in China, and even today, it remains the mainstream perception on the internet. It is nothing more than a pathetic attempt by netizens to salvage their fragile dignity.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, they imported the Su-27SK. After spending eight to ten years merely assembling it, they felt a massive boost in confidence just because they had the blueprints in hand. So, they tore up the agreement and began copycatting it based on those blueprints, playing around with so-called "composite material modifications." Then, Russia cut off the supply of flight control software. To this day, these pieces of junk still cannot perform the Pugachev’s Cobra maneuver. Consequently, they’ve started bragging about how amazing the onboard radars are. Around 2010, the Chinese internet hyped the WS-10 engine to high heaven, claiming it had 13 tons of thrust, a thrust-to-weight ratio of 8, and a 6,000-hour lifespan on par with the US, while expressing nothing but disdain and contempt for Russian weaponry. In the end, though, they obediently bought the Su-35 and S-400.
It’s the exact same story with tanks and armored vehicles. They repeatedly argued how the Type 99A could slice through the T-90A like a hot knife through butter, boasting a 1,000mm penetration for APFSDS and 1,000mm of protection against kinetic energy penetrators, powered by a 1,500-horsepower engine. Yet, when the chief designer gave a lecture and pulled up the PowerPoint, it turned out to have only 600mm of penetration and 700mm of protection. When the 125mm gun was sent to Thailand for testing, its shot dispersion was four times that of the Ukrainian product. Furthermore, during competitions in Russia, the Type 96B—which supposedly possessed superior mobility to the Type 99A—couldn't even catch the exhaust fumes of the T-72B3.
And just recently, the General Staff obediently went ahead and bought the 2S25 Sprut-SD and BMD-4—vehicles that Chinese netizens used to utterly despise. Naturally, these netizens have already started churning out all kinds of mental gymnastics to explain it away, claiming, "This is just targeted poverty alleviation for Russia."
Therefore, when India claims to possess a radar superior to the Irbis-E, I maintain the exact same attitude and sense of familiarity.
When you claim they can catch up in 5 or 10 years, how is that even possible? Even the J-20 is already a 15-year-old design. If I remember correctly, back in 1978, the basic model of the Il-76 set a record carrying a 70-ton payload—a record that the Y-20 won't be able to achieve even in another 10 to 20 years. In fact, the Y-20 has never even possessed the capability to take off from unpaved rough airfields; looking at that landing gear, it seems flat-out impossible. This aircraft has wings designed by Antonov and a fuselage designed by Ilyushin.
Besides, the Irbis-E itself is a piece of hardware from over a decade ago. No one is just going to sit there idly in a static state, waiting for others to overtake them.
As for electronic components like radar, they iterate the fastest and carry the least amount of difficulty. As long as you keep throwing money at them, accelerate the frequency of upgrades, and swap things out, anyone can do it well. What "Chinese electronic components" or "Iranian electronic components"? Once you tear them open, aren't they all American parts inside? North Korean missiles are packed full of chips from Texas Instruments and Infineon. Therefore, under most circumstances, I don’t even bother discussing these things. The barrier to entry is simply too low; anyone can do it well—it all comes down to whether you spent the money, and whether the timing, location, and circumstances aligned.
In other words, while the electronic system as a variable certainly exists, it is inherently uncontrollable and carries a low barrier to entry. Wasting your breath discussing it is not only exhausting but ultimately fails to make a clear case...
For these netizens, their entire understanding of electronic devices boils down to assembling a smartphone and running a few apps. Their grasp of high-end electronics is confined to nothing more than robotic vacuum cleaners. And when it comes to military hardware, they literally judge the sophistication of an aircraft based on the size and resolution of its cockpit screens
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Are u being sarcastic ? Because i have seen many chinease being sarcastic that china is very weak , very behind, obv to taunt the indians and americans
Well i still believe that china's civilian electronics industry have massively helped china in reducing and mass manufacturing the weapon grade electronics
But obv, usa being the software powerhouse and being ahead and first have more software maturity and optimization whichvare equally imp
So yeah veing real, usa is first but china without a doubt second. Infact i would say that in next 10-15 years, even india will surpass russia in electronics.
Obv, india will remain behind russia for foreseeable future .
Our aviation industry is one of the worst among any major country. Even worse than turkey
I'm going to report you to the secret police
I’m just telling it like it is. Electronic gear isn't some magic panacea, nor is it a philosopher's stone.
Besides, if you ask me, the weapons designed by the Americans are pretty garbage too. Since the end of World War II, any country that hasn't killed a few Americans would be too embarrassed to even claim they fought for national independence... In Vietnam alone, the US military lost over 9,000 aircraft—averaging 2.5 planes a day, sustained over a period of 10 years.
As for software, it’s even harder to wrap your head around. God knows how it’s supposed to manifest or be quantified in military hardware, let alone in boosting actual combat capability... After all, the central control CPU of the F-22 is inferior to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 packed inside everyone's smartphones today. Even the generic computers used in the Navy's Aegis Combat System—if I remember correctly—currently run on 2nd-generation Intel Core CPUs. You wouldn't find that junk listed on the secondhand market for more than 200 RMB.
I think I’ve mentioned this in another thread as well: even North Korean missiles are packed full of American chips. Anyone can use these things, and even the US is completely powerless to stop it.
If the United States cannot even stop missiles headed for America from being loaded with American chips, how on earth is China supposed to regulate drones heading toward China that contain circuit boards soldered by Chinese hands?
If this were the Cold War era, when electronic equipment was as massive as a shipping container, it might have made sense to try and restrict it through mechanisms like the COCOM (Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls). But today’s electronic chips are everywhere and available in every shape and form. A single tote bag full of chips is enough to keep Iran's entire missile factories running for two years...
Compared to chips and electronic garbage, nitrocellulose actually possesses far greater danger, exclusivity, and strategic significance
Compared to chips and electronic garbage, nitrocellulose actually possesses far greater danger, exclusivity, and strategic significanc......
When you think about it, the few vectors and target numbers you need to calculate in actual combat require a level of computing power that is utterly laughable compared to the PC specs demanded by a Japanese eroge (dating sim). Electronics and software have already become severely over-engineered and redundant for what a 'weapon' actually needs to do
They can’t even handle the bunch of trolls on XI'm going to report you to the secret police
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And you see these huge walls of text I’m dropping here? Honestly, most of it wasn't even written specifically for this place. In most cases, I'm just taking things I already said on domestic Chinese forums, translating them into English, and pasting them here... Back home, I said all this in Chinese and nobody even bothered me. Besides, my views are already considered highly objective; if you think I'm something, you should see those actual trolls over there—they are on a whole different levelI'm going to report you to the secret police
In any case, thank you for shedding light on the Chinese perspective.
Do you have any information on the availability of the J-20s? Or on the number of flight hours they log each year?
The Pakistanis don't rely on Chinese AEWCS or AD and are exclusively dependent on the Saab Erieyes. Also interesting fact regarding rafale shootdown story. The Pakistanis were essentially hiding behind civilian aircraft of PIA(their national air carrier) whatever jets that might have been shotdown we essentially for a mass spam of pl-15's and maybe HQ-9's which makes it interesting how they got hit. The rafales never responded with meteors because of the civilian aircraft used by PAF for cover. This part is always ignored regarding the 7th May air battle. It also explains why the J-10C was not present when IAF started bombing nuclear sites and airbases of Pakistan. Even if your AD failed due to drone swarms why didn't their f-16's and j-10's did not respond for the apparent bombing of their nuclear sites and key airbases. That implies the PAF was entirely knocked out by the IAF by the 10th. Since we don't see any counter air strike attempts which ad already failed by 8th and stopped in the 9th when Pakistanis started using Turkish drones to strike.
To be perfectly honest, within the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), there are two main factions that are relatively stronger in fighter jet manufacturing.
One is Shenyang in the north (famous for the J-8), which is notorious for its rock-bottom efficiency. A well-known meme about them is "One J-8 spawned eight Academicians." This is a sarcastic jab at how, merely by designing and manufacturing the J-8 fighter, eight individuals from this institution managed to ascend to the "Academician" status—the highest honor in the Chinese engineering sector. Furthermore, in Chinese slang, "J-8" (Ji-Ba) is a homophone for the male genitalia, giving the meme a double meaning: "One dick ejaculated eight Academicians."
The other is Chengdu in the south (famous for the J-7 and J-10). Its spotlight was completely stolen by the north until it finally turned things around with the arrival of the J-10. However, this plant represents another form of corruption. Riding the wave of "Reform and Opening-up," the Chief Designer of the J-10 aggressively pursued privatization, operating as a coordinated criminal syndicate to amass massive amounts of dirty money and gobble up vast plots of real estate. The later Chief Designer of the J-20 was the prized disciple of this J-10 designer. The J-20 project originally belonged to someone else, but because the J-10 designer wielded immense authority, he snatched the project away and handed it on a silver platter to his student, Yang Wei. Ultimately, Yang Wei was also elected as an "Academician" solely due to the J-20 project. However, because the final performance of the J-20 turned out to be absolute garbage, combined with the fact that their corruption scandal eventually came to light, he has now been arrested and placed under investigation (in fact, he was detained back in 2024). A prison sentence is inevitable.
Returning to the main topic: after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country was dirt poor. Boris Yeltsin was aggressively pushing privatization to the point where blueprints were being sold by the kilogram. Sensing a golden opportunity, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China poured massive amounts of cash into poaching talent and buying up blueprints.
During this gold rush:
The northern faction (Shenyang)沈阳 connected with Sukhoi苏霍伊.
The southern faction (Chengdu)成都 connected with Mikoyan 米格.
(Because the development of the entire Sukhoi lineage was placed under the more authoritative northern faction, Shenyang earned the nickname "Shen-khoi沈-霍伊" )
Meanwhile, next-generation fighter designs that began selection in the 1980s were submitted to the Air Force for review. This was supposed to be a stealth aircraft, but China possessed absolutely zero capability, experience, or experimental equipment to design such a plane. The relevant formulas were literally conjured up by a professor at Beihang University based entirely on Russian and American literature. The PLA had absolutely no confidence in it, so they spent tens of thousands of dollars in hard cash to hire experts from the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in Moscow to evaluate the design.
The verdict? The radar cross-section (RCS) values calculated by the Chinese side were a staggering 10 times lower than reality. In other words, while the Chinese side believed their design had an RCS of 1㎡, the Russian assessment concluded it was 10㎡ by Russian standards. (Source: Memoirs of Academician 顾诵芬)
Consequently, the entire 1980s R&D project was completely scrapped and torn down. The next-generation aircraft would have to be decided through a head-to-head showdown between the two factions.
Shenyang (North)Su-37.
Chengdu (South) proposed an interceptor variant based on the MiG 1.42/1.46.
Ultimately, Chengdu won the bid, and the result of that victory is the J-20.
In terms of propulsion, the target engine was designated WS-15. In reality, it is a reverse-engineered R79-B300. The actual engine and its corresponding blueprints—including the complete set of vectoring nozzle blueprints—were bought and brought back from Russia in 1996 by "Academician Liu Daxiang（刘大响）." Development was carried out by shrinking the bypass ratio based on this platform. However, because their foundational capabilities were too poor, R&D dragged on disastrously; they have been grinding away at it for 30 years now. Around 2010, some suggested that the original targets were set too low and the project had dragged on for too long, meaning they should keep the designation but scrap the project and start fresh. Yet, judging by current progress, it is highly likely still just a modification of the old R79, because China lacks the capability to develop a brand-new engine from scratch in such a short timeframe. The design of this engine was also the result of assistance and theoretical calculations from Moscow—including wind tunnel testing and thermal equilibrium simulations, all completed in Moscow. The bypass ratio is likely squeezed very tight, somewhere between 0.2 and 0.3, to satisfy China's urgent operational need for maritime interception.(Source: Memoirs of Academician 刘大响).
As a result, the J-20 was forced to adopt the WS-10 "Taihang太行" series of engines. This engine was reverse-engineered from the CFM56-2 commercial turbofan introduced during the 1980s Sino-US honeymoon period. The method of reverse-engineering was to secretly disassemble the engine at night to measure and map it, and then reassemble and reinstall it before daybreak to evade commercial audits by their "American Daddy." The low-pressure stage and the lubrication system were copied lock, stock, and barrel from the AL-31F
1、WS-10/10A: Rated thrust of 12.5 tons, weighing 200 kg more than the AL-31F. It didn't pass final acceptance until 2017. Due to inherent structural defects, it was accepted only after throttling the thrust down by 700 kg (the original project goal was 13.2 tons).
2、WS-10BCFM56-7 engines and F110-GE-129 engines obtained through special illicit channels (though the low-pressure stage remained the AL-31F). It finally hit its rated thrust and passed acceptance around 2020.
3、There is also a variant with a purported 14-ton thrust.
Generally speaking, the WS-10B is inferior to the AL-31F, and the 14-ton variant is inferior to the AL-31FM1.
The name WS-10 'Taihang太行' itself is a pun. While it refers to a mountain, 'Tai Hang' also sounds like 'super capable' or 'awesome' in Chinese. However, because its garbage performance is an open secret across the Chinese internet, it has been widely mocked with the nickname 'Tai Buxing太不行'—which literally translates to 'Super Incapable' or 'Too Trash to Work.
Back to the J-20's powerplant issue: early test flights used the AL-31F; later flights used the AL-31F-M2 (according to Russian export records, these were delivered after 2015). Ultimately, for the sake of claiming "100% domestic production," the mass-produced models were fitted with the far inferior WS-10B. Today, they might also be using the 14-ton thrust variant. All in all, it is an absolute mess.
Regarding maintenance and sortie rates, the entire WS-10 series has a service life of a mere 900 to 1,500 hours, with even the latest variants not exceeding 2,000 hours.
The training standards of the Chinese Air Force are also exceptionally poor—far below Pakistan's standards, and probably on par with India's. It is an open secret that military pilots line up waiting for a chance to transfer to commercial civil aviation. Furthermore, once they hit 45 to 50 years old, they are forced to retire or transfer to flying drones, leading to an abysmal accumulation of veteran experience. In Chinese Air Force flight and adversarial training, they never conduct within-visual-range (WVR) dogfighting (the Army and even the Armed Police Force have no hand-to-hand combat training either).
As for the radar, it features an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. Internal propaganda boasts a detection range of "2XX" kilometers (the last two digits are always redacted and blurred out), which basically aligns with common sense, physics, and their actual technical level.
The most heavily criticized aspect is its payload capacity—everyone can see how pathetic it is, so people don't even bother talking about it anymore.
Regarding its stealth capabilities: in reality, China’s very first full-scale anechoic chamber capable of accommodating an actual, real-size fighter jet wasn't even built until after the J-20's maiden flight. To top it off, it was constructed by Shenyang—Chengdu's arch-rival. Throughout the entire design phase of the J-20, they couldn't even use proper physical testing methods to verify and refine its stealth performance
The J-20 holds a rather unique status in global aviation:
It is the only "5th-generation" fighter in the world without thrust-vectoring control (TVC). (Though with the J-35 around now, it’s one of two).
It is the only "5th-generation" fighter in the world that lacks an internal autocannon or any provision to mount one. (Though with the J-35 around, it’s one of two).
It is the only "5th-generation" fighter in the world equipped with previous-generation engines. (Though with the J-35 around, it’s one of two).
It is the only "5th-generation" fighter in the world featuring a tailless delta wing configuration.
It is the only "5th-generation" fighter in the world whose Chief Designer is rotting in a jail cell.
In short, it is truly "mind-blowing."
And then, this exact same company went ahead and designed a three-engine frontline bomber—absolutely brilliant. As a side note, the FC-1 (JF-17) also came out of this company. That thing was originally designated the "MiG-33"—not the current MiG-29M variant of the 33, but a single-engine version of the MiG-29 designed during the Soviet era to cater to cash-strapped allies. Later, the blueprints along with the engineers were sold wholesale to Chengdu.
Returning to Shen-khoi沈-霍伊 in the north: having lost out on the Air Force's next-generation contract, the Navy's 5th-generation fighter naturally fell into Shenyang's lap. The earliest prototype was called the FC-31, powered by RD-33 engines. Later, to meet naval requirements, they scaled up its dimensions (similar to the transition from the F-18 to the F/A-18C) to facilitate bomb-carrying capabilities.
However, because the design remains fundamentally terrible, judging by currently leaked spy shots and satellite imagery, this monstrosity's wingspan when folded is even wider than that of the Su-33. Yet, it is fitted with two modified RD-33 engines, with rumors claiming the thrust has been pushed up to around 10 tons. Anyone with a brain knows exactly what is going on here: they just increased the bypass ratio of the RD-33 to boost low-altitude performance while completely abandoning energy retention for air combat.
This is the J-35. And because the J-20 turned out to be such unmitigated garbage—essentially acting as nothing more than a "A MiG-31 that can go stealth, yet flies slow and carries no long-range missiles."—the Air Force now intends to buy a batch of these as well. That is the origin of the land-based variant of the J-35.
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