Actually, I was correct. The J-20B is the designation for the for the variant that will receive the WS-15 & thrust vectoring capabilities. The J-20S is the two-seater.
The aircraft has three variants: the initial production model J-20A, the thrust-vectoring J-20B, and twin-seat aircraft teaming capable J-20S.
The June 28 flight of J-20B (the designation when fitted with two WS-15 engines) appears to be the first time the aircraft has flown with the new engine in both nacelles. Standard practice in evaluating a new engine design in a twin-engine fighter has been to begin flight testing with one new engine in one nacelle and an older-model engine in the other in case of a failure.** China's J-20 fighter seems to have a new homegrown engine, after years of struggle - Breaking Defense
The J-20B was reported to enter production in July 2020, while full serial production of the WS-15 engine began in March 2023. Clear images depicting the engine in flight testing were publicly released on April 5, 2023. The J-20 fighter already boasts superior endurance compared to Western fighter classes, and the WS-15 is anticipated to further extend this advantage due to its enhanced fuel efficiency.
I think you are still right as well. It appears China just started shifting around these designations very recently. I don’t know how it works over there. Doesn’t matter.
The J-20B is an aircraft & China now has 5th generation power plants with tvc like other the other 5th generation air superiority fighters.
Maybe so ( still depends on the situation though), but the Hornet is further along than the Flanker B in terms of safety and handling.
That’s not to say he’ll automatically beat Su 27, he doesn’t have the thrust for that.
Yes, the lower the speed the better for the Hornet where it takes advantage of the powerful Alpha, combined with the JHMCS it is a very powerful single circle aircraft, sustained maneuvering is worse than the F-16 and F-15. But as I write, the pilot makes the plane.
China appears to have decided to go with greater maneuverability with 3D TVC & less potential loss of thrust over the 2D design (as shown above) that are optimal for stealth with more potential loss of thrust, however.
In March 2023, the executive of Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC) announced the serial production of the WS-15 had started and China “tackled all technical bottlenecks” with the WS-15. FlightGlobal speculated that small-scale production run and in-flight testing with the J-20 fighter was underway On 29 June 2023, a J-20B equipped with dual WS-15 engines was speculated to have made its maiden flight in Chengdu. Despite the lack of clear pictures, circumstantial evidence such as a photo of the engine installation ceremony, lack of censorship by the authorities, and modified airframe suggested the WS-15 was evidently mounted, though Janes noted the engines on trial apparently lacks the thrust vectoring control (TVC) paddles, which could be added later. Shenyang WS-15 - Wikipedia
Defense analysts and commentators noted WS-15 was intended to be the ultimate engine for the J-20, providing supercruise capability, enhanced reliability, improved maneuverability, better fuel efficiency and longer ranges, extra electricity production, and upgrade potential for the fighter. Spending several decades of development, the induction of the WS-15 into the Chinese military was seen as a technological leap in China’s domestic aviation industry.Serated nose is signature of the WS-15.
Introduction of the WS-15 is expected not only to make the J-20 far more maneuverable, but also provide much more energy for onboard sensors and other avionics and potentially provide a more viable option for powering future directed energy weapons such as laser weapons. While the J-20 already has a much longer range than any Western fighter, the WS-15 is expected to extend this significantly further still due to its greater fuel efficiency. It will allow the fighter to fly at much higher supersonic speeds without using afterburners. A new variant of the J-20, which is speculated to be the new airframe type first seen in December 2022 with improved stealth features, is thought to have been modified to make better use of the new powerplant and may be designated the J-20B - where the baseline J-20 used stopgap Russian engines and the improved J-20A was produced from 2019 with the WS-10C. China’s New WS-15 Jet Engine Finally Enters Serial Production: How Will it Supercharge J-20 Stealth Fighters? (militarywatchmagazine.com)
Legacy Hornet
The G limit can be turned off for a short time, the pilot has a G limit switch on the control stick.
The G limit is then limited to about 10 G, from about 7.5 G. Depending on the configuration, the angle of attack can be unlimited.
The digital control system makes the aircraft quite safe to fly, but nothing is perfect. The system needed further improvements to make it even safer. Spins have resulted in about one crash a year.
That isn’t always true, if the airframe is fresh it would be able to do this somewhat often. The Gripen for example can pull 12Gs without issues, but requires an inspection after the flight to verify it is still good to go.
No, the hornet has a 7.5G limit for a reason. Exceeding the overload by 1.33 times requires careful inspection. And possibly write-offs. Grippen should not be compared to delta canard. They can pull both 12 and 14G. Features of the scheme.Although the MiG-29 had excessive strength.Therefore, the wing was almost impossible to break
The Hornet is resistant to damage even up to 10G, I don’t think the airframes are being written off. If you don’t agree then I’d prefer we provide sources or drop it.
Airframe F-18 is made for 9G + safety limit ( I think it’s 1,5…off the top of my head I don’t know exactly).
The Navy has the operation set up so that the 7.5G limit saves airframe stress and therefore money.
