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This video is full of techno hype, and even more full of speculative guesswork. In the case of the newly shown off aircraft, the speakers here admit that they literally do not know what they are looking at. Is the "J-36" a long range bomber, regional strike
aircraft or even a long range missileer fighter (!!!). Hopefully the Chinese think they are building a behemoth fighter, but I fear they are not that stupid. Nowhere do the talkers offer their speculation for cost. The J-36 could possibly devour as much
PLA air force resources (both acquisition and flight maintenance) as our F-22/F-35.
The Chit Chat on the J-20, the F-35 clone with two engines, suggests that the Chinese version may be even more of a brick than the F-35. Do the dual engines add more weight than they do thrust compared to the F-35? In that case the embarrassing thrust to
weight of the F-35 may even be outdone. The Chinese were not so stupid (like us) to incorporate STOVL into the basic design but it is unaddressed if the high drag characteristics of the F-35 have been made better or worse; same for wing loading. What is
the wing area? If it is as stunted as the F-35, and if the weight but not the thrust has gone up in the J-20, the Chinese have a real pig on their hands. Electronics? Are the Chinese as over eager as us to design in unproven electronics that they will have
to try, if possible, to fix at the expense of great time and money? Did they successfully address the high maintenance, low sortie rate of our stealth coatings? All unanswered, but they didn't even ask the questions.
The jargon in the video suggest that the speakers are "expert," but I question their judgement and suggest they are more interested to participate in the buzz-talk hype of these new Chinese flying demonstrators. The Chinese must be most pleased, as are the
threat mongers right here at home.
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Winslow T. Wheeler
From: Salon <salon-bounces@listserve.com> on behalf of Chas Freeman via Salon <salon@listserve.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2025 11:37 AM To: salon@listserve.com <salon@listserve.com> Subject: [Salon] China's newest military aircraft |