If you look at Russian and Chinese aircraft in detail they don’t look sleek and smooth, with rivets clearly visible e.g look closely at Mig29 and Su27 and compare them with F16.
Does this mean that Russian/Chinese manufacturing techniques are not up to western standards?
Do the Russians or the Chinese have indigenous advanced 5-axis CNC machines. These days in the west aircraft structural parts such as wing spars and wing ribs are machined from solid blocks. For example F16 wing spars are machined from a solid block using Cincinnati five-axis V5-3000 vertical machining centre. 400 pound aluminium block is machined and when finished it only weighs 80 pounds.
I may be wrong but i think both Russians and Chinse depend on imported western technology. I can remember reading about China buying advanced CNC machine from US for manufacturing parts for MD-80 civil airliner and the Americans were supposed to be keeping a close eye on that machine to make sure the Chinese only used it for what they claimed they were going to use it for. Also in the 1980s it was rumoured that Russians obtained advanced CNC machines illicitly from Germany, for aeropace applications.
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June 1, 2004 at 6:30 pm