that is sad that j-31 got so far, only to die a death with no funding

We will know more next month at the Zhuhai Airshow. Might not be dead yet but it’s been read last rites.

I can appreciate that’s your opinion if you are Russian. It certainly wouldn’t be to Russian interest for America to increase its virtually non-existent profile in a region historically under Russian rule.

But I can also see it from the Kazakh perspective. Their economic future lies in selling energy products to China and providing passage of Chinese goods to Russia and Europe. If I were them I would want as many cards as I can get to play my big neighbors off. Having a third party alternative is definitely useful. Since Kazakhstan is not structurally dependent on America in any way it would be an attractive option. A squadron of F-35s simply does not give US the upper hand with Kazakh domestic politics.

Of course I don’t claim to speak for Kazakhstan as I am not Russian. I have nothing against Russia, simply addressing a question asked by a Kazakhstanian.

Countries shopping for 5th gen fighters need to understand the market is going to look very different than when they shoppped for 4th gen, which was a Cold War product built in huge quantities and by many makers. With stealth fighters there will be F-35, J-20, and T-50. The Chinese fighter is not for sale and the other two come with loss of political independence. Take your pick.

The only three known alternatives are the J-31, the South Korean, and Turkish programs. Of these the J-31 is the most developed but without early foreign investment probably wont exist in 2025. The South Korean program wont succeed without massive American assistance, which is not only not forthcoming, but will have similar political strings attached as the F-35 should it bear fruit. The Turkish project is IMO a pipe dream and bargaining strategy.

So the way things are shaping up 5th gen fighters could well be the dreadnoughts of the pre-WWI era – only a few countries had them and without them you didn’t have a real navy.

The article is nonsense. You’re better off forgetting everything it says and start from scratch.

J-20 is a heavy air superiority fighter, J-31 a mid weight air superiority fighter. The best analogy is Su-27 and MiG-29. Yes the J-20 does have much more range and payload and therefore has more growth potential as a strike aircraft.

For a geographically large country with distant threats it makes more sense to invest in the heavy fighter. Exactly the reason the Russians have negelected the Fulcrum for so long in favor of the Flanker. This had nothing to do with the Flanker being inferior at air combat maneuvering, quite the opposite.

The J-31 is unimpressive for one reason: its an early tech demonstrator. AFAIK Shenyang never built a real prototype. The YF-22 isn’t all that impressive compared to LRIP J-20s. It certainly has great potential. It is essentially what Lockheed Martin would have designed for the F-35 project if there was no VTOL requirement forcing major compromise on the design. But for it to reach its potential there is a very long road ahead and right now there’s no apparent domestic interest to keep it going.

After the next generation enters service in say the 2030s J-20 exports are conceivable. Could Pakistan afford it even then is another story.

The J-31 is not attractive for PLAAF for a number of reasons, among which its relatively short range does not meet Chinese needs. They would be better off buying as many J-20s as they could afford and upgrading legacy platforms. Plus if rumors are to be believed they have as many as two stealth bomber programs underway so budgets are constrained. The Navy also prefers a heavy fighter.

If the J-31 is to be built there would need to be stronger foreign interest from the likes of Pakistan, Iran, maybe Egypt and soon. I can see it as a budget stealth fighter using off the shelf systems from the J-10. Nowhere near as sophisticated as the F-35, but can give it a run for its money and turn the tables on gen 4.5. Right now its future is quite bleak. Maybe China can sell it off to someone at the early stages of their own gen 5 program.

thanks, does it state weight ?
what else does it say ?

Its unfortunatly very blurry. But it looks like 17 tons empty weight, 11 tons weapons load, 25 tons air combat weight. Max speed Mach 2.5, range 5500 km, combat radius 2000 km, ceiling 20,000 m. Length without pitot tube 21.26m.

It also says it has a 30mm cannon. What is this source?

Can of whoop ass

RIP. I saw the video of the two parachutes descending, seemed both would survive.