127-528: The Chengdu J-20 ( Chinese : 歼-20 ; pinyin : Jiān-Èrlíng ), also known as Mighty Dragon ( Chinese : 威龙 ; pinyin : Wēilóng , NATO reporting name : Fagin ), is a twin-engine all-weather stealth fighter developed by China 's Chengdu Aerospace Corporation for the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The J-20 is designed as an air superiority fighter with precision strike capability. The aircraft has three notable variants :
254-469: A nucleus that has a vowel (which can be a monophthong , diphthong , or even a triphthong in certain varieties), preceded by an onset (a single consonant , or consonant + glide ; a zero onset is also possible), and followed (optionally) by a coda consonant; a syllable also carries a tone . There are some instances where a vowel is not used as a nucleus. An example of this is in Cantonese, where
381-457: A subject–verb–object word order , and like many other languages of East Asia, makes frequent use of the topic–comment construction to form sentences. Chinese also has an extensive system of classifiers and measure words , another trait shared with neighboring languages such as Japanese and Korean. Other notable grammatical features common to all the spoken varieties of Chinese include the use of serial verb construction , pronoun dropping , and
508-510: A Chinese character is the morpheme, as characters represent the smallest grammatical units with individual meanings in the Chinese language. Estimates of the total number of Chinese words and lexicalized phrases vary greatly. The Hanyu Da Zidian , a compendium of Chinese characters, includes 54,678 head entries for characters, including oracle bone versions. The Zhonghua Zihai (1994) contains 85,568 head entries for character definitions and
635-599: A Shanghai resident may speak both Standard Chinese and Shanghainese ; if they grew up elsewhere, they are also likely fluent in the dialect of their home region. In addition to Standard Chinese, a majority of Taiwanese people also speak Taiwanese Hokkien (also called 台語 ; 'Taiwanese' ), Hakka , or an Austronesian language . A speaker in Taiwan may mix pronunciations and vocabulary from Standard Chinese and other languages of Taiwan in everyday speech. In part due to traditional cultural ties with Guangdong , Cantonese
762-462: A central variety (i.e. prestige variety, such as Standard Mandarin), as the issue requires some careful handling when mutual intelligibility is inconsistent with language identity. The Chinese government's official Chinese designation for the major branches of Chinese is 方言 ; fāngyán ; 'regional speech', whereas the more closely related varieties within these are called 地点方言 ; 地點方言 ; dìdiǎn fāngyán ; 'local speech'. Because of
889-576: A chin-mounted enclosed electro-optical sensor with a forward field-of-view for air-to-air applications. In 2015, Beijing A-Star Science and Technology was developing passive sensors, the EOTS-89 electro-optical targeting system and the EORD-31 infrared search and track , for the J-20. The passive sensors enhance the capability to engage stealthy aircraft. The J-20's usage of electro-optical sensors resembles
1016-551: A compressed airframe, folded fins, and a high-performance dual-pulse motor to reduce size, while maintaining the same level of performance as the PL-15. The J-20 will likely use air-to-air missiles to engage in air superiority combat with other aircraft and to destroy high-value airborne assets. Supplemental missions may include launching anti-radiation missiles and air-to-ground munitions for precision-strike missions. The wings include four hardpoints for auxiliary fuel tanks to extend
1143-563: A compromise between the pronunciations of different regions. The royal courts of the Ming and early Qing dynasties operated using a koiné language known as Guanhua , based on the Nanjing dialect of Mandarin. Standard Chinese is an official language of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan), one of the four official languages of Singapore , and one of
1270-714: A corresponding increase in the number of homophones . As an example, the small Langenscheidt Pocket Chinese Dictionary lists six words that are commonly pronounced as shí in Standard Chinese: In modern spoken Mandarin, however, tremendous ambiguity would result if all of these words could be used as-is. The 20th century Yuen Ren Chao poem Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den exploits this, consisting of 92 characters all pronounced shi . As such, most of these words have been replaced in speech, if not in writing, with less ambiguous disyllabic compounds. Only
1397-555: A long and blended fuselage , with a chiseled nose section and a frameless canopy . Immediately behind the cockpit are low-observable diverterless supersonic inlet (DSI) intakes. All-moving canard surfaces with pronounced dihedral are placed behind the intakes, followed by leading edge extensions (LERX) merging into the delta wing with forward-swept trailing edges. The aft section has twin outward canted all-moving fins, short but deep ventral strakes, and conventional or low-observable engine exhausts. One important design criterion for
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#17327763200481524-576: A millennium. The Four Commanderies of Han were established in northern Korea in the 1st century BCE but disintegrated in the following centuries. Chinese Buddhism spread over East Asia between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE, and with it the study of scriptures and literature in Literary Chinese. Later, strong central governments modeled on Chinese institutions were established in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, with Literary Chinese serving as
1651-482: A press conference that the radars on India's Su-30MKI fighters were "good enough" and could detect a J-20 from "several kilometers away" while answering a question on whether the J-20 posed a threat to India. However, experienced analysts didn't take Dhanoa's claim seriously due to his exaggeration and the lack of validity. Analyst Justin Bronk from Royal United Services Institute noted that Chinese were possibly flying
1778-487: A second operator includes the potential for better interpreting and exploiting the enormous sensory data that could overload the limited cognitive and processing capacity for a single human, especially in a contested air combat environment. In March 2022, Chinese state media reported that the J-20, reportedly with one engine replaced by the WS-15, had performed flight trials. In December 2022, Chinese military analysts indicated
1905-416: A second test flight of an hour and 20 minutes took place. On 5 May 2011, a 55-minute test flight was held that included retraction of the landing gear. On 26 February 2012, the first prototype J-20 performed various low-altitude maneuvers. On 10 May 2012, the second prototype (numbered "2002") underwent high-speed taxiing tests, and flight testing that began later that month. On 20 October 2012, photographs of
2032-542: A secure reconstruction of Proto-Sino-Tibetan, the higher-level structure of the family remains unclear. A top-level branching into Chinese and Tibeto-Burman languages is often assumed, but has not been convincingly demonstrated. The first written records appeared over 3,000 years ago during the Shang dynasty . As the language evolved over this period, the various local varieties became mutually unintelligible. In reaction, central governments have repeatedly sought to promulgate
2159-474: A short-range missile. In 2023, the United States reported that China planned to increase the J-20's missile capacity in "low-observable configuration". A staggered arrangement of six PL-15s is possible with modified rail launchers under development. A thinner profile missile, designated PL-16 , was also reportedly under development in 2020 to allow the six missiles for internal carriage. The PL-16 features
2286-508: A similar way to the use of Latin and Ancient Greek roots in European languages. Many new compounds, or new meanings for old phrases, were created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to name Western concepts and artifacts. These coinages, written in shared Chinese characters, have then been borrowed freely between languages. They have even been accepted into Chinese, a language usually resistant to loanwords, because their foreign origin
2413-678: A single language. However, their lack of mutual intelligibility means they are sometimes considered to be separate languages in a family . Investigation of the historical relationships among the varieties of Chinese is ongoing. Currently, most classifications posit 7 to 13 main regional groups based on phonetic developments from Middle Chinese , of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin with 66%, or around 800 million speakers, followed by Min (75 million, e.g. Southern Min ), Wu (74 million, e.g. Shanghainese ), and Yue (68 million, e.g. Cantonese ). These branches are unintelligible to each other, and many of their subgroups are unintelligible with
2540-499: A single transmit/receive module surface in the J-16's AESA radar system, J-20s likely contain 2000–2200 transmit/receive modules. A Chinese study commissioned by the military suggested the J-20's AESA radar would have a tracking range of 200 km (120 mi; 110 nmi) with simultaneous tracking for 20 targets, and multi-target engagement capabilities. The nose includes electro-optical sensors for an omnidirectional view, including
2667-538: A slight alteration to tail booms, suggesting the installation of rear-facing sensors. PLAAF also modified an airliner to serve as the AESA radar test-bed for the J-20 program. On 13 September 2015, a new prototype, marked "2016", began testing. It had noticeable improvements, such as apparently modified DSI bumps on the intakes. The DSI changes suggested the possibility of more powerful engines being used than its predecessors, likely to be an advanced 14-ton thrust derivative of
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#17327763200482794-540: A stealth shaping, yielding signature performance in a mature design similar to the F-22. The diverterless supersonic inlets (DSI) leading into serpentine inlets (S-ducts) can obscure the reflective surface of the engine from radar detection. DSI intakes save weight, reduce complexity, and minimize radar signature. Additional low-observable features include a flat fuselage bottom holding an internal weapons bay, sawtooth edges on compartment doors, mesh coverings on cooling ports at
2921-513: A twin-seat J-20 variant powered by thrust vectoring WS-10C. In October 2021, a taxiing prototype, dubbed J-20S by analysts, was spotted near Chengdu Aerospace Corporation facilities, making J-20S the first-ever two-seat stealth fighter . The twin-seat design allows the possibility for the second operator to coordinate attacks and reconnaissance missions from other friendly aircraft via networking or unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) linked via " loyal wingman " systems and sensors. The advantage of
3048-631: A unified standard. The earliest examples of Old Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones dated to c. 1250 BCE , during the Late Shang . The next attested stage came from inscriptions on bronze artifacts dating to the Western Zhou period (1046–771 BCE), the Classic of Poetry and portions of the Book of Documents and I Ching . Scholars have attempted to reconstruct
3175-575: A variety of Yue from a small coastal area around Taishan, Guangdong . In parts of South China, the dialect of a major city may be only marginally intelligible to its neighbors. For example, Wuzhou and Taishan are located approximately 260 km (160 mi) and 190 km (120 mi) away from Guangzhou respectively, but the Yue variety spoken in Wuzhou is more similar to the Guangzhou dialect than
3302-472: A wide-angle holographic heads-up display (HUD). The size of the primary LCD screen is 610 mm × 230 mm (24 in × 9 in), 650 mm (25.63 in) diagonal size, with two illumination systems for operational redundancy . The aircraft is fitted with a helmet-mounted display (HMD) system, which displays combat information inside the pilots' helmet visor and facilities firing missiles at high off-boresight angle. The main weapon bay
3429-602: Is Taishanese. Wuzhou is located directly upstream from Guangzhou on the Pearl River , whereas Taishan is to Guangzhou's southwest, with the two cities separated by several river valleys. In parts of Fujian , the speech of some neighbouring counties or villages is mutually unintelligible. Local varieties of Chinese are conventionally classified into seven dialect groups, largely based on the different evolution of Middle Chinese voiced initials: Proportions of first-language speakers The classification of Li Rong , which
3556-473: Is a turbofan engine designed and built by the People's Republic of China . Chinese media reported 266 engines were manufactured from 2010 to 2012 for the J-11 program. Unofficial estimates placed production at more than 300 units by May 2015. The WS-10A is advertised as an engine with 120–140 kilonewtons (27,000–31,000 lb f ) thrust. It has full authority digital engine control (FADEC). The WS-10
3683-709: Is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in China , as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora . Approximately 1.35 billion people, or 17% of the global population, speak a variety of Chinese as their first language . Chinese languages form the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The spoken varieties of Chinese are usually considered by native speakers to be dialects of
3810-450: Is a multirole air superiority fighter , with the interceptor role being just one of the options. The J-20 avionics aim to obtain situational awareness through advanced sensor and data fusion while denying situational awareness to the adversary through stealth and electronic warfare. The J-20 features an integrated avionic suite consisting of multi-spectral sensors capable of providing omnidirectional coverage with. Official information on
3937-490: Is called either 华语 ; 華語 ; Huáyǔ or 汉语 ; 漢語 ; Hànyǔ ). Standard Chinese is based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. The governments of both China and Taiwan intend for speakers of all Chinese speech varieties to use it as a common language of communication. Therefore, it is used in government agencies, in the media, and as a language of instruction in schools. Diglossia is common among Chinese speakers. For example,
Chengdu J-20 - Misplaced Pages Continue
4064-507: Is capable of housing both long-range air-to-air missiles (AAM; PL-15 – PL-21 ) and precision-guided munitions ( PGM ; LS-6/50 , LS-6/100, FT-7 ), while the two smaller lateral weapon bays behind the air inlets are intended for short-range AAMs ( PL-10 ). These side bays allow closure of the bay doors prior to firing the missile, enhancing stealth and allowing the missile to be fired in the shortest possible time. The main bay may carry four medium/long-range AAMs, with each lateral bay carrying
4191-407: Is equipped with a new variant of WS-10 Taihang engines with serrated afterburner nozzles to enhance stealth. Report indicated Chengdu Aerospace Corporation terminated the manufacturing of J-20 with Russian engines in mid-2019. Chinese media reported that a new variant of the J-20 was unveiled on July 8, 2020, and entered mass production the same day. The only change mentioned was that the new J-20
4318-466: Is not designed for thrust vectoring, unlike the WS-10 TVC demonstrated on a J-10 in 2018 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition . Analyst Jamie Hunter believed the new engine type is what he called WS-10B-3, a Chinese-made thrust-vectoring engine demonstrated on the 2018 Zhuhai Airshow . In January 2021, South China Morning Post reported that the J-20 would replace its engines with
4445-603: Is often described as a 'monosyllabic' language. However, this is only partially correct. It is largely accurate when describing Old and Middle Chinese; in Classical Chinese, around 90% of words consist of a single character that corresponds one-to-one with a morpheme , the smallest unit of meaning in a language. In modern varieties, it usually remains the case that morphemes are monosyllabic—in contrast, English has many multi-syllable morphemes, both bound and free , such as 'seven', 'elephant', 'para-' and '-able'. Some of
4572-445: Is only about an eighth as many as English. All varieties of spoken Chinese use tones to distinguish words. A few dialects of north China may have as few as three tones, while some dialects in south China have up to 6 or 12 tones, depending on how one counts. One exception from this is Shanghainese which has reduced the set of tones to a two-toned pitch accent system much like modern Japanese. A very common example used to illustrate
4699-820: Is reverse engineered from the CFM56 with the experience gained from the Woshan WS-6 turbofan project, which was abandoned at the start of the 1980s. The WS-10 project was reportedly started by Deng Xiaoping in 1986 to produce an engine comparable to the Saturn AL-31 . The work was given to the Shenyang Aeroengine Research Institute (606 Institute) of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). Initial production models suffered quality issues from
4826-660: Is said to represent the initial pre-serial standard. By the end of 2014, three more pre-serial prototypes were flown, each with incremental improvements to the design. The fourth prototype "2012" was tested on 26 July 2014, sharing many similarities with the "2011". This pair of aircraft was reportedly powered by AL-31FM2 engines. The fifth prototype, numbered "2013", took off on 29 November 2014. Three weeks later, number "2015" made its maiden flight on 19 December 2014, indicating rapid construction capability. Both prototypes featured retractable aerial refueling probes and infrared-suppression engine nozzles. The sixth prototype "2015" featured
4953-668: Is specifically meant. However, when one of the above words forms part of a compound, the disambiguating syllable is generally dropped and the resulting word is still disyllabic. For example, 石 ; shí alone, and not 石头 ; 石頭 ; shítou , appears in compounds as meaning 'stone' such as 石膏 ; shígāo ; 'plaster', 石灰 ; shíhuī ; 'lime', 石窟 ; shíkū ; 'grotto', 石英 ; 'quartz', and 石油 ; shíyóu ; 'petroleum'. Although many single-syllable morphemes ( 字 ; zì ) can stand alone as individual words, they more often than not form multi-syllable compounds known as 词 ; 詞 ; cí , which more closely resembles
5080-489: Is the largest reference work based purely on character and its literary variants. The CC-CEDICT project (2010) contains 97,404 contemporary entries including idioms, technology terms, and names of political figures, businesses, and products. The 2009 version of the Webster's Digital Chinese Dictionary (WDCD), based on CC-CEDICT, contains over 84,000 entries. The most comprehensive pure linguistic Chinese-language dictionary,
5207-501: Is used as an everyday language in Hong Kong and Macau . The designation of various Chinese branches remains controversial. Some linguists and most ordinary Chinese people consider all the spoken varieties as one single language, as speakers share a common national identity and a common written form. Others instead argue that it is inappropriate to refer to major branches of Chinese such as Mandarin, Wu, and so on as "dialects" because
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5334-500: Is used in education, media, formal speech, and everyday life—though Mandarin is increasingly taught in schools due to the mainland's growing influence. Historically, the Chinese language has spread to its neighbors through a variety of means. Northern Vietnam was incorporated into the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) in 111 BCE, marking the beginning of a period of Chinese control that ran almost continuously for
5461-552: Is used in the Language Atlas of China (1987), distinguishes three further groups: Some varieties remain unclassified, including the Danzhou dialect on Hainan , Waxianghua spoken in western Hunan , and Shaozhou Tuhua spoken in northern Guangdong . Standard Chinese is the standard language of China (where it is called 普通话 ; pǔtōnghuà ) and Taiwan, and one of the four official languages of Singapore (where it
5588-508: Is very close to the final J-20 production configuration. Since '2017' was likely the last J-20 prototype, the low rate initial production (LRIP) of the J-20 is likely to begin in 2016. Chinese media reported that the design of the J-20 was frozen and finalized, as formal ceremonies were held for the prototype "2017" after completing the flight testing. The LRIP version later appeared in December 2015. In March 2017, Chinese media reported that
5715-428: Is very complex, with a large number of consonants and vowels, but they are probably not all distinguished in any single dialect. Most linguists now believe it represents a diasystem encompassing 6th-century northern and southern standards for reading the classics. The complex relationship between spoken and written Chinese is an example of diglossia : as spoken, Chinese varieties have evolved at different rates, while
5842-753: The Qieyun rime dictionary (601 CE), and a late period in the 10th century, reflected by rhyme tables such as the Yunjing constructed by ancient Chinese philologists as a guide to the Qieyun system. These works define phonological categories but with little hint of what sounds they represent. Linguists have identified these sounds by comparing the categories with pronunciations in modern varieties of Chinese , borrowed Chinese words in Japanese, Vietnamese, and Korean, and transcription evidence. The resulting system
5969-661: The Chengdu J-20 . The WS-10B reportedly powered low rate initial production aircraft in 2015, and was used as an interim engine before the adoption of the AL-31. In 2019, the Xian WS-15 – the J-20's intended engine – failed trials, leading to the decision to replace the AL-31 with the WS-10C as the interim engine; reportedly, the AL-31 was unacceptable because Russia refused to sell additional engines unless China also bought
6096-473: The Eurofighter . Similarly, Chinese aerospace researchers also concluded that, in terms of stealth, the canard delta configuration is comparable with the conventional arrangement. Composite materials are applied to minimize the J-20's RCS. The DSI enables an aircraft to reach Mach 2.0 with a simpler intake than traditionally required, and improves stealth performance by eliminating radar reflections between
6223-533: The Korean , Japanese and Vietnamese languages, and today comprise over half of their vocabularies. This massive influx led to changes in the phonological structure of the languages, contributing to the development of moraic structure in Japanese and the disruption of vowel harmony in Korean. Borrowed Chinese morphemes have been used extensively in all these languages to coin compound words for new concepts, in
6350-658: The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II 's avionic suite, including the AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System . According to Chinese media in February 2024, the J-20 is equipped to perform airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) operations. The aircraft features a fully-digital glass cockpit with one primary large color liquid-crystal display (LCD) touchscreen , three smaller auxiliary displays, and
6477-710: The May Fourth Movement beginning in 1919. After the fall of the Northern Song dynasty and subsequent reign of the Jurchen Jin and Mongol Yuan dynasties in northern China, a common speech (now called Old Mandarin ) developed based on the dialects of the North China Plain around the capital. The 1324 Zhongyuan Yinyun was a dictionary that codified the rhyming conventions of new sanqu verse form in this language. Together with
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#17327763200486604-595: The National Language Unification Commission finally settled on the Beijing dialect in 1932. The People's Republic founded in 1949 retained this standard but renamed it 普通话 ; 普通話 ; pǔtōnghuà ; 'common speech'. The national language is now used in education, the media, and formal situations in both mainland China and Taiwan. In Hong Kong and Macau , Cantonese is the dominant spoken language due to cultural influence from Guangdong immigrants and colonial-era policies, and
6731-548: The Sukhoi Su-35 as well. Testing was underway by November 2020. In January 2022, it was reported that J-20's powered by the WS-10C would be upgraded with TVC. The original WS-10A has a thrust-to-weight ratio of 7.5, the improved WS-10B is rated approximately 9.0, while the WS-10C is capable of 9.5 or higher — adequate for the Chengdu J-20 to supercruise . In November 2022, a production Shenyang J-15 powered by
6858-592: The U.S. Navy's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) incorporated canards on a stealthy airframe. Lockheed Martin employed canards on a stealth airframe for the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) program during early development before dropping them due to complications with aircraft carrier recovery. McDonnell Douglas and NASA's X-36 featured canards and was considered to be extremely stealthy. RCS can be further reduced by controlling canard deflection through flight-control software, as on
6985-478: The oracle bone inscriptions created during the Shang dynasty c. 1250 BCE . The phonetic categories of Old Chinese can be reconstructed from the rhymes of ancient poetry. During the Northern and Southern period , Middle Chinese went through several sound changes and split into several varieties following prolonged geographic and political separation. The Qieyun , a rime dictionary , recorded
7112-596: The phonology of Old Chinese by comparing later varieties of Chinese with the rhyming practice of the Classic of Poetry and the phonetic elements found in the majority of Chinese characters. Although many of the finer details remain unclear, most scholars agree that Old Chinese differs from Middle Chinese in lacking retroflex and palatal obstruents but having initial consonant clusters of some sort, and in having voiceless nasals and liquids. Most recent reconstructions also describe an atonal language with consonant clusters at
7239-765: The 12-volume Hanyu Da Cidian , records more than 23,000 head Chinese characters and gives over 370,000 definitions. The 1999 revised Cihai , a multi-volume encyclopedic dictionary reference work, gives 122,836 vocabulary entry definitions under 19,485 Chinese characters, including proper names, phrases, and common zoological, geographical, sociological, scientific, and technical terms. The 2016 edition of Xiandai Hanyu Cidian , an authoritative one-volume dictionary on modern standard Chinese language as used in mainland China, has 13,000 head characters and defines 70,000 words. Shenyang WS-10#WS-10 TVC The Shenyang WS-10 ( Chinese : 涡扇-10 ; pinyin : Wōshàn-10 ; lit. 'turbofan-10'), codename Taihang ,
7366-602: The 1970s, and the J-10 . In 2009, a senior PLAAF official revealed that the first flight was expected in 2010–11, with a service entry date by 2019. On 22 December 2010, the first J-20 prototype underwent high speed taxiing tests outside the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute (CADI). Three months later, the first J-20 prototype made its maiden flight in Chengdu . The first prototype was painted with
7493-459: The AL-31 needed refurbishing after 400 hours. The quality problems encountered with the WS-10A reflected the state of the Chinese aerospace industry. AVIC initiated a general effort to improve quality control throughout its production chain in 2011. The WS-10A reportedly matured enough after 2009 to power the twin-engined J-11B Block 02 aircraft. Production or performance issues may have prevented
7620-562: The AL-31 would be fitted with the WS-15. In April 2023, China reported that the WS-15 was ready for mass production. The aircraft is equipped with a retractable refueling probe embedded on the right side of the cockpit, to help the fighter to maintain stealth while flying greater distances. Analysts noted that the J-20's airframe employs a holistic approach to reduce its Radar cross-section (RCS), uniquely combining canard wings with leading edge root extensions (LERX). The chined forebody, modified radar radome , and electroconductive canopy use
7747-527: The Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute (CADI) facilities before the maiden flight. On 11 January 2011, the first J-20 prototype (numbered "2001") made its first flight, lasting about 15 minutes, with a Chengdu J-10B serving as the chase aircraft . After the successful flight, a ceremony was held, attended by the pilot, Li Gang, Chief Designer Yang Wei and General Li Andong, Deputy-Director of General Armaments. On 17 April 2011,
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#17327763200487874-415: The F-22 and F-35. The engine's extra power and cooling could also be used by future directed energy weapons and sensors. The WS-15 development was reportedly ongoing in 2019. In March 2022, Chinese state media reported that the J-20 had performed flight trials with the engine and experienced significantly improved performance. It was also reported that eventually, new production and existing aircraft powered by
8001-478: The J-20 is high instability . This requires sustained pitch authority at a high angle of attack, in which a conventional tail-plane would lose effectiveness due to stalling . On the other hand, a canard can deflect opposite to the angle of attack, avoiding stall and thereby maintaining control. A canard design is also known to provide good supersonic performance, excellent supersonic and transonic turn performance, and improved short-field landing performance compared to
8128-505: The J-20 platform were being developed. In January 2019, Chinese media reported that a twin-seat variant of the J-20 is rumored to be in development for use in tactical bombing , electronic warfare and carrier strike roles. In November 2019, a J-20 painted in yellow primer coating was spotted during its flight testing by defense observers at the Chengdu Aerospace Corporation manufacturing facility. The aircraft
8255-487: The J-20 prototype "2052" equipped with two distinguishable WS-15 engines took flight in Chengdu, captured by Chinese military enthusiasts and spread throughout social media. Another prototype with serial number "2053" also reportedly conducted a test flight in the same period with WS-15 engines. Despite the lack of clear pictures, circumstantial evidence such as a photo of the engine installation ceremony, lack of censorship by
8382-447: The J-20 with radar reflectors during peacetime for safety and training purposes due to the potential for accidents and identification from other aircraft or ground installations. In a more recent report, Bronk also states that even with limited stealth, J-20 could hide and strike enemy critical platforms in an airspace with background clutter caused by non-stealth fighters and other electromagnetic noise. According to Aviation Week in 2021,
8509-510: The J-20's stealth characteristics were superior to the Sukhoi Su-57 in the frontal aspect but inferior overall - particularly in the rear - to the F-35 . As the program matures with each batch, recently produced models have seen constant and significant enhancement in their stealth profile. On 10 December 2010, the first J-20 prototype was observed undertaking high-speed taxiing tests around
8636-565: The Latin-based Vietnamese alphabet . English words of Chinese origin include tea from Hokkien 茶 ( tê ), dim sum from Cantonese 點心 ( dim2 sam1 ), and kumquat from Cantonese 金橘 ( gam1 gwat1 ). The sinologist Jerry Norman has estimated that there are hundreds of mutually unintelligible varieties of Chinese. These varieties form a dialect continuum , in which differences in speech generally become more pronounced as distances increase, though
8763-729: The Pentagon reported that PLAAF was upgrading the J-20, with enhancements such as extended weapon-carrying capability, thrust vectoring nozzles, control systems for unmanned aircraft teaming, and WS-15 high-thrust engines. In November 2024, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) officially announced the twin-seat variant of the J-20, designated the J-20S. Functions of the variant include long-range operations with multi-role capabilities, including air superiority, precision strikes, manned-unmanned teaming, battlefield surveillance , electronic warfare , and command and control . The J-20 has
8890-532: The Russian AL-31 or Chinese Shenyang WS-10 turbofan engines. By 2020, the J-20 is scheduled to use the 18–19 ton WS-15 engine, enabling the jet to supercruise without using afterburners. The trapezoidal flight booms around the engines were further enlarged, possibly to accommodate rearwards-facing radars, electronic countermeasures, and jamming equipment. The fuselage was extended to the engine's exhaust nozzles. Compared to its "2014" and "2015" predecessors,
9017-493: The US military reported that the J-20 was gradually receiving upgrades. In the same month, new J-20 two-seater variant began flight testing. In December 2022, the prototype "2051" in yellow premier coat took flight. The new prototype had a redesigned canopy section and was speculated for engine and thrust-vectoring testing In March 2023, J-20 fitted with one Shenyang WS-15 engine reportedly performed experimental flights. On 29 June 2023,
9144-626: The WS-10, possible the WS-10B, appeared in Chinese media. It was the last indigenous Chinese combat aircraft to replace the AL-31; possibly due to navalisation . According to Chinese observers, compared to the AL-31 the WS-10 had superior safety, reliability, and service life, aspects which are magnified by the constraints of carrier aviation. The replacement reflected continuing improvements in China's aviation engine industry. The Shenyang WS-20 (WS-188)
9271-469: The WS-10A approached the performance of the AL-31, but took much longer than the AL-31 to develop thrust. Furthermore, the engine reportedly only generated 110–125 kilonewtons (25,000–28,000 lb f ) of thrust. In April 2009, Lin Zuoming , head of AVIC, reported that the engine's quality was unsatisfactory. In 2010, it was reported that reliability was also poor; the WS-10A lasted only 30 hours, while
9398-508: The WS-10A from powering the single-engined J-10B. In 2018, Chinese state media reported an increase in engine lifespan from 800 to 1,500 hours due to the increased heat resistance of new third-generation single-crystal turbine blades. In March 2020, Chinese state media released a video showing a WS-10B-powered J-10C; aircraft markings suggest it was part of the fourth batch of J-10Cs for the PLAAF. The WS-10 has also powered various versions of
9525-481: The WS-10C were underway by November 2020. The PLAAF began receiving WS-10C powered aircraft by 2021. In January 2022, it was reported that aircraft powered by the WS-10C would be upgraded with TVC. Erportedly, the WS-10C enabled supercruise . The intended powerplant is the Shenyang WS-15 with a thrust of 180 kN. The WS-15 enables supercruise , enhances maneuverability, and gives the J-20 more thrust than
9652-475: The WS-10C. The WS-10C is considered an interim solution before Shenyang WS-15 passes evaluations. Moreover, WS-10C will not be equipped with the thrust-vectoring version of the J-20 that entered mass production in 2019, which still required further testing. Overall, Chinese engineers believe WS-10C is comparable with AL-31F in performance, and the replacement would also reduce China's dependency on Russian engines. The WS-10C-powered J-20 has officially showcased to
9779-409: The WS-15 was undertaking the last stage of testing and development. In late December, a prototype of the new J-20 variant was observed at Chengdu Aerospace Corporation facilities. The new variant was painted in yellow primer and different from previous J-20 aircraft in airframe design, with a low-profile blended canopy, aiming to optimize transonic flight performance and maneuverability. The new prototype
9906-473: The WS-15, and the engine approached the final stage of testing before serial production. Analyst Rick Joe speculated the initial production batch of the revised J-20 model might enter service with WS-10 or WS-15 engine, depending on the circumstances surrounding the development. In late December 2015, a new J-20 numbered 2101 was spotted; it is believed to be the LRIP version of the aircraft. Chinese media suggested
10033-537: The adoption of the AL-31. There are conflicting reports concerning the powerplant of the TVC-equipped J-20, dubbed J-20B. The powerplant has been identified as the AL-31FM2, or a variant of the WS-10; "WS-10C" by Andreas Rupprecht, or "WS-10B-3" by Jamie Hunter. The TVC-equipped WS-10B-3 was demonstrated at the 2018 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition. The Shenyang WS-10C was selected as
10160-425: The adoption of the more powerful Shenyang WS-15 . During the prototype and initial service period, the fighter was powered by an improved Lyulka-Saturn AL-31 variant, reportedly the AL-31FM2 developed by Salyut. The engine has a "special power setting" thrust of 145 kN (32,600 lbf). The Shenyang WS-10B reportedly powered low rate initial production aircraft in 2015, and was used as an interim engine before
10287-493: The aircraft's turn performance. The use of a bubble canopy, extensive flight-control surfaces, and canard configuration for angle-of-attack control indicates J-20's intention to operate in air-superiority missions and within-visual-range engagements. Chief test pilot Li Gang describes the J-20 as having comparable manoeuvrability to the Chengdu J-10 while being significantly better at low-observable (LO) performance. The J-20
10414-521: The aircraft. In December 2015, the low rate initial production (LRIP) version of the J-20 was spotted by military observers. The LRIP aircraft revealed dielectric surfaces that were previously painted for prototypes, potentially containing various sensors or baked-in radar absorbing materials. In October 2017, Chinese state media reported that the designs of the J-20 had been finalized, and were ready for mass production as well as being combat-ready. In March 2018, Chinese military revealed other versions of
10541-468: The authorities, and modified airframe suggested the WS-15 was evidently mounted, though Janes Information Services noted the engines on trial apparently lacks the thrust vectoring control (TVC) paddles, which could be added later. According to editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, vector thrust control and variable cycle engines were "likely under development". In 2024, clear photo evidence confirmed that J-20 prototypes took flight with
10668-575: The base of the vertical tails, embedded antennas, and radar-absorbent coating materials. While the aircraft's fins/strakes and axisymmetric rear areas may expose the aircraft to radar, the overall stealth shaping of the J-20 is robust and considerably more capable than the Russian PAK-FA . Improvements regarding stealth were subsequently introduced - one prototype in 2014 was powered by WS-10 engines equipped with different jagged-edge nozzles and tiles for greater stealth. The J-20 production model with
10795-493: The conventional delta-wing design. Leading edge extensions and body lift are incorporated to enhance performance in a canard layout. This combination is said by the designer to generate 1.2 times the lift of an ordinary canard delta, and 1.8 times more lift than an equivalent-sized pure delta configuration. The designer claims such a combination allows the use of a smaller wing, reducing supersonic drag without compromising transonic lift-to-drag characteristics that are crucial to
10922-399: The different spoken dialects varies, but in general, there has been a tendency to a reduction in sounds from Middle Chinese. The Mandarin dialects in particular have experienced a dramatic decrease in sounds and so have far more polysyllabic words than most other spoken varieties. The total number of syllables in some varieties is therefore only about a thousand, including tonal variation, which
11049-484: The difficulties involved in determining the difference between language and dialect, other terms have been proposed. These include topolect , lect , vernacular , regional , and variety . Syllables in the Chinese languages have some unique characteristics. They are tightly related to the morphology and also to the characters of the writing system, and phonologically they are structured according to fixed rules. The structure of each syllable consists of
11176-504: The diverter and the aircraft's skin. Analysts have also noted that the J-20 DSI reduces the need for the application of radar-absorbent materials . A removable radar reflectors ( Luneburg lens ) is mounted on the underside of the J-20 to amplify its radar returns, concealing the real radar signature. In the 2021 production model, the emitter is re-engineered to be retractable. In May 2018, Indian Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa claimed at
11303-493: The early direct use of AL-31 control systems. Furthermore, Salyut refused to sell the control system source code, forcing China to spend nearly 20 years developing its own code independently. An early version of the FADEC flew on an J-8 II in 2002. The WS-10A, targeted for 130 kilonewtons (29,000 lb f ) of thrust, was already in development in 2002. In 2004, Russian sources familiar with project reported problems meeting
11430-576: The end of the syllable, developing into tone distinctions in Middle Chinese. Several derivational affixes have also been identified, but the language lacks inflection , and indicated grammatical relationships using word order and grammatical particles . Middle Chinese was the language used during Northern and Southern dynasties and the Sui , Tang , and Song dynasties (6th–10th centuries CE). It can be divided into an early period, reflected by
11557-403: The engine's surface area is further embedded inside the stealthy coating, providing greater rear-facing stealth against enemy detection. On 24 November 2015, a new J-20 prototype, numbered "2017", took to the sky. The most significant change in the new prototype was the reshaped cockpit canopy, which provides the pilot with greater visibility. The lack of other design changes suggested that "2017"
11684-640: The ferrying range and large weapons, like the PL-17 . The J-20 is unlikely to be the primary carrier of such large weapons as they compromise the aircraft's stealth. The J-20 reportedly lacks an internal autocannon or rotary cannon , suggesting a preference for long-range engagements with missiles rather than short-ranged dogfights . The J-20 is powered by Shenyang WS-10 , an afterburner turbofan engine manufactured by Shenyang Liming Aircraft Engine Company , which reportedly enables supercruise and high maneuverability . The WS-10C served as an interim engine before
11811-529: The fighter entered service. But it still faced a series of technical challenges that needed to be tackled, including the reliability of its WS-15 engines, the aircraft's flight control system, stealth coatings, hull materials, and infrared sensor. In September 2017, a newly built J-20 prototype (numbered "2021") was flight testing with Chinese-made WS-10 Taihang engines, featuring sawtoothed serration edge on its afterburning nozzles. The J-20 with indigenous WS-10C engines began production in 2019. In September 2018, it
11938-507: The first J-20 combat unit formed in February 2018, making China the second country in the world and the first in Asia to field an operational stealth aircraft. The J-20 emerged from the late-1990s J-XX program. In 2008, the PLAAF endorsed Chengdu Aerospace Corporation 's proposal, Project 718. Chengdu had previously used the double-canard configuration in the J-9 , its first design and cancelled in
12065-413: The first one, 十 , normally appears in monosyllabic form in spoken Mandarin; the rest are normally used in the polysyllabic forms of respectively. In each, the homophone was disambiguated by the addition of another morpheme, typically either a near-synonym or some sort of generic word (e.g. 'head', 'thing'), the purpose of which is to indicate which of the possible meanings of the other, homophonic syllable
12192-491: The form of a word), to indicate a word's function within a sentence. In other words, Chinese has very few grammatical inflections —it possesses no tenses , no voices , no grammatical number , and only a few articles . They make heavy use of grammatical particles to indicate aspect and mood . In Mandarin, this involves the use of particles such as 了 ; le ; ' PFV ', 还 ; 還 ; hái ; 'still', and 已经 ; 已經 ; yǐjīng ; 'already'. Chinese has
12319-618: The government of the People's Republic of China, with Singapore officially adopting them in 1976. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and among Chinese-speaking communities overseas . Linguists classify all varieties of Chinese as part of the Sino-Tibetan language family , together with Burmese , Tibetan and many other languages spoken in the Himalayas and the Southeast Asian Massif . Although
12446-517: The initial production model, the revised airframe variant with new engines and thrust-vectoring control, and the aircraft-teaming capable twin-seat variant. Descending from the J-XX program of the 1990s, the aircraft made its maiden flight on 11 January 2011, and was officially revealed at the 2016 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition . The aircraft entered service in March 2017 with
12573-586: The language of administration and scholarship, a position it would retain until the late 19th century in Korea and (to a lesser extent) Japan, and the early 20th century in Vietnam. Scholars from different lands could communicate, albeit only in writing, using Literary Chinese. Although they used Chinese solely for written communication, each country had its own tradition of reading texts aloud using what are known as Sino-Xenic pronunciations . Chinese words with these pronunciations were also extensively imported into
12700-528: The late 19th century. Today Japanese is written with a composite script using both Chinese characters called kanji , and kana. Korean is written exclusively with hangul in North Korea, although knowledge of the supplementary Chinese characters called hanja is still required, and hanja are increasingly rarely used in South Korea. As a result of its historical colonization by France, Vietnamese now uses
12827-455: The more conservative modern varieties, usually found in the south, have largely monosyllabic words , especially with basic vocabulary. However, most nouns, adjectives, and verbs in modern Mandarin are disyllabic. A significant cause of this is phonetic erosion : sound changes over time have steadily reduced the number of possible syllables in the language's inventory. In modern Mandarin, there are only around 1,200 possible syllables, including
12954-425: The mutual unintelligibility between them is too great. However, calling major Chinese branches "languages" would also be wrong under the same criterion, since a branch such as Wu, itself contains many mutually unintelligible varieties, and could not be properly called a single language. There are also viewpoints pointing out that linguists often ignore mutual intelligibility when varieties share intelligibility with
13081-583: The nasal sonorant consonants /m/ and /ŋ/ can stand alone as their own syllable. In Mandarin much more than in other spoken varieties, most syllables tend to be open syllables, meaning they have no coda (assuming that a final glide is not analyzed as a coda), but syllables that do have codas are restricted to nasals /m/ , /n/ , /ŋ/ , the retroflex approximant /ɻ/ , and voiceless stops /p/ , /t/ , /k/ , or /ʔ/ . Some varieties allow most of these codas, whereas others, such as Standard Chinese, are limited to only /n/ , /ŋ/ , and /ɻ/ . The number of sounds in
13208-756: The number "2001". In May 2012, the second prototype took flight in the CADI facility. Several changes were made to the third J-20 prototype, numbered "2011", which made its maiden flight in March 2014. The new prototype showed increasing sophistication in design, including numerous subtle changes from the first two prototypes. The new airframe introduced modified diverterless supersonic inlet (DSI) intakes, stealth coating, streamlined underwing fairings, and redesigned vertical stabilizers. Analysts noted new equipment and devices for multi-role operations, such as integrated targeting pods for precision-guided munition, and six additional passive infrared sensors can also be spotted around
13335-538: The other varieties within the same branch (e.g. Southern Min). There are, however, transitional areas where varieties from different branches share enough features for some limited intelligibility, including New Xiang with Southwestern Mandarin , Xuanzhou Wu Chinese with Lower Yangtze Mandarin , Jin with Central Plains Mandarin and certain divergent dialects of Hakka with Gan . All varieties of Chinese are tonal at least to some degree, and are largely analytic . The earliest attested written Chinese consists of
13462-529: The prototype with open compartment doors and a modified pitot tube emerged, suggesting the possible inclusion of radar or sensors. In March 2013, images of the side weapon bays appeared, displaying a missile launch rail. On 16 January 2014, the third J-20 prototype was revealed, showing new intakes, embedded engine nozzles, and stealth coating, as well as redesigned vertical stabilizers, and an Electro-Optical Targeting System . This particular aircraft, numbered "2011", performed its maiden flight on 1 March 2014 and
13589-406: The public on 28 September 2021 at Zhuhai Airshow. The development of a twin-seater variant was hinted at by J-20's chief designer in 2019. In January 2021, Aviation Industry Corporation of China released computer renderings of the twin-seat variant of the J-20 fighter in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the jet's maiden flight. In February 2021, a South China Morning Post infographic depicted
13716-404: The rate of change varies immensely. Generally, mountainous South China exhibits more linguistic diversity than the North China Plain . Until the late 20th century, Chinese emigrants to Southeast Asia and North America came from southeast coastal areas, where Min, Hakka, and Yue dialects were spoken. Specifically, most Chinese immigrants to North America until the mid-20th century spoke Taishanese ,
13843-552: The related subject dropping . Although the grammars of the spoken varieties share many traits, they do possess differences. The entire Chinese character corpus since antiquity comprises well over 50,000 characters, of which only roughly 10,000 are in use and only about 3,000 are frequently used in Chinese media and newspapers. However, Chinese characters should not be confused with Chinese words. Because most Chinese words are made up of two or more characters, there are many more Chinese words than characters. A more accurate equivalent for
13970-509: The relationship was first proposed in the early 19th century and is now broadly accepted, reconstruction of Sino-Tibetan is much less developed than that of families such as Indo-European or Austroasiatic . Difficulties have included the great diversity of the languages, the lack of inflection in many of them, and the effects of language contact. In addition, many of the smaller languages are spoken in mountainous areas that are difficult to reach and are often also sensitive border zones. Without
14097-401: The replacement for AL-31 due to delays on the testing and production of the WS-15 engine. Aircraft powered by WS-10Cs were flying by September 2019. The engine has a thrust of 142-147 kN, a thrust-to-weight ratio of 9.5, providing necessary propulsion for J-20 to supercruise , and is fitted with serrated afterburner nozzles for enhanced rear-aspect stealth. Flights with prototypes powered by
14224-443: The serrated WS-10C engine is also capable of mitigating negative effects on rear-aspect stealth. Others have raised doubts about the use of canards on a low-observable design, stating that canards would guarantee radar detection and compromise stealth. However, these critiques with respect to the canard's RCS may be unfounded. Canards and low-observability are not necessarily mutually exclusive designs. Northrop Grumman's proposal for
14351-517: The six official languages of the United Nations . Standard Chinese is based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin and was first officially adopted in the 1930s. The language is written primarily using a logography of Chinese characters , largely shared by readers who may otherwise speak mutually unintelligible varieties. Since the 1950s, the use of simplified characters has been promoted by
14478-561: The slightly later Menggu Ziyun , this dictionary describes a language with many of the features characteristic of modern Mandarin dialects. Up to the early 20th century, most Chinese people only spoke their local variety. Thus, as a practical measure, officials of the Ming and Qing dynasties carried out the administration of the empire using a common language based on Mandarin varieties , known as 官话 ; 官話 ; Guānhuà ; 'language of officials'. For most of this period, this language
14605-541: The stealth aircraft will enter production ahead of schedule. In July 2016, pre-production models with dark-grey paint and low visibility insignias were spotted inside a Chengdu Aerospace Corporation (CAC) facility. The production rate indicated an intended initial operational capability (IOC) date of around 2017–2018. Chinese language Chinese ( simplified Chinese : 汉语 ; traditional Chinese : 漢語 ; pinyin : Hànyǔ ; lit. ' Han language' or 中文 ; Zhōngwén ; 'Chinese writing')
14732-454: The thrust target; in 2005, they reported problems reducing the weight of the primary and secondary compressors, in addition to problems meeting thrust requirements. Engine testing on the J-11 had already started by 2004, and testing using one engine on the J-11 may have occurred as early as 2002. A full-scale WS-10A engine was first seen at the 2008 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition . In 2009, Western media claim that
14859-623: The tonal distinctions, compared with about 5,000 in Vietnamese (still a largely monosyllabic language), and over 8,000 in English. Most modern varieties tend to form new words through polysyllabic compounds . In some cases, monosyllabic words have become disyllabic formed from different characters without the use of compounding, as in 窟窿 ; kūlong from 孔 ; kǒng ; this is especially common in Jin varieties. This phonological collapse has led to
14986-547: The traditional Western notion of a word. A Chinese cí can consist of more than one character–morpheme, usually two, but there can be three or more. Examples of Chinese words of more than two syllables include 汉堡包 ; 漢堡包 ; hànbǎobāo ; 'hamburger', 守门员 ; 守門員 ; shǒuményuán ; 'goalkeeper', and 电子邮件 ; 電子郵件 ; diànzǐyóujiàn ; 'e-mail'. All varieties of modern Chinese are analytic languages : they depend on syntax (word order and sentence structure), rather than inflectional morphology (changes in
15113-466: The type of radar that J-20s use has not yet been released publicly. Some analysts believed that J-20s used Type 1475 (KLJ-5) active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar with 1856 transmit/receive modules, but more recent information revealed that this radar was designed for upgraded versions of the J-11D. Other analysts point out that, based on the nose cross-section of the J-20 and known data about
15240-512: The use of tones in Chinese is the application of the four tones of Standard Chinese, along with the neutral tone, to the syllable ma . The tones are exemplified by the following five Chinese words: In contrast, Standard Cantonese has six tones. Historically, finals that end in a stop consonant were considered to be " checked tones " and thus counted separately for a total of nine tones. However, they are considered to be duplicates in modern linguistics and are no longer counted as such: Chinese
15367-452: The words in newspapers, and 60% of the words in science magazines. Vietnam, Korea, and Japan each developed writing systems for their own languages, initially based on Chinese characters , but later replaced with the hangul alphabet for Korean and supplemented with kana syllabaries for Japanese, while Vietnamese continued to be written with the complex chữ Nôm script. However, these were limited to popular literature until
15494-517: The written language used throughout China changed comparatively little, crystallizing into a prestige form known as Classical or Literary Chinese . Literature written distinctly in the Classical form began to emerge during the Spring and Autumn period . Its use in writing remained nearly universal until the late 19th century, culminating with the widespread adoption of written vernacular Chinese with
15621-453: Was a koiné based on dialects spoken in the Nanjing area, though not identical to any single dialect. By the middle of the 19th century, the Beijing dialect had become dominant and was essential for any business with the imperial court. In the 1930s, a standard national language ( 国语 ; 國語 ; Guóyǔ ), was adopted. After much dispute between proponents of northern and southern dialects and an abortive attempt at an artificial pronunciation,
15748-485: Was hidden by their written form. Often different compounds for the same concept were in circulation for some time before a winner emerged, and sometimes the final choice differed between countries. The proportion of vocabulary of Chinese origin thus tends to be greater in technical, abstract, or formal language. For example, in Japan, Sino-Japanese words account for about 35% of the words in entertainment magazines, over half
15875-425: Was reported that issues with the development of the WS-15 engine, particularly the reliability of the turbine blades overheating at top speeds were fixed. The WS-15 reportedly required further development after failing final verification testing at the end of 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic imposed further delays. In March 2022, Chinese state media reported that the WS-15 engine completed final testing. In November 2021,
16002-571: Was speculated to be used to test the WS-15 engine and thrust-vectoring. In March 2023, the executive of Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC) announced the serial production of the WS-15 has started. FlightGlobal speculated that small-scale production and in-flight testing with the J-20 fighter was underway. On 29 June 2023, a J-20 fighter in yellow primer was observed taking off from Chengdu Aircraft Cooperation airfield fitted with reportedly two WS-15 engines. Clear photo of WS-15 equipped J-20A fighter taking flight appeared in 2024. In October 2023,
16129-402: Was to be equipped with thrust vectoring control. Conflicting reports emerged regarding the exact engine type. Analyst Andreas Rupprecht expressed skepticism regarding the use of Russian engines on the J-20, as he believes that the J-20 is using a variant of the WS-10, which he called the WS-10C. This engine has improved thrust, stealthier serrated afterburner nozzles, and higher reliability, but it
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