More details on the new Chinese carrier!
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LearningTranscript
00:00Hi, I am pretty sure that by now many of you will know that China has finally
00:06launched its 003 type carrier which is now named Fuzhang. This is something
00:14that was expected and exactly because of this in the past few months we have
00:19given a very large coverage to the carrier and the possible air wing, at
00:24least as far as the information is in the public domain. So I think that you
00:28may be interested in this long format that pulls together all the videos that
00:31we have dedicated to this ship and to the emerging Chinese naval aviation.
00:37Enjoy!
00:39I'm sorry but this doesn't make sense at all.
00:42Sir, according to my research this is the situation.
00:47What is the Chinese Navy has one ex-Soviet carrier, a copy of an ex-Soviet
00:54carrier. They are building a indigenous medium carrier and that's basically it.
01:03They also put on hold the building of the fourth carrier.
01:07This is at best an incomplete view, sir.
01:10What is this is the Chinese Navy, it's not the US Navy.
01:14They don't have the same power projection requirements.
01:18In fact they don't. Their purpose is different.
01:22Okay, so what's the purpose for you?
01:25Let me explain, sir.
01:32Hey, we have already covered the recent history of the efforts of the Chinese
01:37Navy to acquire aircraft carrier capabilities in the context of the
01:42description of the long shadow that has been cast by the Soviet naval aviation
01:47on made in modern navies. The video covers a lot of details and if you are
01:51interested you can find it here. For our purpose today is enough to recall that
01:56China operates two aircraft carriers. The first is actually the ex-Soviet ship
02:02Varyag purchased in shady circumstances in 1998. There was an adventurous towing
02:10to China, a long refit and finally in 2016 the ship has been declared
02:16operational under the name of Liaoning. But that wasn't to remain an isolated
02:22case. In 2007 China purchased from Russia four sets of aircraft carrier
02:29landing arrest equipment. So this was a clear indication that something else was
02:35going to happen. And in fact in 2013 the building of an entirely domestic carrier
02:40was started. The ship was actually a bigger and slightly more capable copy of
02:45the Liaoning, with a displacement of about 70,000 tons. The lessons learned with the
02:51Liaoning had been put in practice with the Shandong, this is the name of the
02:55second carrier, increasing the room available for the aircraft and also
03:00improving the deck operations. At the end of 2019 the carrier was declared combat
03:06ready. And after the Shandong nobody expected the Chinese to stop there and
03:11in fact the type 003 came along.
03:202016 and 2017 reports about this new aircraft carrier started to appear in
03:27the specialized press. Soon it was clear that in Shanghai something big was being
03:33built by the Jiangnam shipyard group. And mind, this is not the same Dalian
03:38shipyard that built the previous two. So the Chinese have two shipyards with the
03:43capability of building aircraft carriers. We don't know much about the ship but all
03:48the information that we have, which comes from the fragments of information that
03:52are actually published on the Chinese internet, rather than from the satellite
03:56pictures that we have of the construction, have been really dissected
04:01by the analysts. So we can have some rough estimates about the ship. The most
04:06recent estimates placed the type 003 at 318 meters length with the beam of 78
04:16meters on the flight deck. The displacement has been estimated to be a
04:20little shy of 100,000 tons, larger than the initial estimates. Overall this means
04:26that the carrier is probably just slightly smaller than the Gerald Ford
04:31class. Some analysts actually believe that the ship was going to be some
04:36sort of an intermediate model, akin to what the Kitty Hawk had been many years
04:42ago in the United States fleet. But it doesn't seem to be the case. So the
04:45Chinese apparently skip a generation and the fact that there is a large basing
04:50being built in the south that is pretty much just big enough to host a type 003
04:57is probably telling us that this is going to be a sort of a standard measure
05:01for Chinese aircraft for the years to come. The type 003 is still being built but we can
05:07identify some differences with the Ford class. For example the type 003 doesn't
05:12feature a nuclear propulsion, but its propulsion system is not entirely
05:18conventional either. In fact it seems that the ship is going to have an
05:22integrated electric propulsion. This means that turbines, boilers or any other
05:27power generating element on board of the ship is not connected directly with the
05:34propellers, but is only used to produce electrical power which is transferred to
05:39electrical engines driving the propellers. This type of propulsion is
05:44becoming increasingly popular because it has several advantages in terms of
05:49design but also efficiency compared with older configurations. But this choice also
05:54makes sense because the type 003 will be equipped with three electromagnetic
06:00catapults, each one of those 105 meters long. On a carrier flight deck basically
06:06we just see a rail with a shuttle moving on it, but actually a catapult is a
06:13relatively large system that may influence the whole ship design. For
06:18example steam catapults require the boiler to generate the steams and all
06:23the piping required to bring the steam from the boiler to the catapult that has
06:28a complex mechanical system that pushes the aircraft when is needed. On the
06:33contrary electromagnetic catapults require a large amount of electric power
06:39being delivered very quickly to accelerate the aircraft and this
06:43requires to bring the electrical power to accumulation devices and all the
06:49cabling that is actually required, all the control systems. In the United States
06:53the development of the emails has been long and bumpy but the advantages of the
06:57solution compared with the steam catapults is quite clear. The Chinese
07:02don't have any direct experience but even in this case they have decided to
07:07skip a generation and point directly to the most modern solution. Another element
07:12that heavily influences the design of the ship is the hangar. It seems that the
07:17hangar of the type 003 is going to be slightly smaller than the Ford class
07:22hangar and will have only two large aircraft elevators rather than the three
07:28that are present on the Ford class. The ship is expected to be launched in 2022
07:34to be delivered in 2024 and to reach the initial operational capability in 2025
07:41or 2026. However the Chinese don't have any experience in running a catapult
07:47carrier so delays are definitely possible and this consideration rather
07:51than budgetary concerns is probably the reason why the Chinese have decided to
07:58put the project of the type 004, a nuclear aircraft carrier, on hold for the
08:04moment. In fact if we have to listen to official plan statements the service is
08:11actually still evaluating aircraft carriers to see if they are useful or not.
08:16So in theory current carriers including 003 are all experimental carriers
08:24useful to train people, establish a doctrine and establish a naval tradition
08:30about aircraft carriers. So while is obviously true that the Chinese Navy has
08:34to go through a learning curve this entire approach doesn't seem to be
08:39realistic and this is what Otis was saying at the beginning and actually he
08:43has an idea.
08:49Carriers allow sea control over critical trade roads and they project air power
08:55over coastal areas up to a depth into the continental mass that includes the
09:02bulk of the population. They can deny the use of the sea to an opponent and they
09:08can protect friendly or neutral sea traffic that is essential for the
09:14survival. And in fact the United States uses the carriers to project power
09:18globally. This is basically what a maritime empire does and United States
09:24are a maritime empire even though I'm well aware that this way of putting
09:30things is definitely not politically correct. But what is the imperial drive
09:35for China? Well for China is the necessity of having access to energy and
09:41food. The most important maritime routes for China are those that lead to the
09:47Middle East for oil.
09:57So from the point of view of China it may seem reasonable to have a force of
10:03aircraft carrier capable of protecting those trade routes from the only
10:08opponent that in theory has the possibility and the capability to shut
10:14them off. The United States. However look at the map. Well it looks like China has
10:20a problem. Right here the Malacca Strait. It is a choke point surrounded by
10:26countries whose allegiance may not necessarily be to the Chinese. Those
10:32countries may host American or Western coalition forces that build a barrier
10:38that make the Middle East and Africa completely inaccessible. Even without
10:44aircraft carriers. If the United States could assure the loyalty of countries
10:48like Singapore but also Malaysia or Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam there is no
10:55way that the Chinese could open up that route. In that case the only
11:00possibility for the Chinese would be a physical invasion of those land areas or
11:06a neutralization of all the infrastructures that would be used by a
11:10Western coalition in those areas. And now what would you need to do such an
11:16operation? Well obviously an invasion force, an amphibious force.
11:22But mostly you need air superiority. And the only way to bring aircraft from
11:34China in the area against an hostile opposition? Yeah it's a force of aircraft
11:39carriers. Okay but now don't forget that the American carriers will still be
11:47there. And with the carriers still available what should you do before
11:51acquiring the control of the Straits?
11:58In the West for a long time has been sort of assumed that the long-term plan
12:04of the Chinese was to deploy six aircraft carrier. Two in the north, two in
12:10the south and two in the east facing Taiwan. Where the carrier were going to
12:15become the centerpiece of a defensive system that goes beyond the first
12:20island chain. However some analysts have found older Chinese publications that
12:26actually hint to something different. In some Chinese publication it is stated
12:31that they are well aware that no real confrontation with the United States may
12:36happen till the Chinese Navy is actually capable of fighting and winning against
12:43the US Navy in blue waters. And to do so they assess that at least a force of 10
12:49aircraft carriers was needed. And mind the Chinese always make long-term plans.
12:55So what if, and this is a what if, this is a speculation, what if the type 004
13:03carriers and eventually the future 005 are going to be designed to attack and
13:11defeat the US Navy in blue water? What if they are not going to be defensive
13:17tools but they're going to be offensive weapons? What kind of ship do you need?
13:22And in particular what kind of carrier group and what kind of carrier wing do
13:28you need to execute this mission? Well this will be the subject of the next
13:33video.
13:40Okay, let's talk Chinese carrier wings.
13:49So in the last video we discussed what may be the long-term plan of the Chinese
13:56Navy from a strategic point of view. The aircraft carrier type 003 is going to be
14:02launched soon, the type 004 will follow and then surely there is a long-term
14:09plan on how to use them. The end state in 10 or 15 years is going to be a carrier
14:16fleet but its main mission is probably still uncertain. It can either be the
14:22centerpiece of a defensive posture to defend the first and the second island
14:28chain or it could be an offensive force to contrast the US Navy in blue waters
14:33and to support ground operations in the Malacca Strait. Or it could even evolve
14:38from a defensive force to an offensive force for what we know. Fact is the US
14:43Navy is the only opponent that could conceivably contrast a fleet of six to
14:49ten type 003 and 004 aircraft carriers trying to access the Indian Ocean.
14:55Sir, I suspect many Indian viewers will be upset by this observation.
15:01Come on Otis, let me have some fun from time to time!
15:10Anyway, the carrier is only a mobile infrastructure. What makes the carrier
15:17worth having is the carrier wing. In fact the capabilities of the aircraft based
15:23on the carrier are basically the offensive capabilities of the carrier
15:27group. Some kind viewers in a previous video pointed out how the Chinese are
15:32intensely working on hypersonic and ballistic anti-ship weapons and these
15:38may indeed be another piece of the puzzle. In fact these weapons in the near
15:43future may become an important part of the capabilities provided by the carrier
15:50battle group. However this is a subject for another time. In this video we are
15:54focusing on the potential carrier wing of the type 003 and 004. And since we
16:01like being different, where everybody else would start from the fighters, we
16:06start from the force multipliers. Oaxes, tankers, drones.
16:14Probably the most important force multipliers of all are the airborne
16:21early warning radars. And in September 2020 the KJ-600 made its maiden flight.
16:29The Chinese have invested heavily in the development of Oaxes and they have
16:34several models in service. However it is not easy to convert that kind of
16:42platform for naval use. In fact albeit some have found some similarities with
16:47the larger Xian Y-7, the KJ-600 is smaller and probably designed a dock.
16:54Its development though was unusually long for the Chinese. In fact it was
17:00necessary to build a technology demonstrator. The JZY-01 flew for the
17:07first time in 2001. It has been used during the years to test several
17:12different configurations and the current configuration has been seen for the
17:17first time in 2012. The KJ-600 has the same general configuration of the E2 Hawkeye
17:24because well it's just concurrent engineering. There is nothing
17:30intrinsically special or secret in the E2 platform. As we speak in April
17:362022 the aircraft is still in development so we don't have a wealth of
17:42news about it. The radome seems to be an actually rotating radome which is
17:47different from the most recent Chinese configurations but it seems unlikely that
17:53the radar is not going to be an AESA radar. Some sources are reporting that
17:58the KJ-600 is going to benefit of a very advanced solution in terms of battle
18:05management and network-centric warfare. It is suspected to have four or five
18:10operators stations that will benefit of the integration with an indigenous
18:16high-speed data link, the DTS-03. The data link will feature a bandwidth of 2
18:22megabit per second, a range of 400 kilometers and will support obviously
18:28voice and data communications. Sir, have you ever wondered if military data links
18:33do support music streaming? Please ignore him. We don't know if the DTS-03
18:41supports music but we know that the DTS-03 supports ADOT networking. This
18:47means that the network can be formed spontaneously and can be composed by all
18:54the assets that support the data link within range without the necessity of
18:59having a node or several nodes to create the network. Probably in different
19:05contexts it would be called a peer-to-peer network. Some numbers about
19:10the radar range have been bouncing around in the press but they are the
19:14usual meaningless numbers. What seems certain though is that the KJ-600 is
19:19going to be definitely an improvement if compared with the current situation. In
19:26fact on the current type 001 and 002, the Liaoning and the Shandong, the Chinese
19:31used Kamov 31 helicopters in the same role and it is clear that the KJ-600
19:39compared with the helicopters will have more time on station, more operators, more
19:45computing power, more electrical power and it will be faster. All observers
19:51agreed that the KJ-600 will require a catapult to take off from a carrier so
19:57it surely won't be on board of 001 and 002 but it seems only logical that it
20:05will be deployed on 003 and following.
20:14We have no news of the introduction of a tanker aircraft on the type 003
20:21carrier. This may not be an anomaly since even the United States Navy
20:25doesn't have a dedicated tanker anymore and the F-18 covers this role too but
20:34this is a missing capability, it is a compromise, it is not by design. In fact
20:40this is going to change in the near future with the introduction of the MQ-25
20:44in the United States but there is no sign that the Chinese are going down
20:51this way as well. We can speculate that once you have a platform like the KJ-600
20:57while removing all the electronics and all the OX equipment you can possibly
21:03adapt that platform for the tanker role but this is just speculation.
21:12China since 2019 has introduced in service a stealth UCAV, the GJ-11
21:21sharpsword, which probably a world first. It has a flying wing configuration not
21:28too dissimilar from the MQ-25 or the Neuron, the Okhotnik and several other
21:34experimental projects. It is designed as a ground attack unit and it has two
21:40weapon bays that can house each kind of compact PGMs. We know that it is in
21:46service with the Air Force but it's actual use so far it is actually
21:50shrouded in secrecy. The wingspan is estimated to be 14 meters, the empty
21:57weight is 6,350 kilos and the maximum takeoff weight is 20,200 kilos.
22:05It is subsonic, the engine has no afterburner and the speed is estimated to be around
22:11500 knots. The transfer range is declared to be about 4,000 kilometers which means
22:17that probably the combat range is in the region of a bit more than a thousand
22:23kilometers. Not enormous but pretty decent. Some analysts believe that the
22:28aircraft as it is now cannot operate from carriers and granted it will need
22:33an adaptation. However if the engine thrust is probably low for carrier
22:38operations the wing seems capable of quite a lot of lift and you can spot
22:44quite large flaps on the trailing edge. So while it is questionable that it
22:51could take off from a ski jump I don't believe there will be any special issues
22:57in launching it from a catapult even at maximum takeoff weight. The maximum
23:02takeoff weight is a bit high but that's what the sources are saying so take it
23:07with a pinch of salt. In any case there are official drawings that show a drone
23:11like the GJ-11 on the deck of a type 003 or type 004 carrier or even on the deck
23:19of the conjectured type 076 amphibious assault ship. All these three types of
23:27ships will be equipped with electromagnetic catapults at least
23:32according to the plans. Operating a drone from a carrier is obviously more
23:36challenging than operating a drone from a land base. However it is a technology
23:41that doesn't require a particular breakthrough so is probably within reach
23:46of everyone who wants to put the effort in it. And if this was the case it may
23:53well happen that the Chinese are going to be the first to deploy a combat drone
23:58on board of a carrier.
24:05All these systems that we have just described do exist with the purpose of
24:11supporting the combat component of the carrier wing. And the combat component
24:16will be the subject of the next video. Hey in the first video of this series we
24:21have discussed the Chinese aircraft carrier type 003 which is probably going
24:26to be launched this year. In the second video of the series we discussed the
24:30force multipliers that are likely going to be part of the carrier wing. In this
24:35video we are going to discuss the combat component of the air wing. So be prepared
24:41for J-15, J-20 and something unexpected about the brand-new J-35.
24:55The Xinyang J-15 is the current centerpiece of Chinese naval aviation.
25:02The translation of the Chinese name means flying shark while the NATO moniker is
25:08Flanker X2. Yes because J-15 is actually one of the many Flanker variants that
25:15populate non-western aligned air forces around the world. I always stress that
25:21the Chinese do copy way less than is commonly believed. But in this case the
25:27J-15 is indeed a copy, a reverse engineering of a Suhoi 33 prototype that
25:34was sold by Ukraine. The prototype was acquired in 2001, the project started in
25:412006 and the first flight happened quite quickly in 2009. Problem was Russia was
25:48not okay with China copying the aircraft and something similar actually happened
25:55with the J-11. So there has been quite a long and harsh confrontation about
26:00intellectual property between Russia and China but this is a story for another
26:05time. 2012 the aircraft landed for the first time on the Chinese aircraft
26:11carrier Liaoning. That wasn't the end of development, in fact in the same year the
26:16first dual seater took the skies. It is not clear how many aircraft are in
26:21service at the moment, we are in 2022, even because there have been a few
26:26accidents. It should be around 60 aircraft considering that right now the
26:31third production batch is running. These aircraft currently form the carrier air
26:37wing of the two aircraft carriers in service, the Liaoning and the Shandong.
26:42However even though the two carriers and their air wing is considered combat ready
26:48the main mission of these two carriers is to train pilots and personnel. About
26:54the aircraft itself, well, it's a flanker. So it looks like a flanker, it flies like
27:01a flanker, it has the same structure, performance and aerodynamics of a
27:06flanker. However it is a Chinese flanker. In fact the avionics has been derived
27:12from the J-11 and it is largely national, albeit it has been inspired by some
27:18Russian solutions. The Chinese have declared that 90% of the components are
27:23in fact Chinese and if you consider that the aircraft may fly with Russian
27:29engines, well, judge for yourself. There has been a long-running carel among the
27:35Western analysts. Some believe that J-15 is superior performance-wise to the Suhoi
27:4233 but not as sophisticated as the Suhoi 35. Others simply believe that it is
27:49utter junk. Sir, this is not politically correct. Ok, some believe that the reverse
27:56engineering was not adequate and this led to issues regarding the flight
28:02controls and the aircraft structure. And indeed if the original Suhoi 33 was
28:08already a relatively heavy carrier aircraft, the J-15 is even heavier. It is
28:14actually an aircraft that polarizes the judgment quite a lot which means that we
28:18are not really sure about this aircraft because if we were sure pretty much the
28:24judgment would have been rather uniform, no? One thing that seems certain though
28:29is that the current carrier configuration is really penalizing for
28:35the aircraft. Since both carriers are ski-jump carriers, the take-off weight of
28:40the aircraft is really penalized and this is something the J-15 doesn't need
28:45because it is already quite heavy. So for example if a full fuel load is
28:50embarked, the aircraft payload is limited to two medium missiles and two light
28:55missiles. Now this seems very bad but this wasn't really penalizing for the
29:01original mission that these carriers had. In fact these carriers are a derivation
29:06of an old Soviet design in which the carrier was supposed just to do the
29:12local air defense of the naval group if the aircraft just had to scramble to
29:18intercept the enemy while range probably wasn't a big concern. Obviously for a
29:23Navy that has blue water ambitions this is a rather severe limitation. This
29:28limitation is expected to disappear when the carrier 003 is going to enter
29:34service. In fact it is going to be a catobar aircraft carrier with catapults.
29:39Analysts expect that the carrier wing at least initially will still be composed
29:45of J-15s. In fact there are confirmed news that two prototypes with catapult
29:51bars and strengthened structures are flying right now. It is not clear if the
29:57third production batch will actually feature this variant which is believed
30:03to be named J-15T. We will have to wait and see but the wait is almost over.
30:13The J-20 is currently the crown jewel of the Chinese aircraft industry. We have
30:20already discussed the aircraft at length on the channel so I won't get into too
30:24many details but I suggest you to watch the video link above and below.
30:30Obviously the J-20 is a land-based aircraft so what does it have to do with the 003
30:36carriers? Well simple in 2019 the Chinese press reported that the Chinese Navy had
30:42chosen the J-20 as the new carrier based stealth aircraft. Shortly thereafter
30:48other news appeared that Chengdu was working to a naval version shortened. In
30:55fact navalizing a ground aircraft is no easy task. The first element to consider
31:00is the role of the aircraft on the carrier. In fact analysts do agree that
31:05J-20 is not a multi-role platform. Considering the characteristics that we
31:11know it is expected that the two main missions of the J-20 will be BVR air
31:18superiority and long-range penetrations for ground attacked with precision
31:23guided weapons. The absence of a cannon and the lack of usable external pylons
31:30greatly reduce the versatility of the platform. This means that an air wing
31:36cannot be flown by J-20 only. At least at the beginning a component of J-15 will be
31:43required. A second consideration is about the structure and the design of the
31:48aircraft itself. In fact a naval aircraft while taking off and landing is
31:54subject to loads that are different and in generally higher than a land-based
32:00aircraft. The front gear assembly is subject to inertial loads when taking
32:05off from the catapult. The gear and the tail hook are subject to violent
32:10impulsive loads when landing and the points where the gear legs and the tail
32:16hook are actually connected with the aircraft structure should be capable of
32:21bearing these loads and not breaking and this is the easy part but should also be
32:28dimensioned in a way not to show metal or material fatigue in the long term. And
32:35this is a bit more difficult to design despite the fact that today you have all
32:39these kind of computer simulations and so on. The whole aircraft must not be too
32:44flexible that is the wings and everything that is hanging underneath
32:48should not slam into the deck in case of a rough landing and when launching the
32:54aircraft should not arch on the catapult. All of this must happen while we
32:59consider that the estate on the flight deck and in the hangar is at premium so
33:05at least the wings are better be folding. And finally the marine environment is
33:10salty hence it is very corrosive so an adequate anti-corrosion treatment must
33:16be implemented. All this means that a carrier based aircraft is at least a 5%
33:22heavier of an equivalent land-based aircraft. So Chengdu is modifying the
33:27aircraft in order to make it suitable for carrier use and he is going to make
33:32it shorter so he's going to occupy less space. So far despite the fact that the
33:37development of the J-20 is usually quite quick we have seen no prototypes
33:43flying. And one element that I suspect is making this job quite difficult is the
33:49aircraft configuration itself. For a carrier aircraft is desirable to have a
33:55relatively low landing speed in order to reduce the amount of energy that needs
34:01to be dissipated by the arresting gear and reduce the landing loads. This is the
34:07reason why carrier aircraft tend to have wings larger and wing loads lower
34:13than equivalent land-based aircraft. The J-20 configuration has quite small wings
34:19and probably relies quite heavily on the body to generate lift. It is unclear at
34:25least is not clear for me if such a configuration is conducive of being
34:31adapted for carrier use. Even considering that the small wing size doesn't leave
34:35too much room for high lift devices in terms of sophisticated flaps or slats. So
34:41I wouldn't be surprised if the aircraft was undergoing a partial wing redesign
34:45just for this reason. But this is speculation so we'll see what happens.
34:49What is not speculation though is that now we are sure that the J-20 is not the
34:57only stealth aircraft that is going to operate from the Chinese carriers.
35:05A few weeks ago an official tweet from a Chinese government account referred to
35:11an aircraft, a naval aircraft, as the J-35. This means that what has been known in
35:17the past like the FC-31 or the J-31 has now finally received an official J number
35:25which probably means that it is going to enter service with the Chinese Navy. The
35:29aircraft originates from the losing design of the competitions that gave
35:35birth to the J-20. Shenyang rather than abandoning the project kept developing
35:40the aircraft autonomously. There is a long story behind this aircraft and we
35:44are going to dedicate a specific video to the J-35. However there are some
35:49points that in the context of the composition of the carrier wing should
35:55be addressed now in this video. And to immediately address the elephant in the...
35:59Sorry I forgot every time you mentioned the suspection is right so... So the thing
36:10in the room is the striking resemblance of the aircraft with the F-35. The common
36:15opinion is that the aircraft was designed on the basis of stolen F-35
36:21designs. And while it is true that the theft happened there is actually a
36:25judiciary sentence that clarifies that. It is possible though that this is a
36:32misconception. In fact in 2020 Yang Wei who was the chief designer of the J-20
36:39published an article in a Chinese professional Aeros magazine. In that
36:44article he explained how the J-20 was designed having the F-22 and in general
36:50the American design philosophy as the reference point. But in the same article
36:56he also states that the Shenyang competitors did not get inspiration from
37:02the American designs but they got inspiration from older Russian designs.
37:08And the aircraft he's talking about is actually the predecessor of the J-35.
37:13I couldn't access the original article because it seems that now that scientific
37:18magazine is behind the Chinese Great Firewall. However I could find references
37:25of the article in Chinese press pretty much in the same terms so it may be
37:33possible that the article exists.
37:37You should have told me before, sir. While I was in China I could have acquired a copy.
37:45No comment. And by the way if you want to have access to the sources that have
37:48been used for this video they will be published on Patreon and for the channel
37:54members. So if you like what you are seeing and you want to actually support
37:59the channel you will have access to this extra perk. However we are not done, there
38:03is more. Vladimir Barkovsky, an executive of Migburo discussing the aircraft in
38:102012 despite the fact that the aircraft was featuring some solutions that have
38:15been already tested in some western design it was in fact an indigenous design.
38:21How did he know? Well the Migburo at the time was consulting for Shenyang
38:27officially for the integration of the engines but you never know. Even though
38:31there are strong similarities there is a good possibility that the aircraft is in
38:35fact not a copy of the F-35. However if you want to leave a comment that all of
38:40this is nonsense that the aircraft is definitely a copy of the F-35 and the
38:44Chinese after all are only capable of cheap rip-off please feel free the
38:49comment section is open to everyone even those who don't listen to the video. As I
38:53said we will be covering the aircraft in the near future when probably a bit more
38:58information will be available but still we have to consider which role is going
39:04to have in the carrier wing well the role it is expected to cover on the 003
39:09and 004 carrier wing is that of the multi-role light fighter in fact the
39:14aircraft is relatively small it is much lighter than the J-15 it has about eight
39:20tons of payload with two internal bays that can host compact precision guided
39:27weapons plus the aircraft can have up to six external pylons for all kinds of
39:33payload and it also seems that the Raider will be one of our old acquaintances
39:37but you will have to wait a dedicated video for that. However while you wait for
39:42the J-35 video there are plenty of other videos dedicated to the Chinese Air Force
39:47the Chinese Navy and China in general and they are going to appear beside me. An
39:53enormous thank you to all those who are supporting the channel on Patreon or by
39:59being a member I bring you all in my heart and for now thank you very much for watching and see you there!