China’s J-20 Stealth Fighter Has No Canon

[DrainBamage]

As for where do they get the figures for the J-20? You fly it, they can track it.

Right but the testing for J-20 has been done in Central China and the only times they have flown it near aircraft from other countries (like the Zhuhai Airshow) they have radar reflectors on it to deny good intel on it's radar signature. You can see them on the belly of the J-20 below:

USAF has done same thing with F-35s and F-22s, using radar reflectors when flying within range of radar of others:

Even if someone did scoop up info on J-20s RCS it would seem really bizarre that it would get published.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

As for where do they get the figures for the J-20? You fly it, they can track it.

Right but the testing for J-20 has been done in Central China and the only times they have flown it near aircraft from other countries (like the Zhuhai Airshow) they have radar reflectors on it to deny good intel on it's radar signature. You can see them on the belly of the J-20 below:

USAF has done same thing with F-35s and F-22s, using radar reflectors when flying within range of radar of others:

Even if someone did scoop up info on J-20s RCS it would seem really bizarre that it would get published.

Computer models work quite well these days.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

China’s J-20 Stealth Fighter Has No Canon

Perhaps they chose to go with Nikon instead—much higher-quality optics.

Or perhaps they went cheap, with some nameless crappy Chinese optical components.

 

[McRocket]

Those who forget the history of the F-4 are doomed to repeat it.

China's J-20 stealth fighter has no cannon — and it shows the jet can't dogfight with the US

For non aviation folks: air to air missiles require distance to the target to work. Close quarters, only a cannon works. We lost some good pilots in the F-4.

I (apparently) got news for you sport.

The F-35B and C don't have an internal gun either...just like the J-20.

'Instead of the integrated design of the US Air Force's F-35A, the Marine Corps' F-35B and the US Navy's F-35C will feature a 220-round, 25 mm gun in a modular pod.'

Watch the Marines' F-35 fire an 80-round burst from its gun pod for the first time

So I guess they suck at dogfighting, too...huh?

Don't tell the Navy that.

 

[DrainBamage]

Additional info on last gun air-to-air gun kills if we look internationally, there have two more gun kills in the last 30 years.

1992 - A Venezuelan F-16 shot down an OV-10 Bronco during the coup attempt with the 20mm cannon.
1999 - An Ethiopian SU-27 shot down an Eritrean MIG-29 with 30mm cannon, was also first and only air-to-air kill in history by a female pilot.

The Ethiopia-Eritrea War is actually the most recent study of air-to-air warfare between two countries in extended combat and using relatively modern equipment, much of the engagement being turning dogfights. Eritrea was buying aircraft and hiring trainers from Ukraine, while Ethiopia was doing the same via Russia. Both countries blurred the line on "trainer" because the veteran pilot contractors hired to train were reportedly often the pilots flying the planes in combat. Also notable in this war was Russia's Sparrow moment, exposing very poor performance of the R-27 medium range missiles:

Air War between Ethiopia and Eritrea, 1998-2000 |
Very interesting were also clashes between Ethiopian Su-27S' and Eritrean MiG-29s. Besides taking out four Eritrean MiG-29s - plus writting another off due to damage received from an air-to-air missile - Ethiopian Su-27s flew many strike missions against the Eritrean ground forces, using unguided rockets and "dumb" bombs, and also escorted almost all MiG-23 deep strikes into Eritrea. Interesting is also, that most - if not all - Eritrean MiG-29s were shot down in close-quarters turning dogfights, where MiGs were supposed to have some advantages over larger and heavier Sukhois. Finally - except one - all the air-to-air kills were reportedly scored by R-73, even if quite a few (up to 24) R-27s were fired, pointing to some possible problems with R-27s, which is otherwise highly prised by quite a few air forces around the world! Supposedly, there should be no significant differences between early and new - or domestic and export - versions of R-27s, however, it seems, that this type so far has a worst combat record than even US Vietnam-era AIM-7Es or AIM-7Fs! This was certainly no good news for the Russians, which were keen to try out their new mounts and weapons under conditions of conventional warfare, and against a well organized enemy.