I can’t remember which year the air show was.
I just remember that at that time, I was staring at the F-22 on the screen, as if something was stuck in my throat. Vector nozzle, supersonic cruise, such words are very far away from us. When the J-10 first came out, there was real excitement, but the sour feeling in my heart was equally real. It's like seeing the kid next door get admitted to Tsinghua University. Even though my own kid is working hard, he still feels like he has to suffer for a long time.
At that time, I thought, chase? What to chase after? The gap is not a few years, but decades.
heart.
These were the two most heart-wrenching words among military fans in those years.
When the J-20 first appeared, we cheered, but deep down there was always a stone hanging high in our hearts. That was the problem of the engine. What kind of power would be used to propel such a huge fuselage? In the initial stage, an imported engine was used, and later it was replaced with a domestically improved model. Although it can generally meet the needs of use, we always feel that we are holding back a lot of energy. This situation is like giving a person a skeleton like a top athlete, but his heart is only at the level of an ordinary person. Running can indeed be done, but it cannot run too far distances, nor can it reach a very fast speed.
But who would have thought?
Really unexpected.
When the initial stage arrives in the spring of 2026, Chengdu Aircraft Co., Ltd. conveyed relevant information that the mass-produced version of the J-20A has undergone a replacement operation of the turbofan-15. I kept looking at that set of photos for a long time. They were painted in gray and placed statically on the runway. Their appearance was ordinary, but it was hard to look away.
Thick neck.
Military fans nicknamed him "Thick Neck." The lines on the back of the aircraft are becoming more and more bulging. Some people believe that this is to accommodate more fuel, while others say that it is for new avionics equipment. I don't know the technical aspects. I only know that the F-22, which made us drool in the past, has an engine thrust of about 16 tons. As for the turbofan-15, it is 18.5 tons.
18.5 tons.
What kind of concept is this? Supersonic cruising is no longer a luxury like turning on afterburning fuel, but has become a daily activity like taking a walk. In the past, flying fast was for the purpose of escaping, but now flying fast is moving in a fatal direction.
Sawtooth.
The jagged optimization operation of the tail nozzle is not for the purpose of pursuing a good appearance, but to conceal the heat signal emitted by itself. It can fly extremely fast and make itself difficult to see. How to fight such a battle? On the other side's radar screen, there may be only the image of a bird, or there may be nothing at all. By the time you notice it, the missile has already arrived.
This advantage is at the level of life and death.
It's hard to describe this feeling.
It's not a state of pride, nor is it a slogan-style carnival like "Awesome". What is more present is a sense of trance, that is, how come we have reached the current stage? Those past years when we could only raise our heads to look at other aircraft at air shows, it seems like it was just yesterday. How could it be that in the blink of an eye, we ourselves have become the "others" in our eyes? Punctuation mark.
According to some articles, the J-20A is already half a generation ahead of the F-22. It's not a crushing situation, nor a defeat situation, but it's half a generation ahead. So where does this leading half-generation come from? This is reflected in the gallium nitride radar, the EOTS optoelectronic system, and the PL-15’s range of more than 200 kilometers. At present, the F-22 is still in the form of a lonely swordsman, but the J-20A has become the brain of a system.
It can now command drones.
There is a two-seat version of the J-20S. The pilot in the back seat may not need to control the aircraft at all. He only needs to stare at the screen, inform a group of drones, and issue instructions: You, go over there and destroy that target. This is not a one-on-one fight, but a group fight. What's more, you can't see who is attacking you.
Let’s talk about real data.
A report released by the Royal United Military Research Institute shows that by 2030, we are very likely to have 1,000 J-20s, yes 1,000. There are only 187 F-22s, and its production line has long been shut down. Every time one breaks down, one will be lost.
It's not a question of quantity, it's a question of rules.
In the past, the island chain was the lock and the aircraft carrier was the latch. Today, if you look back at those island chains, they still exist, but they can no longer contain anything. The combat radius of the J-20A is said to be up to 2,000 kilometers. What does 2000 kilometers mean? This means that it takes off from all over the coast and can cover the entire first island chain, and even reach farther. Gas pump? Not required. It can go by itself, and it can return by itself.
This is what makes opponents most desperate.
Technical blockade.
Material blockade.
Processing equipment is blocked.
Over the decades they have kept us under lock and key, and every trick has been tried. So what's the result? The blades of the turbofan-15 are made of single-crystal high-temperature alloys refined by us. The control system uses codes written by ourselves. From the beginning until it reaches 18.5 tons of thrust, every gram does not need to take into account the expressions of others.
You block yours and I grow mine.
By the time you come to your senses, I'm already in front of you.
The feeling of being depressed for a long time and then suddenly released is not suitable to be described with too strong words. However, you can ask any senior military enthusiast who has been waiting for twenty years and ask them what their initial reaction was when they saw the photo of the J-20A showing a "thick neck".
Not crying.
Not a smile either.
It's silence.
It's the kind of silence where you can finally exhale a long breath.
Veyron, complete body.
These four words are worth it.
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