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Originally Posted by *[FOX
* Bort]
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To go out on what I am sure will be a controversial limb (although not for the sake of stirring any up, though): I don't like the idea of selling military tech to the Chinese either; however, as others have pointed out, it's an F-16 in shape and wing, but not necessarily in other ways. Even if it does not use the fuel hungry Russian engines, it still lacks the range of new birds like the F/A-22, which can cruise at supersonic speed.
A lot of how you look at this depends on how you look at air doctrine. The U.S. seems to be moving back toward the tactical bomber role after the last couple decades of favoring air superiority (they sneak in the "A" in the model number; I think even the F-117 was originally conceived as a "B-x" or "A-x" plane). I'm not saying one doctrine's better than another, just that the U.S. seems to go in cycles. In the late 50s and early 60s it was all about higher and faster, then it evolved into favoring maneuver. The F(A)-22 may or may not be the ultimate fighter, but IMO the U.S. is still setting the pace in terms of R&D. Selling the J-10 *may* not be giving away as much as we think.
Just my opinion.
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Agreed, sort of.
While there is no way the J-10 will ever be as good as the F-22, the concern I have is in sheer numbers. With the USAF buying as few as 180 Raptors, it could be difficult to cover all the bases in a major war with China. I have no idea how many J-10s the Chinese plan to make, but I'll bet its gonna be a boatload. The chinese have a habit of mass producing this kind of stuff on epic scales. And a ton of fighters comparable to F-16's in performance with top of the line Israeli and Russian electronics can't be good.  |
However, there are a few things that remain in the USAF's favor. More planes require more fuel, something that as we can see is increasingly becoming a problem. The F-22 is certainly far from economical in that sense, but the ability to supercruise is certainly invaluable.
The Chinese air force is known not only for its quantity over quality philosophy, but also is notorious for its maintanence problems. On a regular basis, a large proportion of the air force is grounded due to maintanence problems.
Finally, do not forget that in simulations using the currently unbeaten-in-combat F-15s, F-22s regularly splash large numbers without losing any of their own. Granted these are simulations and do not reflect real life, but they are designed to see just how effective the F-22 is. For a more accurate exercise, trying the F-22 against the MiG-29 and Su-27 would prove interesting.