Fighter J-31
© AP Photo/Xinhua, Liu Dawei
MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. An improved version of a promising fighter fifth-generation J-31 (“Jian-31”) of the Corporation “Shenyang” conducted a test flight on December 23. This was reported by the newspaper China Daily, citing sources close to the aviation industry of the PRC.
Information about the power plant on the fighter is not given. The previous version of the plane J-31 was used in the Russian turbofan engines RD-93, however, the magazine Kanwa Defence Review reported that the new prototype will be equipped with Chinese propulsion, which in the future we plan to put on the conveyor. It was also alleged that the airframe of the fighter by 30% will consist of composite materials.
Earlier it was reported that the maximum takeoff weight J-31 will be 25 tons when combat radius of 1.2 thousand km Fighter can reach a top speed of 1.8 Mach. The mass of the combat load the aircraft up to eight tons, service ceiling (maximum altitude) J-31 – 16 km Maximum service life of the fighter will be 30 years.
China is actively developing two combat vehicles of the fifth generation J-20 and J-31. One of these planes, Chinese multipurpose fighter of the fifth generation Chengdu J-20 was submitted in the summer of 2016 at the international aerospace show Airshow China. He first took to the skies in 2011, but the broad public were shown for the first time at the air show.