The sudden arrival of the JF-30 really shocked the world.

You must know that the United States is so powerful, there are only two fourth-generation aircraft, and with the addition of JF-30, Huaxia already has three.

Of course, there are also people who want to say that the F-35 series itself is three models, so strictly speaking, the United States actually has four fourth-generation aircraft.

Anyway, the JF-30 really came very suddenly.

It feels like it's built first, and then it's taken out to show off.

Don't forget, it was only a few months between the announcement of the existence of the JF-30 in Huaxia and the launch of the first prototype of the JF-30.

Is it really sudden?

Actually, apparently not.

Why?

As early as the development of the J-20, the Chinese enterprises made two preparations, that is, the double-engine heavy and the single-engine medium-sized, but later in response to the tactical indicators proposed by the Air Force, it was the double-engine heavy that was used to participate in the selection of the Air Force, that is, the later J-20, and the other was regarded as a technical reserve.

For the next dozen years, the enterprise worked on the J-20 at full capacity.

Otherwise, Huaxia would not have become the second country in the world to complete the development of fourth-generation aircraft, let alone the second country in the world to be equipped with heavy-duty fourth-generation aircraft.

Of course, the development of the J-20 is far from over.

Let's not forget that just a few years ago, the J-20 gained the favor of the Navy and became the main force of the Navy's carrier-based fighters, so a carrier-based version was also developed.

In addition, with the maturation of individual subsystems, especially the engine, a full-fledged version of the J-20 is on the horizon.

Actually, the key is the engine.

At the time of the initial project certification, the company realized that it was the engine that limited the midsize aircraft, so the midsize aircraft might not win the Air Force's selection.

Why?

The power system of the medium-sized machine is nothing more than two options, one is a single big push, and the other is a double push in the middle.

Although from the perspective of safety and reliability, the latter is obviously better, and is widely used, EF2000, "Rafale" and F/A-18, and Russia's Mig-29 are typical twin-engine mid-push medium-sized aircraft, but from the perspective of long-term equipment and use benefits, the former is the best choice, the most typical is F-16 and F-35, and these two fighters are the absolute main force of their era.

You know, the production of the F-16 is more than the total production of all twin-engine medium-thrust medium-sized aircraft of the same era.

As for the F-35 series, it has the momentum of dominating the world.

A single push is more popular, and the key is the cost-effectiveness ratio of equipment use.

Very simply, if a single engine is pushed, the engine can be used with heavy fighters, so it has inherent advantages in production, procurement, maintenance, etc.

The F-16 and F-35 were able to become world fighters, all of which took advantage of this advantage, that is, the F-16 used the engine of the F-15, and the engine of the F-35 also evolved from the engine of the F-22A, so it was able to maximize the scale effect that determines the price.

You must know that in the development of a first-machine fighter, the most difficult thing is the engine.

The development of a fourth-generation engine requires at least billions of dollars, or even tens of billions of dollars.

If the output is only a few hundred units, and it is evenly apportioned, the research and development cost alone is frighteningly high.

If the output is increased to several thousand, or even tens of thousands, then the evenly apportioned research and development expenses will be much lower, thus greatly reducing the procurement cost.

Take the F-100 and F-110 used in the F-16, for example, their production is tens of thousands of units.

The F-18 engine used on the F/A-404 is directly an order of magnitude lower.

It can be said that even the United States, which has mastered the most advanced engine manufacturing technology, has a difficult time developing engines with two thrusts at the same time.

Otherwise, the US authorities would not have forced the Navy to accept a single-engine fighter with a low safety factor.

The United States can't engage in two engines at the same time, what about Huaxia?

Obviously, this problem is even more prominent.

In fact, this is also the fatal flaw of the FC-31.

You must know that the FC-31 is a typical twin-engine medium-thrust medium fighter, while the Huaxia military does not actually plan a fourth-generation engine with medium thrust.

For a long time, the key project of the Huaxia Air Force was actually the S-15 developed for the J-20.

This is a fourth-generation high-thrust engine comparable to the F-119, and it is also the most important subsystem of the J-20, and at the same time the most difficult to develop.

Because the difficulty of development is too great, and the development progress has been delayed again and again, the J-20 in service in the early stage uses the AL-31F imported from Russia, and the equivalent S-10B, these J-20 are also known as the initial models, but they barely have combat capability.

It was not until the advent of the S-15 that the J-20 could gain full combat capability.

Strictly speaking, the J-15, equipped with the S-20, is the fourth-generation heavy aircraft that the Air Force really wants.

Just the development of the S-15 has made Huaxia feel tremendous pressure and occupy most of the scientific research resources, how can it still have the ability to develop a fourth-generation mid-thrust engine?

As a result, the prototype of the FC-31 used a Russian RD-93 engine.

Even in the future, even for export, the only thing that can be supplied in the short term is the S-13, which is equivalent to the RD-93.

As for the legendary fourth-generation mid-thrust engine, it has always been in the legend, and I am afraid that in another ten years, it may not be able to be installed on the FC-31.

Obviously, the FC-31 with the RD-93 and the S-13 is at best comparable to the initial J-20.

In fact, due to this storage limitation, the FC-31 is not as good as the initial J-20.

So, why didn't Huaxia directly launch the JF-30?

Quite simply, in previous years, the emphasis was on the J-20.

In order to ensure that the J-20 can equip the troops in time to form combat effectiveness, everything else has to give way.

So, why is Huaxia in a hurry to launch the FC-31?

It's just as simple, that is, the FC-31 itself is a failed model in the Air Force's selection, and it has been limited by medium aircraft, which has not been favored by the military.

Or rather, the FC-31 itself is a spare tire.

When the United States began to vigorously promote the F-35A, Huaxia needed an "international fighter", not to mention how many orders from countries it could win, but just let those countries that wanted to obtain fourth-generation fighters know that it was actually enough to be able to purchase the fighters they wanted from Huaxia.

To put it bluntly, the main value of the FC-31 project is actually to advertise "Made in China".

Of course, it's also a spare tire.

To put it simply, if something goes wrong with the JF-30, then forcibly promote the FC-31, occupy a part of the market first, and start the name of the Huaxia fighter.

In addition, the political and diplomatic value of the arms trade, especially the sophisticated arms trade, must be considered.

All in all, the emergence of the FC-31 has made Huaxia the only country outside the United States that can export fourth-generation fighters for a long time.

From a historical point of view, the FC-31 is equivalent to allowing Huaxia to enter the first echelon of fighter supplier countries.

In this echelon, there are only the United States and China.

Although there are many countries in the second echelon, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and even South Korea, these countries have been left behind by the United States and China because they cannot export fourth-generation fighters, and they may not be able to squeeze into the first echelon in the future.