I’m no expert in aviation so I generally read threads not post very often about this topic but in my non expert opinion I am very skeptical that China or even Russia have true 5th Gen. Was surprised to read this https://www.yahoo.com/news/unit-f-35s-us-air-133254458.html Attached File

Did they get the intel from the new Top Gun movie?

You mean the TIE fighters at the Death Star? Attached File

That guy in the photo looks familiar.

Did they make a PowerPoint to ask for more budget money?

Just doing what they have always done. Make their opponents sound scarier than they really are in a quest for more money.

Reminds me of the old assessment reports of the soviet military in the 80s. On paper they are a nigh invincible force of millions of seven foot tall muscle bound communist ubermenchen equipped with beyond cutting edge technologies.

The photographs told a different story.

I suppose all those exercises against F22s will come in handy if they ever have a run in with one of the dozen or so Su57s on the planet.

I’ve watched this USAF pilot’s review

I'm a lot more worried about our corruption and ineptitude in government and top military leadership than what equipment a potential advisory may have.

Translated, that means they stopped making F-22s before they fulfilled the need.

We can not allow a fighter gap!

Ah yes the China fighter "threat".

So are we fighting them over US soil or Chinese soil?

My understanding is international airspace but Guam is a U.S. territory

Meh.

We got diversity.

That’s just great! Now we have to think in Chinese too.

It’s not like we have a few thousand 5th gens in inventory.

What do we have, 300? Including testing and training?

The Chinese military has such serious issues that all this hardware they are acquiring is essentially just a bunch of expensive targets  that will be destroyed.

You can have aircraft carriers and 5th generation aircraft, but if you don't have good SOP and TTPs with well trained and motivated military personnel lead by competent commanders you're going to get steam rolled.

To say nothing of the fact that China is corrupt right down to its rotten core.  At this point I've seen dozens of stories of corrupt government officials who get caught with literally stacks of money inside their homes.  Communism has so corrupted mainland Chinese through famine and hardship for so many generations that they can't even help themselves from stealing everything they get their hands on.  Long story short, I think most of the Chinese hardware is probably built cutting as many corners as possible so that various people throughout the defense sector chain could pocket money for themselves.   My guess is that most Chinese equipment will not hold up well during combat operations and that their shit will become combat ineffective in record time with deep and serious issues with replacement parts and repair.   Chinese personnel are incredible piss-poor as well.  For generations now the PLA have essentially just been an internal security force used to protect the Party, in fact, that is the PLA's stated mission not protection of the people or the nation, but of the party.  All they've really been maintained for is to steam roll over protestors not go slug it out with a foreign military.   Chinese Generals often achieve their rank by outright bribing government officials not out of any merit whatsoever.  

There are some reforms that the CCP has apparently tried to implement, but this is a cultural issue embedded into that culture through generations and it will take a VERY long time to change the PLA into a competent military capable of going up against a near peer threat.   If the CCP thinks it can take Taiwan they are in for a serious shock, because the people of Taiwan were not corrupted like mainland Chinese from generations of Communism and they are actually a competent military that will give the CCP a serious fight.   If the PLA goes into Taiwan they are going to make the troubles the Russians are having look like nothing by comparison to what the PLA will have to contend with.  

Hopefully skunkworks/area 51 peeps is working on giving the A-10 a cloaking device.

No worries.  Tom proved that Tomcats are all that is needed.

Do the Chinese have the tankers to refuel their fighters for the 1000 mile trip to Guam and back?  I'm just genuinely curious where we will be fighting these Chinese planes

I'd be surprised if they have 4th gen

F35 is a gen 5 platform and we have built more than 700 of them.

There were less than 200 F22s made. But they aren't needed to beat the stuffing out of a J20.

Of course the real joke would be that if an actual war with China broke out they would probably release race targeted bioweapons against which the mightiest Air Forces in the world would be useless.

Well... Unless someone had the balls to nuke the fuck out of them for releasing said bioweapons. But I don't think anyone in our current command structure would do something like that.

Doesn't matter how good your tech is, if the culture surrounding it is rotting.

China won't need to shoot at any US fighters, to achieve any of their goals.

Nope... the US government would be too busy tracking down violators of mask and vaccine policies.

Possibly over Taiwan.

Do we trust our own military?

Given the Chinese governments current levels of utter fucking insanity. There is also risk of conflict over or involving India, Japan, Australia, Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Boy, wouldn't that make for some historical irony? USAF jets flying out of and defending Hanoi?

They stole designs, got parts off the stealth Blackhawk and have spies in our manufacturing.

Of course they have 5th gen fighters.

When I was in the TV news business in the '80s the government would send us books to show us why we were behind the Russkies. They made for fun reading because Ivan supposedly had stuff that was way cooler then ours.

Attached File

https://www.businessinsider.com/china-demonstrates-aerial-refueling-aircraft-in-flight-near-taiwan-2021-11 Attached File

Is anyone or anything trustworthy?

Swiss bankers perhaps?

If conflict breaks out then I suppose we will have to let the chips fall where they may. It's not like we can farm out national defense to the Europeans or the Canadians or the FBI.

what?..the J20?  that thing is a serious POS

Honk.Honk

The FBI has been pretty mediocre in countering Chinese spy’s and theft in the USA for the last 25 years.

It's not just the equimpent, it's the operators

We have better pilots with more real airtime, not just a simulator.  

I personally think China's new fighters are pretty formidable.   More than the Su57

I would be more worried about their capabilities to pump out a massive drone army.

Our gov probably sold them the tech under the table.

Corrupt scumbags, every last one.

Attached File

Voted "Lying to get more (of that sweet taxpayer) money.

The USAF pilot vids I’ve watched say China’s air time mirrors USA hours. I’m skeptical but I’m no SME so have to go by the USAF statements https://www.airforcemag.com/air-force-flying-hours-decline-again-after-brief-recovery/

They'll need a couple dozen given the distance

Dam str8 white bread

Come on OP. Did you watch Maverick, or not?

Sounds like they should boost their own capabilities instead of relying on the US.  Japan, Australia and South Korea are first world countries

Who would want it?  It is in danger of tipping over.

Which side of the warrior culture curve is China's military on?  How about the US military?

There's your answer.

6th gen

I’m guessing that’s what was hounding our Navy off the California coast

Are we really so arrogant as to assume we’re the only country with an Area 51 or version of DARPA?  Lord knows that at this point in time they have far more manufacturing capacity and capability than we do.

I’d like to think we’ve got some 6th gen projects well underway as well too btw…

Don’t think China wants it so much as to destroy it hence names like “the Guam killer”

Russia's SU-57 is also a legit 5th gen fighter, so is the Chinese  J-20.  Russia and China are also designing high end unmanned stealth platforms.