Page 48 - Australian Defence Magazine March-April 2022

48 AIRPOWER
MARCH-APRIL 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
China has also appeared to have surmounted one of the last major hurdles that has hamstrung its aircraft industry: engines. For so long the Achilles heel of the industry, China is now quickly introducing indigenous engine designs into various fighters, reducing its reliance on Russian power- plants for its J-10s, J-11s, J-16s and J-20s.
The twin-engine J-11B was the first to receive the locally- developed WS-10 afterburning turbofan beginning in 2012, although it would take almost a further decade and exten- sive testing before the single-engine J-10 entered PLAAF service, which started receiving its first WS-10 powered aircraft in 2021.
In addition to land-based fighters, carrier-borne aircraft are also being developed for the PLANAF. The Flanker fam- ily was once again the natural choice, a Su-33 carrier variant of the Flanker having been acquired from Ukraine for stud- ies before China developed the Shenyang J-15 Flying Shark.
These have been used to equip the two carriers in service with the PLA Navy and has enabled China to train up a cadre of carrier-qualified pilots and establish a carrier air arm. It is also developing a new carrier
fighter extensively modified from the Shenyang FC-31 export stealth fighter. The new aircraft has made its first
flight in late 2021 and is believed to be designated the J-35, although little else is known about it.
A JAPANESE APPROACH
Japan, whose forces were geared to prepare for a Soviet in- vasion during the Cold War, is now modernising to counter an increasingly assertive China in the East China Sea and Western Pacific.
The main fighter in the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) is the Mitsubishi F-15J, a licence-built version of the Boeing F-15C Eagle. Japan built 200 F-15s under licence in the 1980s and these are currently operated by seven operational squadrons, a training squadron, and a dedicated aggressor unit.
An upgrade project will see 98 jets upgraded in the com- ing years to F-15JSI (Japan Super Interceptor) standard with a new Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) ra- dar, mission computer, improved Electronic Warfare (EW) and other systems. They will also be integrated with the Lockheed-Martin AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM).
A new fighter is also being developed to replace 87 Mit- subishi F-2A/B multi-role fighters currently serving with three operational and one training squadron. Japan is keen to restart its own fighter production line, which ended when deliveries of the F-2 were completed in 2011 and it could secure only final assembly rights for the F-35.
During the intervening years Japan continued research into technology such as AESA radars, engines and stealth shaping, with MHI building a technology demonstrator aircraft for ATLA which undertook almost 40 test flights between 2016 and 2018.
The data from these flights has allowed Japan to continue its R&D into fighter technology, and it will develop the F-X
to replace the F-2 as an indigenous program, with Mitsubi- shi selected as prime contractor.
Japan will also partner with the UK for engine develop- ment, with the two governments having signed a memoran- dum of cooperation in late 2021 enabling teaming on the engine demonstrator and possibly other unspecified areas of technology.
The engine development work by Japan’s IHI and Rolls Royce is formally scheduled to get underway in early 2022 following a joint engine viability study now underway. Ja- pan’s defence ministry said efforts would commence in its next financial year, beginning on 1 April 2022.
SOUTH KOREA’S GROWING FIGHTER AMBITIONS
Technically still at war with its nuclear-armed neighbour, South Korea has made tremendous strides in developing a domestic defence industry over the past 20 years, and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is now a significant player in the international trainer and light combat aircraft market.
“THE INDO-PACIFIC FIGHTER
DISCUSSION WOULD NOT BE COMPLETE WITHOUT MENTIONING THE LOCKHEED-MARTIN F-35”
It is now developing the KF-21 Boramae (Young Hawk) 4.5 generation fighter aircraft program with the goal of producing an advanced multi-role fighter. The airframe has low- observable elements built into it and is stealthier than its non-stealthy contem- poraries but does not carry weapons in
internal bays like truly stealthy fighters. The program is led by the South Ko- rean government, which holds 60 per cent of the program's shares. Indonesia took a 20 per cent stake in the program in 2010, and the remaining 20 per cent
are held by private partners including manufacturer KAI. The KF-21 is designed to maximise local content, and systems such as the AESA radar, ECM, IRST, and targeting systems are indigenous although it will still be powered by a
pair of GE F414 afterburning turbofans.
The first prototype KF-21 was completed and unveiled
during a rollout ceremony in April 2021 at KAI’s headquar- ters in Sacheon, with first flight due in April 2022 and pro- duction to begin in 2028.
MAINTAINING A DETERRENCE
Seen by China as a rogue province, the self-ruling island of Taiwan is facing an increasingly powerful China which has vowed to reincorporate the island into its fold, by force if necessary.
Taiwan’s Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) operates the Lockheed-Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, indigenous AIDC F-CK-1 Ching Kuo, and the French Dassault Mirage 2000 as its primary combat aircraft.
The ROCAF’s 140-strong F-16 fleet is being upgraded with a raft of improved systems including the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR), new mission computers and improved electronic warfare capabilities and due for completion in 2023.
That will bring the ROCAF’s fleet close to the stan- dard of 66 new-build F-16Vs Taiwan will begin receiving in 2022. The additional F-16s have long been on Taiwan’s wish list but had been stymied by the reluctance of the US