India’s Rafael Vs China’s J-20 Comparison |
Chengdu j-20 vs Rafael | Chinese j-20 stealth
fighter vs Rafael
So, you guys have seen the landing of Rafael in the Indian runway. In this blog, I will
compare the Chengdu j-20 with Rafael, and in this blog, which one is better and what are their specifications.
The Indian air force is all set to induct the first batch of Dassault Rafale aircraft on the 29th of July at the Ambala air force station with the induction into the 17 squadron rafale becomes one of the most advanced aircraft operated by the Indian air force.
Comparison Of India’s Rafael Vs China’s J-20:
Since the rafale is the most advanced aircraft of the Indian air force it is only fair to compare it with the j20 which is considered china's most advanced aerial platform.
Rafael Vs J-20 Specifications:
Generation:
The rafale is a French twin-engine delta-wing multi-role fighter aircraft and is considered to be of the 4.5 generation while j20 is a single-seat twin-engine all-weather stealth fifth-generation aircraft produced in China.
Range:
The range of the j20 is not available or credible information is not available in the public domain while for Rafal the range is around 3700 kilometers
Speed:
The max speed of rafale is about 2130 kilometers per hour while j20 has a max speed of 2223 kilometers per hour
Service Ceiling:
The service ceiling for the rafale is around 15 000 meters while for the j20 is around 20 000 meters
Avionics And Radar:
Now let's compare the avionics and radar of these two aircraft, China has not made the details of j-20s radar public but if reports are to be believed the Chinese aircraft use an active electronically scanned array radar system a similar technology is used in the rafale as well and this is considered to be one of the most advanced radar technologies available in the world right now.
But does that make both aircraft equal? not really how avionics and other technologies are incorporated into the aircraft makes a huge difference one of the key technological advantages of Rafal is this electronic warfare suit spectra.
This protects the aircraft from the ground and airborne threats various methods of detection decoying jamming and highly reprogrammable system capable of analyzing multiple threats makes it very difficult to detect and shoot down a rafale.
we are told that 30 of the total cost of producing a rafale goes into spectra on the other hand j20's radar is equipped with chin-mounted optic infrared surge and track sensor which gives the pilot a 360-degree view of the battlefield.
The Chinese also claim that the pilot can access information from Chinese satellites from this fighter aircraft with the limited information available in the public domain.
It can be concluded that both aircraft have very capable radar and avionics onboard since they are multi-role aircraft they can undertake missions like air-to-air air-to-ground in-depth strike anti-ship and nuclear deterrence missions.
And for this, they come with an array of weapons and technologies
Weapons:
The two main weapons that India will be getting with Rafal are the scalp and a meteor while the scalp is an air-to-ground missile meteor that is beyond visual range air-to-air missile.
Once again very little credible information is available about j-20s firepower
Beyond Visual Range Missiles:
In case of aerial combat these two aircraft are likely to use their beyond visual range missiles in India's case it is a meteor and in china's j-20s case it is said to be the pl-15 air-to-air missile and here is how these two missiles match up against each other
pl-15:
The pl-15 missile has a range exceeding 200 kilometers while the meteor exceeds a range of 150 kilometers pl 15 has a maximum speed of 49 kilometers per hour
while rafale's meteor has a speed of 4248 kilometers per hour there is a huge difference between these two air-to-air missiles the pl-15 missile is designed to take down big targets like an air-to-air refueller or an airbag which is an early warning system
Meteor:
while the meteor is capable of taking even smaller targets like a cruise missile or a uav even though in terms of speed and range meteor lags this advantage gives it an extra edge
Stealth Capabilities:
China has claimed that j20 is a fifth-generation aircraft with stealth capabilities in layman's language stealth capability means that the design of an aircraft makes it difficult for enemy radar to pick it up does that mean that the j20 has an advantage over rafale on this front
Design:
To understand this we need to look at two different aspects according to reports the design of the j20 is highly influenced by another fifth-generation aircraft the f-22 raptor which is used by the united states.
There are reports that in 2009 during an exercise a Rafal was able to track and target an f-22 at the same time
the Indian air force has claimed that his su-30 mkis were able to track j-20s along the Chinese border during its sorties now Rafal doesn't have stealth technology it is a 4.5 generation fighter plane but it has been designed in such a way that the radar cross-section of this aircraft is much less compared to the other aircraft operating in the world right now.
Coupled with spectra rafale still has a good chance against the stealth technology of the Chinese j-20 while comparing these two aircraft it is very important to understand the operational history of these two fighter plates.
The rafale has proven its capabilities in many battlefields including in Libya Iraq Afghanistan and many other African countries where the french air force has been deployed but on the other hand the j-20 does not have any operational history that proves the capabilities of the Chinese claim.
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