...And another CG image of the J-31 from RT.com

Image of the J-31 from china.cn

Avic Promotes J-31 As An Export Fighter

Avic Promotes J-31 As An Export Fighter

X-47 B in Testing

Defensetech.org has some awesome pictures of the Northrop Grumman X-37B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstartor (UCAS-D). You can see them here: http://defensetech.org/2012/01/25/pics-of-the-day-x-47b-from-above/

In the meantime, defensetalk.com reports that the UCAS is at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, gearing up for a full summer schedule of testing. The X-47 B is the first unmanned vehicle that has been designed to take off and land from an aircraft carrier. It is also the first that can take off and carry out its own mission without the aid of a remote pilot (it kinda even looks like the UCAV-EDI from the movie "Stealth" - sorry, no Jessica Biel included).

From: defencetalk.com

Russia to get First T-50 Fighters in 2013

The Russian Airforce will receive the first batch of prototypes of its fifth-generation T-50 fighter for performance testing in 2013, Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said on Thursday.

The T-50, developed under the PAK FA program (Future Aviation System for Tactical Air Force) at the Sukhoi experimental design bureau, is Russia's first new major warplane designed since the fall of the Soviet Union.
"The work on the fifth-generation fighter is going according to schedule," Zelin, a former Air Force commander, told a news conference in Voronezh (central Russia). "The third prototype has joined the testing program and the fourth is being built."
The T-50 made its maiden flight in January 2010 and three prototypes have since been undergoing flight tests.
Zelin said earlier that the number of T-50 aircraft involved in testing would be increased to 14 by 2015.
The fighter was first shown to the public in August 2011, in Zhukovsky near Moscow, at the MAKS-2011 air show.


Read more at http://www.defencetalk.com/russian-airforce-to-get-first-t-50-fighters-in-2013-42648/#ixzz1vfm5zZuY

Indian AF Chief Visits Dassault

From http://www.defensenews.com/:

NEW DELHI — Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne, head of the Indian Air Force, is visiting France, where he is getting a close look at the Rafale, India’s choice for its Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).

Image from aviationintel.com

“At St. Dizier, he would be visiting the Rafale squadron to get a first-hand impression of the MMRCA selected by the IAF, and also to see Rafale’s production facilities at Mérignac, besides overseeing the progress of the various projects being carried forward as joint ventures between the two countries,” the Indian Defence Ministry said in a news release.

The official release refers to the Rafale as the “MMRCA selected by the IAF,” but a senior Defence Ministry official here noted that Rafale is only the short-listed aircraft for the MMRCA program, and that negotiations are still underway with French company Dassault, which builds the Rafale.

The Indian Defence Ministry short listed Rafale over the Eurofighter Typhoon earlier this year, but the contract has yet to be signed. Under the deal, the Air Force will buy 126 fighter aircraft at a cost of more than $11 billion.

Browne is also having a first-hand look at the upgrade of India’s Mirage 2000H fighter aircraft, being undertaken by French company Thales under a $2.2 deal signed last year.

“He would also be interacting with the IAF’s Project Management Team members for the Mirage 2000 Upgrade Project,” according to the ministry’s release. “The visit is significant, as it is the first high-level official visit from India to France after the new [Paris] government has taken office.”

www.defensenews.com

From Wired.com's Danger Room:

China Flies New Stealth Fighter as Problems Plague U.S. Jets

The second copy of China’s stealth fighter prototype has just flown at a research facility in the city of Chengdu. The first flight of the J-20 Mighty Dragon with the nose number 2002 doubles Beijing’s stealth test fleet at a time when America’s latest jet fighters are hobbled by cost overruns, labor disputes and lethal design flaws. But it’s far from certain how much, and how fast, the new Chinese jet will alter the military balance.

The challenges for American stealth developers are clear. It has come to light that Lockheed’s F-22 Raptor — the first of the current generation of stealth fighters — is steadily poisoning its pilots owing to a faulty oxygen system. Meanwhile, the F-35 has been delayed by several years and the overall cost to design and build thousands of the new jets has risen by hundreds of billions of dollars. To make matters worse, workers at Lockheed’s F-35 factory have gone on strike, with no end in sight.

At first glance, China appears to be making huge progress where the U.S. falters. The twin-engine Mighty Dragon 2002, painted black like its predecessor, made its first appearance in April in photos snapped by Chinese bloggers (who may or may not be on Beijing’s payroll). The second J-20 spent a month or so performing ground tests before launching on its inaugural test sortie sometime in the past few days. If the initial flight of the first Mighty Dragon (nose number 2001) in December 2010 is any indication, 2002′s debut mission amounted to little more than a lap around the Chengdu airfield to test the aircraft’s basic functions and show off for the aforementioned bloggers.

With two airframes to work with, the Chengdu engineers can now double the roughly five-flights-a-month development program apparently aimed at producing a front-line stealth warplane. Before the first Mighty Dragon ever flew, General He Weirong of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force said the J-20 would enter service between 2017 and 2019. Then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates countered, saying it would be 2020 or later before China possessed a combat-ready stealth fighter. It’s unclear who’s right — or even what definition of front-line service either man was using.

 Read the full article on wired.com: “China Flies New Stealth Fighter as Problems Plague U.S. Jets” »