I think there is a confusion about the video. Let me explain briefly. The dorsal spine can be used for avionics or extra fuel, but China has J-16D so they have no use for J-10'D'. PAF can exploit it if there is a need in future.
Now, about stability. The lateral and directional stability are affected by dorsal and ventral surfaces. The fuselage drop tank installation on FT-7 in PAF was prohibited due to uncontrollable roll rate. Simply put, ventral surfaces will make it unstable and dorsal will make it more stable. Also, at hi-alpha, dorsal spine can prevent rudder-lock and it will improve directional stability during maneuvers, avoiding yaw and sideslip.
1. Regarding the EW fighter variant based on the J-10C fighter platform, there are two rumors: a version with a thickened dorsal spine and a version with a bulging fuselage. The version with a thickened dorsal spine has been confirmed as the J-10CY. However, there has been no follow-up information on the bulging fuselage version. From an engineering design perspective, the latter is more likely to be the EW fighter variant.
2. Technically speaking, developing an EW fighter variant based on the J-10C fighter platform presents no problems. However, many practical issues exist.
EW fighters have extremely high requirements for the airframe platform (power supply capacity, airframe space, heat dissipation capacity, etc.). The J-10C is not an ideal platform. We speculate that the bulging fuselage version of the J-10C may have been some kind of engineering technology verification test version. The PLAAF ultimately did not continue to support this version, indicating that it did not meet operational requirements.
Power supply capacity limits the capabilities of the EW equipment, forcing these expensive EW systems to operate at reduced performance (compared to the J-15D/J-16D). Therefore, the PLAAF widely adopts a simplified solution of externally mounted EW pods and procures more J-16Ds.
Another issue.
EW capability is a default standard feature of the 5th-Gen fighter jet and one of its standard indicators. While its EW capability lags behind dedicated EW fighters in some aspects, the difference in EW combat capability compared to EW fighters based on the J-10C platform is not significant (there is still a gap, but not large). However, the 5th-Gen is more stealthy and has greater survivability when penetrating enemy fire zones.
Meanwhile, although the J-10C fighter platform itself is not expensive, these EW kits are very expensive. ------ For reference: the J-16D fighter jet is approximately 200 million RMB more expensive than the J-16 fighter jet.
Such an EW fighter jet based on the J-10C platform is very similar in price to, or even higher than, the FC-31/J-35 fighter jet. However, its EW performance is not significantly superior.
What would you choose?
J-35 and KJ500 package will come together, but not anytime soon. PAF will go for it together for the 5th Gen kill chain and there is enough time for PAF when looking at things from India's perspective.
In the meantime maybe another J-10 and JF-17BLK III squadron will be added.
In Chinese official media, the term "体系化作战" frequently appears. This term has several English translations, but none are accurate. While it shares some similarities with concepts like "system of systems," JADC2, and network-centric warfare in its English context, there are significant differences. My English is not good enough to accurately convey these details. You can use AI to explain these distinctions yourselves.
If you delve deeper into this concept, you'll realize that for the PAF, the KJ-500 is far more important and has a higher priority than the FC-31/J-35.
In China, there are many papers on "体系化作战," and this is one of them published on the PLA's official website.
www.81.cn
It's important to note that this paper cannot be read directly using translation software. Many specific terms will be misinterpreted by translation software. You will need to use AI assistance for in-depth interpretation.
