Clearer 
photos of China’s second stealthy-looking fighter design emerged on the Internet as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta kicked off his diplomatic visit to Beijing last week. The Shenyang F-60—also called the J-21 or J-31—resembles the F-22, but with the intakes of an F-35 strike fighter. The F-60 appears to lack the Raptor’s stealthy thrust-vectoring engines, and there appear to be no attempts at a reduced radar cross section with the engines currently installed in the airplane. The F-60’s canopy, nose, and planform seem to be nearly identical to that of the F-22, and the airplane appears to be not too much different in size from the F-22. The photos seem to show internal weapon bays arranged similarly to the F-22’s, as well as a ruggedized undercarriage potentially suited to carrier-deck operations. Photos earlier this year of a heavily shrouded F-60, partially disassembled en route to testing, revealed that the aircraft is smaller than the Chengdu J-20, which the Chinese unveiled at the end of 2010, but little else. While the larger J-20 is likely designed for longer range strike, the F-60 may be optimized for an air superiority role similar to the F-22’s.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
