My Question is, are the Russkies capable of putting those AESA radars on leading edge panels and wingtips? I don't know much about radar.
Another concern is..how soon will the chinese illegally copy these planes?
Yeah, they have that L-band leading edge radar unit in testing. And in case you're thinking under development means nothing happens, it is the same company that provides the nose radar, so money will be coming in. Plus it will be offered on the MKI, so India might be able to upgrade their Flankers with it. The diagram is of course wishful thinking, the units aren't that big, and I think it's ridiculous to think there's room in the outer edges for another Ka-band units as well as X-band. The person that did the drawing probably never looked at a fighter's wing, it's thin. The transmitters don't need much room of course, but if you can only place a couple of them, you can't really say its AESA anymore, as there won't be much of an array. Also there's the power and weight issue. I don't see any reason for adding Ka-band as well. It will be good with the nose radar, tailcone radar and the leading edge ones. I don't see any reason to put additional units all over the thing. And it would need a lot of computing power, far more than the Russians can put into it. It seems sometimes it is forgotten that this thing is not built to be undefeatable or win some innovation medal, but to equip the future Russian Air Force with a decent amount of them.
The reason that it's L-band is probably related to feasability. Some claim it will be better to detect stealth planes, I think that's BS. You need a much lower frequency, so far when defeating stealth was talked about the term ultra-low was used. L-band is hardly anything to brag about. I should quote this but can't remember where I read it, I think it was a nice statement "The Russians aren't the first to use L-band, but as ever, they are the first to claim they can perform miracles with it." The reason it needs these units is to expand the hemisphere coverage. The nose radar is only electronically steered, the array is fixed unlike some other AESA designs. That's where these leading edge arrays come in handy. Its range will be far less than the main unit, and it's probably just search that it will perform, for situational awareness. L-band requires less power, less processing, but has far lower resolution. So the argument that stealth planes optimized against X-band frequencies produce a bigger RCS in L-band, is irrelevant, because if it didn't, they'd be better off mechanically steering the array of the nose radar. However I suppose that as stealth planes won't show up on the RWR, you need to look for them for your SA. The main reason is course that the fixed nose array, means simpler design, maintenance, and less weight. And a somewhat larger diameter possible, means more electronically steered (sub)units... Maybe having the ability to scan in an additional band will improve jamming resistance as well. I wonder though, what it will for the detectability of the PAK-FA itself... can't be good. The addition of these units, actually are more of a sign of the limitations of the IRST and the main radar unit.
Like the tailcone radar, it's likely that this should be seen as an optional item. PAK-FA is a staged project, and I don't expect Phase I aircraft to have them.
The F-35 will naturally look less capable when you exaggerate the capabilities of everything else...
Your second question. Russia / China are strengthening, or rather, restoring their military cooperation. The Su-33 and Su-35 are offered to China, and even the Su-34. For the Su-35 license production is on the table. If this works out, China might get access to the PAK-FA. However, problem, India sees China as potential enemy (not as likely as Pakistan, but China is of course a bigger threat). With India in the PAK-FA development, I wonder if that gives them the power to veto sales to China. I doubt it!! That would then surely mean the end for Russian-Indo military cooperation, and then we'll be likely to see more Indian orders going to US companies. Time will tell.
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