33% bigger then typhoon according to some officials and journalists similar sizes to f-111 and mirage IV
And GCAP (Production) is expected to be even bigger than this. Mainly for high payload and range
Wow
So a 6th gen sort-of flanker? (Since those too owe their size to the demand for more payload and range, at least in part)
FS2020 for life
One document leak is all it takes to ground an entire fleet of aircraft due to fear of enemy exploitation of data. That’s why
Very much so, i believe the hope is for at least 2, but maybe 3-4 ASHM’s.
This is just the demonstrator though but that will feature EJ200’s and also avionics systems (likely a radar too in the end), and will conduct weapons bay testing and firing trials even if the bay is not representative of the final aircrafts configuration.
I think this will feature two separate bays in tandem or one in front of the other, but I suspect the final aircraft will feature two side-mounted bays and one very, very large ventral bay, with a mechanism allowing the aircraft to only open partly to allow smaller munitions out (e.g Meteor’s) and then fully to eject larger munitions (e.g FC/ASW).
Latest models
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The models are not fully representative of either the demo of the prototypes but I think they’re likely to be a lot closer to the Demo than the final prototypes. That is why i only infer a guesstimate about the weapons bay layouts.
One easy distinction is here you have a serrated 2d nozzle, whereas the demo will use EJ200’s.
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I wonder how much commonality there will be between the GCAP helmet and Striker II, Striker II isn’t even here yet but offers everything they’re saying GCAP will, so is there any point in focussing finances on that area of development for now when even to this day most aircraft do not have full capability HMD’s on the level of even Striker I.
Definitely at least 4 GCAP will replace the F-2 which while multi purpose its main job would be anti shipping, it already usually carry’s 4 but theoretically 6 (as we see in WT) GCAP will have to match or exceed that especially room for ASM-3 and new Type 25 SSM they also want more air to air missiles
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Our partners discovering what BAE has been cooking in the HMD department with Striker II haha.
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I swear that’s literally just a reskinned striker II there hahaha.
Complete with the cyclops eye.
100% is, no need to reinvent the wheel here, Striker II was already bleeding edge.
The mock-up and models are likely closer to the GCAP design rather than the demonstrator. They have straight leading edges, while the demonstrator will have a kinked leading edge.
Stratus family?
Maybe? But also cruise missiles and big anti ship missiles such as ASM-3
Damn, ASM-3 is 6m long [according to wiki], google says Stratus RS is planned to be ~5m
Yeah is big and I know they want to be able to put these domestic stuff in their F-3 bays likely
Also more importantly the new Type 25 missile
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Do we know (or have any speculation as to) why the demonstrator is going kinked?
I was under the impression there’s virtually no benefit to doing that on a stealth aircraft.
I’d also be surprised to see the final aircraft as anything but tailless, otherwise we may genuinely find ourselves with a design worse than any of China’s three 6th gen aircraft.
…they have three???