Good catch. I completely missed the smaller bays. It looks a lot like a strike aircraft; the large weapon bay would be a waste for a pure fighter. I think the three-engine approach is a good idea since it allows for more flexibility in crusing and power generation.
I personally do not think those flaps are TVC since the engines are buried into the upper fuselage of the plane. There are no other rudders on the top side. It would be weird to have TVC on only one side of the outlets.
I believe you are referring to the H-20. Considering how slowly it’s moving, these “sixth-generation” planes might enter service before it is even revealed lol.
I also heard XAC made their own competition for the Chinese fighter program, but I may be mistaken
I heard this, I had assumed it was related to this B-2 type project, I didn’t realise this programme was exclusively for fighters.
It does interest me how Chinese aircraft companies tend to each have a niche, Xi’an makes bombers and stike aircraft, Shenyang make heavy fighters and particularly naval fighters, and then Chengdu make light/medium fighters and strike aircraft.
I find East Asian aerospace development very interesting overall.
Not 100% true but quite near.
First, we should know, AVIC, is a nation-owned company, so unlike NG, LM and Boeing, they’re not completely competive but have many cooprates. For example, a production method from Shenyang is used on J-20.
Next, what we called as Shenyang(601 brueau and 112 factory) or Chengdu(611 bureau and 132 factory) is 2 parts: Design Bureau and Factory. For example, it’s predicted that Chengdu don’t bulid J-10 anymore, and Guizhou, which have their own JL-9, will contiune production.
But yeah, they’re have competitions to make a better design(like the failed Shenyang Gen 5[not J-35] or Nanchang Q-6), and SAC have more cooprate with navy.
I mean, I’m not a fan of the J-35 series for a reason.
Shenyang corp had my respect up until the J-35, now it gained it back through that aircraft that they test flied a couple of days ago.
It is understandable since Chengdu has much more experience with indigenous design, while Shenyang was stuck with Flanker variants, so J-35 will be very similar to F-35 because it is safer and will carry less risks. It is the cheaper option compared to J-20 anyway.
That’s the whole point. We don’t know squat about it. It might be made of some super-duper RAM that makes it invisible to sensors. It might be made from conventional metal. All we do know is that it obviously flies, and that they purposefully flew it in public for all to see in a not-so-subtle ‘look at this!’ moment.
I would question anyone who asserts anything other than those basic facts.
Sixth Gen? We don’t know, do the Chinese even subscribe to our Western Generations of groupings (which basically are often so fuzzy they are nigh-pointless).
How many engines and what type? Dunno. It has three tailpipes but that is no surety.
Stealthy? It ‘looks’ stealthy but again, we don’t know.
Supersonic? Making a faceted body supersonic is awkward but not impossible. We don…you get the idea.
I’m personally dubious of each and every thing marketed as a ‘gamechanger’. That applies every bit to a Western aircraft as a non-Western one. The proof is in the pudding as they say.
I could point to Tempest and Dragonfire as being superweapons that will change the face of air-to-air warfare - but again, I don’t know the first bloody thing about them so any assertions are pointless.
I don’t want to get too political, but how exactly is it that these companies all compete against each other if they’re all subsidiaries of AVIC? Although the Chinese economy has free-market elements, it is still tightly regulated by a one-party state. I’m curious how motivated a subsidiary like Chengdu or Shenyang is to win if they’re under AVIC anyways. Thanks!
Extremely beautiful plane, I must say. It’s really evocative of Ace Combat.
I’ve heard people saying that these control surfaces use morphing technology instead of just hinges, but I find that hard to believe when we can visibly see the housings for the actuators. But maybe just part of the flaps are flexible?? IDK tbh
It’s possible. However, materials science has come far in the past 40 years. Nonetheless, I would be very surprised if the Chinese managed to perfect such technology, whilst also ensuring the integrity of the stealth coating. It’s also just a demonstrator, so I can’t speculate too much tbh
That being said, there have been a few different contenders for NGAD that have already flown, and an USAF spokesman said it has incredible technologies. So maybe such a thing like wing morphing is already posssible
