Chengdu next gen combat aircraft (?J-36) thread
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
What a roller coaster the past few days have been. This looks absolutely majestic, out of this world -- just WOW
No it’s hella ugly.
We've always known it was wide, but seeing it on the ground from the front really sells the idea. Its practically a flying shovel (albeit a pointy one). Assuming its a true photo, of course. There's a lot of AI blurring going on, either intentional or the result of extremely high zoom.
I was both surprised and not so surprised at the metal brace/strut in the canopy. Concerns about RCS, naturally. But its not an unseen before design, and there exists ways to mitigate its effect.
I'm more interested in how the pilots get into the cockpit. That canopy design doesn't look like it'll allow it to open up, and one thing we can definitely see is that any would-be hinge is not in front of the canopy (but could still be on the back). Perhaps they climb in via a hatch near the front landing gear? That design is rare, but its been done before on the Su-34.
Look at the "eyes". Pls be FHD SWIR, MWIR and LWIR at the least.
They might be checking on the middle engine.
It’s not a phone booth fighter.
Been trying to make sense of all the doors visible on the bottom. From the limited image quality it seems like the central section of the IWB is open (in red).
Not entirely sure what the doors in green and blue are though. There looks to be a hose underneath the blue section, so maybe it is a maintenance hatch? It's also possible that this is the door for the side sections of the weapons bay, which would make sense since it looks to be the same height. But we don't see a corresponding door on the opposite side, maybe it is obscured by the main bay door or it just wasn't open.
I had no idea what the part outlined in green is, maybe something sticking out of the IWB, or something like a retractable Luneberg lens?
Would appreciate any discussion/corrections!
Not entirely sure what the doors in green and blue are though. There looks to be a hose underneath the blue section, so maybe it is a maintenance hatch? It's also possible that this is the door for the side sections of the weapons bay, which would make sense since it looks to be the same height. But we don't see a corresponding door on the opposite side, maybe it is obscured by the main bay door or it just wasn't open.
I had no idea what the part outlined in green is, maybe something sticking out of the IWB, or something like a retractable Luneberg lens?
Would appreciate any discussion/corrections!