What would a 3Mn drone even look like? The moment you make it capable of keeping speed and distance with 6th gen fighter the cost would automatically balloon. A unit of predator (4 aircraft + base station) costed 20 Mn back in 2009 for reference.
Chengdu next gen combat aircraft (?J-36) thread
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
Predators are not a good example.
As I say, a $3 Mn drone looks like a Kratos Valkyrie.
The thing is, you expect them to be detected by long-wave radars (just like CCAs), but that isn't an issue for the Valkyrie because they are expendable.
You need wings, a fuselage, and a turbojet. Deriving from first principles (e.g. materials), there's no reason the Chinese industry base can't build a disposable drone that can keep up with a modern fighter for $3m.
There is no reason that CCAs will be detectable via long wave radars, they could easily be made similarly as stealthy as manned fighters.
Small turbojet aircraft have pitiful ranges. No keeping up.
Driving their costs straight back up to the point that losses cannot be sustained. How does $75 million per CCA sound? Because that's what you'll get as the per unit price for bulk ordering 1,000+ of them.
Last edited:
If whatever is shown on those flatbed trucks is truly a Chinese CCA mockup then it already confirms my idea, fully tailless double diamond likely capable of supercruise. Also making drones fully tailless is not that expensive once all the FBW knowledge is already gained via projects like J-36/J-XDS, it could be easily as cheap as your "30M dollar" CCAs or marginally more expensive but at the benefit of much improved survivability, sharing the same RAM coating as production 6th generation aircrafts will likely drive cost down for both types than separately open another line for drones only.
Good point. I was thinking about US MIC pricing. Not China MIC pricing. My bad.
Only way to achieve it is using a bunch of one way dud drone a bit like a bigger version of the adm-160 mald
With standard AA missiles costing more than 1 million $ a piece, and upper end missiles like the meteor at about $2.5 million to $3.5 million per unit. How a drone that can follow and communicate with a fifth generation fighter during a strike mission and launch ordonnance could cost only 3 million $.
A CCA drone that would be able to follow a J-36 and come back would need quite a good range and size. A one way dud wave launched by J-16 at standoff range could do the trick but spoil a surprise.
I cannot see any J-36 wingman\CCA below a third of the J-36 price to be somewhat survivable. If you talk about a very long range MALD, it could cost quite a lot less but beside eating a missile in the face i dont see it do a lot more.
Last edited:
If the one way dud needs to be launched from a j-16, doesn't that defeat the point of using CCAs to increase magazine depth?
For a CCA to be successful it needs:
- Long legs (big or slow or air refuel capable)
- Fast speed ( minimum high subsonic/low super)
- useful magazine depth ( larger)
And either attriable or survivable
Nothing about those points screams cheap. A j-16 strapping MALDs on every hard point is cheap, but CCA it is not.