Chengdu next gen combat aircraft (?J-36) thread

[Zahid]

Very nice photo and... Doesn't it show the TVC being activated? Could be just me but gaps between the engines look significantly larger/deeper than on other photos.

There's a small triangle between the most faraway nozzle and the middle nozzle, indicating it moved.

Note that the center engine exhaust is different. It is possible that the side engines have TVC in vertical plane while the center one does not.

Also, having read the last many pages, people need to re-read Art of War: "Appear weak when strong, & strong when weak". Less said, the better.

 

[lcloo]

36011 as Deino said"May be..." on post @203. May be this is the first prototype instead of a demostrator, after all we have seen satellite photo of a single engine "demosctrator" next to a hangar many years ago.

Prototype #1 usually do not comes with full specs. And TVC may not yet be fitted as we think it should be. The next 5-6 years will be interesting time to watch.

 

[Kejora]

I think @by78 was right, there's visible gaps at the back of the aircraft between the engines, so 2D TVC is still not out of the question.

On a side note, 36011... why not JH-360?

Unlike f-22 style 2d tvc this one seems to lack visible hinges even on the other control surfaces.



This thing probably has morphing control surfaces like this

 

[Neurosmith]

36011 as Deino said"May be..." on post @203. May be this is the first prototype instead of a demostrator, after all we have seen satellite photo of a single engine "demosctrator" next to a hangar many years ago.

Prototype #1 usually do not comes with full specs. And TVC may not yet be fitted as we think it should be. The next 5-6 years will be interesting time to watch.

I think this observation has been overlooked and could be a significant indicator of where the program is at. If this 36011 airframe is indeed a prototype of a finalized/pre-production design rather than a tech demonstrator, it would mean that either (1) the CHENGAD program made significant milestones in complete secrecy or (2) CAC is confident/competent enough to skip the demonstration phase altogether - both would be monumental.

 

[bsdnf]

For the “just a demonstrator aircraft” deniers, the hard truth is that PLAAF could have conducted the test flight at some random Northwest military airfield and guaranteed that the public wouldn't be able to get any pictures of it at all, and indeed they did.

As long as the aircraft is test-flown at CAC or SAC, it means that the overall design has been completed, and the only thing left to do is to continue to optimize and test-fly it until it becomes a mature product, which is why the aircraft needs to be at CAC or SAC, it needs to be constantly modified and optimized between the plant & runway, which cannot be done at a military base.

 

[Overbom]

IMO it's a prototype. I don't think CAC would make such a public flight for just a tech demonstrator

 

[bsdnf]

View attachment 141830Just found it...Wikipedia page of "six-generation fighter" has updated!

6gen page in Chinese is also undergoing intense electronic warfare engagements

 

[Neurosmith]

For the “just a demonstrator aircraft” deniers, the hard truth is that PLAAF could have conducted the test flight at some random Northwest military airfield and guaranteed that the public wouldn't be able to get any pictures of it at all, and indeed they did.

As long as the aircraft is test-flown at CAC or SAC, it means that the overall design has been completed, and the only thing left to do is to continue to optimize and test-fly it until it becomes a mature product, which is why the aircraft needs to be at CAC or SAC, it needs to be constantly modified and optimized between the plant & runway, which cannot be done at a military base.

IMO it's a prototype. I don't think CAC would make such a public flight for just a tech demonstrator

To play the Devil's advocate, the J-20 2001 tech demonstrator made its maiden flight at CAC and in front of prying public eyes.

 

[Ringsword]

They didn't even mention anything about it in the recent report to Congress!

This IS the PLA's/CMC's middle finger to the recent US's recent DoD "Report on Chinese Military Power-where it cited how China could even be better and more efficient "if the rampant corruption and inefficiencies weren't holding Chinese military development back so much" or to that effect.HAHAHA

 

[ougoah]

Has all the avionics suite provisions and spaces detailed out. Not only is this prototype this is refined past early prototypes. Far beyond demonstrators which are just the general airframe and placeholder powerplants if that even. Sometimes models rather than even full sized.

What the US claims to have flown a few times in the past for ngad are tech demonstrators. Possibly close to prototype ones or more likely just empty shell models, even scaled down models. They then discontinued and decided not to pursue down the same path they were on, choosing to review. After this they may decide to just bite the bullet and go ahead with what they had.

China has also played around with numerous iterations of designs. Far ahead of the US in 6th gen. Idiots think these things take just a few years. They take up to a decade in just development. China has nearly completed prototyping. This is all at least a decade work we are seeing.

Ngad is at a stage behind these two. The big talk from nafo boys is because none of them are pros or experts. They think China hasn't already done all that the ngad has done by 2015 or much earlier than whenever their iterations were done.