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

[Deino]

Don’t think you need to be a PLA watcher

it’s pretty clear to everyone China has leaped frogged every 6th generation fighter project

and showing these kinds of manoeuvres so early on the development is clearly making a big statement

6th generation fighter shouldn’t be able to make these kinds of turns without traditional add ons unless you have a serious advantage and advancement in relevant technology

Calm down! We see indeed two great designs and most surprisingly in a quite decent quality already so early in the flight-test phase, but I see nothing extraordinary in terms of manueverability or „turns“ to call it „China has leaped frogged every 6th generation fighter project“ even more so since we still have nothing seen on the US demonstrators!

 

[Schwerter_]

These three engines will burn a ton of fuel.

Not necessarily. Fuel consumption for any flight condition is based on thrust needed, and thrust specific fuel consumption (TSFC) of the engines at that thrust level. Having an extra engine doesn’t automatically mean it guzzles fuel during cruise or normal operation scenarios.

I can’t locate the exact source, but I saw a Chinese paper float around the internet at one point with the idea that with proper optimization, a 3-engined design can actually be more fuel efficient than a 2-engined design for the same given mission, because each engine would provide a lower thrust and operate at a lower TSFC, balancing out the increase in weight and used space.

like Blitzo pointed out, aircraft design does not operate in a vacuum, every design choice has its drawbacks and benefits, and it’s probably unwise to only look at drawbacks of a design without giving due consideration to how it can benefit the system

 

[Wrought]

Aircraft designers are working with billions of dollars and state of the art national level scientific resources with multiple teams cross checking each other at all times and comparing to both physical prototypes and computational models.

They don't "screw up".

Of course they screw up. A well-publicized example is the F-35, which is dogged by ongoing issues to this day. Doesn't mean it's not a good or effective aircraft, just that it has problems. Problems which the designers and pilots very much wish it did not have.

But when you are talking about top-tier technical teams screwing up, then you need to bring a great deal of hard evidence. Instead of just saying "I don't like how that looks."

 

[BillRamengod]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

I don't know why mod deleted my post, but i hold onto my oppion: this is an AI generate video.

Here are some anomalies I've observed as an video editor:
View attachment 150579

• The position of the background (red circle) reference object (pillar) has shifted too significantly.
• The blue-framed building (including all background elements visible to the left of the pillar) appears normal at first glance, but is actually a complete mess – clearly AI-generated image expansion.

View attachment 150581

• From the first frame onward, the landing gear exhibits random jittering and ghosting artifacts. While such phenomena typically result from frame interpolation (frame blending), if this were the case, ghosting should affect all objects within the current frame uniformly—not just isolated portions of a single object.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Another potentially less relevant factor: The uploader is a influencer who recommends other entertainment social media accounts, with no history of posting military-related content.

There are no clear indications that the latest pictures and videos of the J-36 and J-XDS/J-50 have been fabricated, but this remains a possibility, albeit a very small one.

TWZ also fell to this AI video, I strongly advise them not only to track new trends from X, but also double check on this forum.

 

[latenlazy]

3 engines are good for redundancy in case of failures, true. But wouldn't distributing the load evenly across three engines be better for reliability/redundancy? So as to minimize the impact of any disturbances in any one engine?

You could but usually for applications that require high persistent electrical power you want at least one guaranteed generator to be the designated base load.

 

[sheogorath]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

TWZ also fell to this AI video, I strongly advise them not only to track new trends from X, but also double check on this forum.

The apparent AI charateristics could just be artifacs of AI scaling up rather than just the video being AI outright, though.

 

[siegecrossbow]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

TWZ also fell to this AI video, I strongly advise them not only to track new trends from X, but also double check on this forum.

TWZ needs to pay Deino for all the retweets. If you take those out then 68 percent of their photos are gone…

 

[HailingTX20]

You love to spoil the party don’t you like a proper loser

you even admitted that US demonstrators havnt flown and yet claim they are somehow better based on what ? Your wet dream ?

Haven't flown and weren't seen isn't the same thing.

And being cautious doesn't cost anything, while making extreme and absolute statements come at the cost of sounding like a fanboy as opposed to an analytical observer. It's a fact that as of now we've only seen Chinese 6th gen aircraft but does that mean that China has already "leapfrogged" everyone else? No, not unless you are privy to non-OSINT classified information.

 

[HailingTX20]

Sit down Deinos little fan boy

Such a nuanced and intellectually rigorous take. Bravo.

 

[zyklon]

You love to spoil the party don’t you like a proper loser

you even admitted that US demonstrators havnt flown and yet claim they are somehow better based on what ? Your wet dream ?

To be fair, the US has been developing and testing tailless designs (for future supersonic fighter applications) since at least the 1990s.

The most visible examples being the Bird of Prey and X-36.

Based on what we've witnessed, it's plausible or arguably more likely than not that China has since surpassed the US in this domain, as it has in other areas like HGVs and MaRVs, in part due to years of DoD misprioritizations.

However, unless you have access to highly classified data from SAC, CAC, Lockheed, Northrop and Boeing on the current states of their tailless efforts, we ought to maintain an open mind and a measure of humility until enough information emerges to allow for a reasonably comprehensive comparison of next gen Chinese and American tailless designs.