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

[siegecrossbow]

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!

View attachment 153732

It has side bays next to the main bay.

 

[WaterbDoge]

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!

View attachment 153732

Blue and yellow doors are side bay doors, green is gear door

 

[mond]

Blue and yellow doors are side bay doors, green is gear door

That makes so much sense, don't know how I missed that

 

[00CuriousObserver]

Plus another 10,000-word article from Tyler Rogoway.

Here it is

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

 

[Captainquirk]

That’s not a fighter.

 

[Tomboy]

That’s not a fighter.

Can you please tell us in your expert opinions why this isn't a fighter?

 

[Blitzo]

Regarding the shape of the aircraft, I've depicted in a red outline, what I think is the overall outer "silhouette" of the aircraft from the photo angle is -- in yellow is the direction of the air intake and the way it protrudes and blends into the rest of the fuselage.

Keep in mind the red outline is asymmetrical from this perspective because the photo was not taken head on, so the dorsal air intake makes the "silhouette" look uneven.

That’s not a fighter.

Driveby low effort posting like this is a waste of everyone's time, especially when it's about topics that have already been extensively discussed -- in this case, the role of this aircraft and the nature of future aerial combat concepts.

 

[mond]

Regarding the shape of the aircraft, I've depicted in a red outline, what I think is the overall outer "silhouette" of the aircraft from the photo angle is -- in yellow is the direction of the air intake and the way it protrudes and blends into the rest of the fuselage.

Keep in mind the red outline is asymmetrical from this perspective because the photo was not taken head on, so the dorsal air intake makes the "silhouette" look uneven.

I thought the same thing, but if you compare to the previous side-on photo, it looks like there should be a sort of groove in between the side and central engines (quoted below). The white part of the camo mentioned here previously is also on the right side, not the left side here. If you zoom in to the top intake, you can see the piece that juts out is a slightly different shade, and there is a pretty clear boundary between the two. I think it might be a maintenance worker bent over like @doggydogdo suggested.

EDIT ... (You again beat me by a minute!)

View attachment 150514

 

[Blitzo]

I thought the same thing, but if you compare to the previous side-on photo, it looks like there should be a sort of groove in between the side and central engines (quoted below). The white part of the camo mentioned here previously is also on the right side, not the left side here. If you zoom in to the top intake, you can see the piece that juts out is a slightly different shade, and there is a pretty clear boundary between the two. I think it might be a maintenance worker bent over like @doggydogdo suggested.

Well, there is a groove, which you can see on the right side of the silhouette outline in the image, but it's just not visible on the left side of the photo because of the angle it was taken at.

As for the "white part of the camo" -- considering the angle of the picture, the quality of the photo, and the nature of camo being designed to disorientate, I am comfortable writing it off as a combination of artefacts.


The outline isn't necessarily trying to be precise, it's more to demonstrate that the actual "silhouette" of the aircraft is somewhat obscured due to a combination of the above artefacts. Parts of the aircraft's white camouflage blends into the background, obscuring its true silhouette, in other words.

 

[Mearex]

Regarding the shape of the aircraft, I've depicted in a red outline, what I think is the overall outer "silhouette" of the aircraft from the photo angle is -- in yellow is the direction of the air intake and the way it protrudes and blends into the rest of the fuselage.

Keep in mind the red outline is asymmetrical from this perspective because the photo was not taken head on, so the dorsal air intake makes the "silhouette" look uneven.

View attachment 153733



Driveby low effort posting like this is a waste of everyone's time, especially when it's about topics that have already been extensively discussed -- in this case, the role of this aircraft and the nature of future aerial combat concepts.

why is there a gap here?


I've noticed something else. Doesn't the cockpit seem too small for the person on the left side of the image? Also the plane as a whole seems smaller than expected when that person is put into perspective. Maybe they're just super tall. Also, what is this?

air brakes?