Nothing for SHENGAD yet , we know too little about it.
Chengdu next gen combat aircraft (?J-36) thread
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
Quite knightly to not hit exposed rear of the enemy, who's going over half the world to fight you near and in your mainland.
Interdiction isn't done to make things fair. It's done to make things fear.
Reminds me of Airsoft enthusiasts, basically everything is TACTICAL 
Fighter
Bomber
Fighter-Bomber
Air Superiority Fighter
Air Dominance Aircraft
Tactical Bomber
Combat Aircraft
Tactical Combat Aircraft
If anything they need it more than US. US is only fighting to take over Taiwan and maybe NK. China is fighting to have back all its former lost colonies in greater Asia.
Sure, PLAAF doesn't need to overcome the same type of absurdly stacked defenses China has over Taiwan or within the 1IC, but they need to consistently raid and conduct sead in airspaces like Philippines, Indochina, Japan etc. And while say Philippines have nearly no air defenses, with US lend leasing to them, they can reach fairly respectable, maybe Iran tiers of air defense during an actual conflict.
No, PCA is still the core ability of J-36, and the paper of the director of 611 Institute has made this clear. PLA cannot rely solely on the Rocket Force to complete the suppression of 2IC, and the Air Force cannot wait until the 1IC is completely suppressed before expanding the A2/AD circle and fighting against 2IC from the perspective of situational awareness and strike capability. J-36 will be responsible for breaking through 1IC from D-Day 1 and preventing the US Air Force's important assets in 2IC (such as long-range bombers and early warning aircraft) from being put into combat. In this case, not only is the PL-15 insufficient, but even the PL-17 can barely meet the demand.
Many people think that the war in the Western Pacific is too mild, and that the PLA is too conservative and restrained. No, the more US assets that can be put into battle in the 2IC, the more risks there are to landing fleets and coastal air defense. The PLA will not keep its strike capabilities (whether against land, sea or air) within the first island chain, nor will it systematically remove US military bases one by one.
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On "consistently raid and conduct sead in airspaces like Philippines, Indochina, Japan etc"
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My point is that Chinese aircraft can actually use standoff weapons to do this.
The HARM is listed with a 150-300km range these days. It means Chinese aircraft can launch these over water and still hit every target in the 1IC. The PL-15 and PL-17 have even greater ranges.
Sure, being able to penetrate enemy airspace is a great capability to have.
But do you really want to risk a J-36 like this?
And as long as you have enough J-36, it's better to spam missiles at long-range than risk getting too close.
Stand off weapons need targets, and their range isn't endless. J-36 is exactly the means to find(and prosecute) those targets in enemy rear.
Why you build it if you don't?
That's the question that apparently killed NGAD-1, by the way.
My expectation is that by 2035, the 300km gap in Bashi Straits will be cleared within the first 2 hours.
That will allow the J-36 to pass through to Guam.
It's important to note that it isn't the J-36 doing the suppression of the 1IC and clearing the airspace
It is the rest of the Air Force and Rocket Force.
The J-36 spends its time crossing open empty waters until it reaches Guam.
Tbh, wont be surprising if by the time J-36 comes online, China has 100s of 1000s of disposable, decently cheap, *Stealthy* and *smart* Gerans with burst of speed during terminal phase.
I personally feel China is pretty confident in its pipeline about knocking every threat out of 1IC.
Now, we're not talking about wether rebels in Taiwan can be forced to end the conflict and re-unite.
I feel, China wants to do it in such a manner that whoever tries to interfere in this internal conflict, they're smashed so comprehensively that it brings about a global paradigm change in international order and the next day, world is completely different as we know it.
This Taiwan thing imo will become a side quest as far as military aspect is concerned. There are bigger geopolitical goals that can be had. In a decade or two, Taiwan instead of being a geopolitical liability, can become a bait, converting it into geopolitical asset.
Next 5-10 years will be critical on how the dominoes fall, with time and inertia on China's side. I think US's optimal window of oppurtunity was day before yesterday and that oppurtunity is closing really fast.
All in all, I do hope, whatever happens can happen organically and without any shooting wars. War is bad for everyone, id be happy to pay dirt cheap $ or Yens on next gen electronic devices and equipment borne out of ultra competitive markets rather than pay crazy premiums due to protectionism
.Edit: and we can all fuck off to Mars and leave Elon there lol.
A healthy competition will be a win for humanity.
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