Chinese Hypersonic Developments (HGVs/HCMs)

Skywatcher said:

My first thought is that its a Mach 3.0-4.0 recon/strike platform (the YJ-12 already acheives Mach 3+ speeds, though that begs the question about solid vs liquid fuels), but it could be much much more.

If this is a hypersonic plane, then maybe we won't have to hear that tripe about "China can't make engines" anymore.

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I do not think that the issue has been that, "China can't make engines." At least certainly not here on SD.

The issue is the development and production of some very special engines for high-end applications. Making the very high end engines for aircraft like the J-20 is still an ongoing, developmental process in China, which I am sure the Chinese are going to overcome.

But to date, they have had difficulty completing those types of engines and that is a fair, factual statement. Heck, there are only there or four countries on earth who can...and even they have problems when ever they try to push the envelope further.

Hypersonic travel is going to mean ramjets and scramjets...which are a completely different animals than a really high-end, cutting-edge turbofan engine.

Jeff Head said:

I do not think that the issue has been that, "China can't make engines." At least certainly not here on SD.

The issue is the development and production of some very special engines for high-end applications. Making the very high end engines for aircraft like the J-20 is still an ongoing, developmental process in China, which I am sure the Chinese are going to overcome.

But to date, they have had difficulty completing those types of engines and that is a fair, factual statement. Heck, there are only there or four countries on earth who can...and even they have problems when ever they try to push the envelope further.

Hypersonic travel is going to mean ramjets and scramjets...which are a completely different animals than a really high-end, cutting-edge turbofan engine.

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I was thinking more of the popular press, like David Axe and co (Dave Majumdar should know better though, but I digress).

Even if the J-10C still uses the AL-31 family of engines, that's not necessarily a knock against the WS-10. The AL-31 derivatives are probably cheaper, and China already has a lot of people familiar with using them.

JayBird said:

but then the article did mention pilots

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Wait, can you elaborate?

Did it mention that pilots were used in this test flight (implying that the aircraft is manned) or are they planning to build a manned variant in the future?

Granted, the term "operator" (i.e. of drones) could easily be mistaken for "pilot", especially when translated.

They say "the Thing" may look like this:

A.Man said:

View attachment 18948 They say "the Thing" may look like this:

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Who are "they"?

SinoSoldier said:

Wait, can you elaborate?

Did it mention that pilots were used in this test flight (implying that the aircraft is manned) or are they planning to build a manned variant in the future?

Granted, the term "operator" (i.e. of drones) could easily be mistaken for "pilot", especially when translated.

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Like I said in the Chinese Aviation Industry thread.

It did mention pilot in the article. ( As the highlight part meant communication with the test pilot) But whether the article meant ground pilot who remotely control the UAV or test pilot actually flying the plane inside the cockpit is up for debate.

同时他还带领了年轻人与设计人员、试飞员等沟通，创新性的提出了适用于该型号的试飞方法。

From the article it sounded like this new mysterious plane didn't attach to any other plane, it was taking off on it's own power and touchdown after few hours. Some people think it's the DarkSword UCAV, but DarkSword doesn't have the Hypersonic speed. At the most is mach 2-3. Hypersonic is supposedly Mach 5 and above.

Unless the article writer exaggerated the speed and height of this test flight. It shouldn't be DarkSword. And WU-14(DF-ZF) is hypersonic glide vehicle fitted to ballistic missiles.

This is the description on DarkSword.

An unmanned combat aerial vehicle(UCAV) Concept "Anjian"(DarkSword)

Anjian is an conceptual combat aerial vehicle developed by ShenYang Aircraft Design & Research Institute, AVIC. It will be Supersonic,super maneuverable and low observable for future air-to-air missions.

JayBird said:

Like I said in the Chinese Aviation Industry thread.

It did mention pilot in the article. ( As the highlight part meant communication with the test pilot) But whether the article meant ground pilot who remotely control the UAV or test pilot actually flying the plane inside the cockpit is up for debate.

同时他还带领了年轻人与设计人员、试飞员等沟通，创新性的提出了适用于该型号的试飞方法。

From the article it sounded like this new mysterious plane didn't attach to any other plane, it was taking off on it's own power and touchdown after few hours. Some people think it's the DarkSword UCAV, but DarkSword doesn't have the Hypersonic speed. At the most is mach 2-3. Hypersonic is supposedly Mach 5 and above.

Unless the article writer exaggerated the speed and height of this test flight. It shouldn't be DarkSword. And WU-14(DF-ZF) is hypersonic glide vehicle fitted to ballistic missiles.

This is the description on DarkSword.

An unmanned combat aerial vehicle(UCAV) Concept "Anjian"(DarkSword)

Anjian is an conceptual combat aerial vehicle developed by ShenYang Aircraft Design & Research Institute, AVIC. It will be Supersonic,super maneuverable and low observable for future air-to-air missions.

View attachment 18951

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Thanks.

I wonder why they had to "communicate" with a ground-based operator when the test team could have simply stood right behind the guy's seat.

SinoSoldier said:

Thanks.

I wonder why they had to "communicate" with a ground-based operator when the test team could have simply stood right behind the guy's seat.

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Oh no.. maybe I didn't make it clear. But communication with the test pilot part was describing the project leader communicating with the test pilot and the designers BEFORE the test flight. I didn't translate the whole sentence because that's not the main point. It was meant to prove test pilot was involve in the flight test process.

JayBird said:

View attachment 18951

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That's a great looking craft. A good mix of graceful elegance and deadly seriousness.

At this moment, we are not able to confirm below statement. However, in the absence of any reliable information, this is what we get from Cao Gen aka Grass Root from CJDBY.

中国高空高速，侦察/打击一体战机。。。。High Altitude High Speed, Recon/Attack Aircraft

1、能在30-40公里高空，以M3-4的速度，持续飞行。Cruuise at 30-40km altitude at M3-4.

2、能够30分钟到达，中国未来可能出现的冲突地区。Able to reach area of possible conflict in 30 minutes.

3、能携带多种侦察设备，高空对目标区域快速侦察。 Carry various type of recon equipment.

4、能对大型海洋上的移动目标，进行持续跟踪定位。Able to track large moving target at sea.

5、能够携带多型高超音速反舰、反幅射、对地导弹。Carry supersonic speed anti-ship missiles, anti-radiation missiles and air to ground missiles.

6、先期发展无人型，后续发展有人型、多用型。Initial variant will be a UAV, later variant will be manned.

7、两台新研发的吸气式涡喷+冲压发动机。Equiped with two newly developed jet engine + ram jet.

8、水平起降，重复使用，放宽静稳设计。Take off and landing from ground level (runway).

Disclaimer: Above statement and CG pic below are speculation only.

These are the same illustration as posted by Jay bird earlier.