Formerly occupied by F-117 — that of a stealth attack plane with limited weapons load.
Chinese UAV/UCAV development
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Formerly occupied by F-117 — that of a stealth attack plane with limited weapons load.
YJ-12 is considerably longer and thicker than YJ-91 isn't it? I doubt the GJ-11 has enough room to carry two YJ-91 or YJ-83 sized missiles. Plus consider the single medium thrust engine. That's not an easy payload to deliver over a meaningful distance without extra fuel.
GJ-11 looks like it's designed for delivering some smaller sized ordinance although we've not seen the bays or even the actual UAV. If it's designed for decent range, much of the internal spaces in the wing-fuselage will be used for fuel tanks.
Like Siege says, I think the GJ-11 is for penetrating ground and air based air defences to deliver two or more, smaller sized bombs onto important targets. YJ series are already offering HUGE stand off ranges. There is very little need for stealth for firing YJ series. Stealth has almost zero utility because air dominance/superiority is assumed to be contested in that fight regardless. So the stealth platform with utility is the J-20 for air superiority role in an entirely different aspect.
The GJ-11 would be pretty much impossible to stop if they got the GJ-11 right and created an aircraft with RCS that's as low if not lower than F-22 and F-35 which isn't hard given the nozzle design, smaller size, full flying wing configuration, stealth materials competence, and alleged no moving control surfaces. At least until revolutionary radars and detection instruments become mature like photonics/quantum radars etc.
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I remember hearing some comment on f35 carrying sdb2 for anti-ship missions, i suppose gj11 can do that as well.
But i doubt its effectiveness, especially when against a usn cvbg, because of the limited range of sdb-like weapons.
But to hit ground target it could be quite effective. 1500km strike radius can reach japan alright.
What? of course it matters. How do you plan to sink a 13,000 tonne cruiser with a micro warhead (<50lbs)? Or destroy a hardened aircraft shelter? Or crater a runway? Or destroy an ICBM silo?
You're making the same mistake again. There's no silver bullet platform/system or capability. And a new capability emerging doesn't magically void everything currently in service. Countermeasures, new systems and tactics will be developed plus legacy systems will adapt.
Kh-31A/P is only 4.7 meters in length for its up to 110km version, and the longer range (160km) version the Russians have, the Kh-31PD/AD/PK is about 5.3 meters. I don't know which version the YJ-91 follows. I think a YJ-83 is about 6 to 6.3 meters in length.
If GJ-11 is going to be given a SEAD role, fitting a YJ-91 should be considered into its design. If not the GJ-11, then another UAV expressedly designed for this purpose.
For anti-shipping, a GJ-11 drone would do better as a stand off spotter flying at extremely high altitudes. What it finds, it relays to a satellite which then relays to other assets that can fire antiship missiles.
Maybe the YJ-91 can fit at a stretch but certainly not the YJ-12 I reckon. YJ-12 is over 6m and from photos of the mockup shown in 2019's parade, I'd say there's simply no way the internal bay can accommodate a YJ-12.
But no doubt for me that GJ-11 would have been designed with SEAD missions in mind which means YJ-91 is definitely worth arming even if GJ-11 can perform effective air to ground using other ordinance. Simply because YJ-91 is dedicated anti-radiation. Unless they create a smaller and shorter ranged anti-radiation missile for UAVs and J-20's internal carriage.
1000 slow moving, low-medium flying and non-stealthy drones. To go back to WW2 as you first raised the analogy - gimme some of that German 88mm high velocity Ack-Ack with air burst proximity fuses... but this time radar guided.
Not to mention the feeble range that they would have. I don’t think you’ve fully thought this one out.
I’m also not bringing DEWs into it, which would really have a field day with your low, slow, non-stealthy PLASTIC drones (to be fair you did say a mix of composites with little metal but you did also say plastic).
AssassinsMace
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My guess would be most drones that are launched come back without releasing their weapons. That would mean you'd be wasting money and resources just releasing these "mini" drones when they're most likely are not going to find a target to destroy. Then you'll get in trouble when little kids find these mini drones after they drain their energy and fall to the ground thinking they're toys and blowing themselves up. The closest thing I can think of to it would be a drone carrying a cluster bomb full of sensor fuzed munitions.
Once again ... any such large missile like KD-88/YJ-83K or YJ-93 are 100% for sure no option for the CJ-11. As such there si no need to constantly ride this dead horse based on wrong assumptions and make wild guesses on what if!
You're basically talking about Valkryie ($2M) or Loyal Wingman type drones ($4M), which are essentially flying cruise missiles.
I struggle to see how you can make a cruise missile any cheaper
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