Chinese UAV/UCAV development

A Copy From American or CIA Taking This Spy Photo?

Here's what the PLAN some day hopes to do with their own UCAV development.


Those aircraft are going to be game changers as they are further developed and as they are used for all sorts of missions on their own (Recon, surveillance, BDA, Maritime Patrol, Strike). Particularly when it gets to the point where say and F/A-18F is flying along, controlling 4 or so of them at a time from its own aircraft. Talk about force multipliers.

I know the US has been waiting for and looking forward to this. Very historic

A.Man said:

A Copy From American or CIA Taking This Spy Photo?

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if a dirt poor farmer can enter what suppose to be highly restritive area, then it seen every one could.

hardware said:

if a dirt poor farmer can enter what suppose to be highly restritive area, then it seen every one could.

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That "farmer" obviously has an armband. I think he was hired to do maintenance work (like cutting grass or something) on site.

siegecrossbow said:

That "farmer" obviously has an armband. I think he was hired to do maintenance work (like cutting grass or something) on site.

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I don't think that's an armband. It's the sleeve of a long-sleeve shirt he wears under his short-sleeved shirt. However, the long-sleeved shirt is orange in color, which matched the color of the shirts/jackets worn by the people working on the UAV in the background. So the guy is obviously a worker employed by the facility.

The only reason one has a variable area nozzle such as this is that they want to sqeeze the exhaust velocity up and beyond supersonic. If the air Vehicle's mission requirement calls for stealth cruise only no rapid accelerations then a fixed area nozzle would be sufficient. then it is probablly worth the thrust inefficiencies to shape the exahust for IR and Radar Stealth. most of time engine would be operating at a fixed cruise thrust anyways. and you prob good just to size it for that.

but if one's vehicle over all requirement calls for rapid acceleration. and need every ounce of that engine's potential. then it is prob overall cheaper just to use a standard variable exist area nozzle. and pay for it in some IR and radar Stealth loss.

design is always a compromise.


so. what can we conclude... it is problemablly built for maneuvering flight.

vesicles said:

I don't think that's an armband. It's the sleeve of a long-sleeve shirt he wears under his short-sleeved shirt. However, the long-sleeved shirt is orange in color, which matched the color of the shirts/jackets worn by the people working on the UAV in the background. So the guy is obviously a worker employed by the facility.

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Oh God you guys have never seen 袖套。or Sleep Protector before???? !!!! favorite work garment of chinese farmers, street peddlers, sanitation workers, and factory hands.

i.e. said:

Oh God you guys have never seen 袖套。or Sleep Protector before???? !!!! favorite work garment of chinese farmers, street peddlers, sanitation workers, and factory hands.

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Nah, I agree with Vesicles on this. It's a short sleeve worn over long sleeves. The orange sleeves do not look puffy enough to be sleeve protectors.

I was actually wondering how it can protect the wearer while he was sleeping.

Article about X-47B's first flight but it also mentions Lijian.

Unmanned aircraft have been grabbing the headlines today. First, there is now a clearer picture available of what appears to be China's first stealth UAV--but little more than that is really known, everything else is pure speculation. However, one industry source says that to his very experienced eyes, the aircraft is a genuine advance in Chinese aerospace development--unlike the farce that is the Iranian toy that was presented last week.

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