Chinese UCAV/CCA/flying wing drones (ISR, A2A, A2G) thread

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AndrewS

Brigadier
Registered Member
dingyibvs said:
I actually meant it the other way around lol, a UADF type CCA in the US will probably cost at least $10 mil.
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The American CCA costs estimates are coming in at ~$25 Million so far, with later versions ~$35 Million.
But these are only equivalent to the lower-tier Type-C,D,E we saw in the Parade.

So an American version of a UADF (Type-A,B) would be a bare minimum of $40 Million

Note that F-35s are $80 Million
 
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AndrewS

Brigadier
Registered Member
tphuang said:
and let's say UASF isn't able to shoot down the enemy CCAs initially and get close enough for dogfighting, it can just eat those smaller CCAs for lunch.

Longer term, UASF can perform OCA roles & escort roles. I don't think you can expect CCAs to do the same.
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The latest US Air Force thinking is for 2 CCAs per manned fighter, and to buy a thousand in total.
Note that the American CCA designs we've seen so far don't have broadband stealth shaping.

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But Chinese UADFs do have broadband stealth shaping and are optimised for air-to-air combat.
So the UADFs should be able to eat those CCAs, in both BVR and WVR combat.

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My thoughts are that the "Loyal Wingman" concept is going to be outdated very quickly.
The main stars of the show will be the UADFs, with manned fighter aircraft operating "safely" in the rear.
 
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AndrewS

Brigadier
Registered Member
My guess is that the Chinese Air Force will also go for at least 2 UADFs per manned fighter.
And in such an arms race, the US Air Force will be forced to develop a UADF.

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However, the US Military has already publicly stated that the development of the Navy 6th gen fighter is on hold because there aren't enough aerospace engineers.

So I don't see where the US is going find the staff for a new UADF programme, which essentially is yet another 6th gen fighter, with the added complexity of being unmanned.
 
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Totoro

Major
VIP Professional
Too many people have too different definitions of "in service". For example, just because a few airframes have been handed over to PLAAF, doesn't have to mean they're in service. For me personally, service would imply having at least one frontline unit equipped with the planes and ready for combat duty. (that's on top of training and development units also operating the type)
 
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ACuriousPLAFan

Brigadier
Registered Member
Also, have a look at the satellite imagery of that parade training site/base located northwest of Beijing from late-Jun this year:

Gv-_HhEW4AAbU0r.jpeg

The colors of the ground/roadway/pavement here certainly doesn't look the same as the ones at Chang'an Avenue/Tiananmen, let alone the road markings, no?

@Deino do you mind asking him where he did he get that photo?
 
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