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

[siegecrossbow]

Any idea why the two big boys have exposed nozzles? Most of the decisionmaking (general shape, lack of vertical stabilizers) would suggest extreme stealth, so the engine does stick out quite a bit.

This is not to suggest that this makes them them non-LO from side and rear angles, and the decisionmaking for the F-35 and J-20 shows that an F-22-like nozzle cover isn't strictly necessary for a modern VLO plane, but I'm still curious. As shown by the other drones and the 6th-gen designs, China has no issues building planes with all-aspect stealth.

From what I’ve read they wanted good supersonic performance so afterburners were required and the WS-10C nozzles provided a good solution. Guess they are waiting for WS-15 before adding 2D TVC.

 

[enroger]

From Hurin @ X.
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Vaguely visible gap on the wingtip (pic 2), all moving wingtip on the lambda wing CCA?

 

[siegecrossbow]

Really wished that they used rectangular nozzles for the high end CCAs. Maybe they will on the next variant?

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Orca claims that 2D TVC is still work in progress.

 

[sunnymaxi]

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Orca claims that 2D TVC is still work in progress.

then what about J-XDS nozzle ?? nozzle was ready but they didn't want to showcase in parade.

 

[mack8]

It would make sense to unify the engines with J-36 and J-50, but given that seemingly these UADFs are said to be operational already and possibly Type B was spotted as far back as 2021, the flat nozzled engines were likely not ready yet back then, so they went for the available mature option (WS-10C), much like GJ-11 and S-70 initially flew with existing engines. So perhaps in the near future we'll get to see the updated variants of the UADFs fitted with the flat nozzled engines of J-36/J-50.

 

[siegecrossbow]

then what about J-XDS nozzle ?? nozzle was ready but they didn't want to showcase in parade.

J-XDS or J-50 is still a prototype so the nozzles are not in service yet. The UAV is in service.

 

[Andy1974]

Any idea why the two big boys have exposed nozzles? Most of the decisionmaking (general shape, lack of vertical stabilizers) would suggest extreme stealth, so the engine does stick out quite a bit.

This is not to suggest that this makes them them non-LO from side and rear angles, and the decisionmaking for the F-35 and J-20 shows that an F-22-like nozzle cover isn't strictly necessary for a modern VLO plane, but I'm still curious. As shown by the other drones and the 6th-gen designs, China has no issues building planes with all-aspect stealth.

I think it is to allow 3D thrust vectoring with a future WS-15, these UADFs need yaw control.

 

[Maikeru]

Review of the 4 new types of UCAV seen:

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[vincent]

Review of the 4 new types of UCAV seen:

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The cope is strong with this one:

Apart from these, none of the others have been spotted flying as yet, although, given their display within a parade, we can assume they might be inducted into the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) in the future.

This aircraft, which we assessed at the time resembled the Feihong FH-97, bearing the serial number 53431, is ‘thicker’ and with a longer top-mounted air intake.
...
Observers therefore suspect whether the aircraft is merely a marketing or concept effort for expos.

 

[dingyibvs]

The cope is strong with this one:

I think he means the FH-97/A is for exports.