Chinese UCAV/CCA/flying wing drones (ISR, A2A, A2G)
- Thread starter VESSEL
- Start date
I always thought you talked like an old man but this is reaching next level now.
The problem is, externally I'm indeed an old man already, but in my head I think I'm still the same old impetuous hothead who all too often gets carried away by his enthusiasm. But let's no longer talk about me, but Chinese UAVs.
“Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened.”
The wind-down of this back and forth feels like the conclusion of a multi-episode mystery serial. Back to Baker Street everyone, to await the next adventure!
Hm, that main landing gear is way off. I get that it's surely a mockup and all, but still, a little bit more accuracy doesn't hurt. Not strange that it's just a simple vertical stick for a mockup, but they could've attached them closer to the center of mass. That way handling the mockup around the ship/truck could be simulated more realistically and provide some more useful data. Providing testing is the point of it all, of course.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
Another possibility is, could they have designed this UCAVs as a single use design from the start?
You can save a surprisingly large amount of internal space and weight by just not having a retractable MLG and instead design them as ejectable single use bare minimum structures just rated for a single EMAL take-off.
The front landing gear could not be redesigned the same due to it being used for EMAL launch anchor point so you can’t shave much off it to start with.
That would explain why they had two CCAs of so similar sizes and designs (one is single use and the other isn’t) and maybe also why they pulled this one from the parade if the PLA were worried someone might have noticed the lack of MLG doors on the design and figured out it’s a single use design and then somehow deducted that the PLA has this container ship EMAL up its sleeve.
Sled would be a better choice for launching single use aircrafts.
Unless certain components have been removed, the landing gears do not look like that they can be tucked into the fuselage. There does not appear to be visible signs of open hatches under the tarps for the landing gears either.
Real military aircrafts would have not been allowed to be left in the open unattended like this.
But sled cannot let you move the aircraft around on their own without a crane.