This reminds me of speculation that the leading and trailing edges of the WZ-X's wings are not parallel, because I couldn't find any reason for it to be that way. Now I feel it might be due to the split flaps opening on the ground, making the outer wings appear narrower.
Chinese UCAV/CCA/flying wing drones (ISR, A2A, A2G)
- Thread starter VESSEL
- Start date
They don't call it The Cope Zone for nothing.
Under the comments they're actually have a serious discussion on why China is "only" building large UCAVs while US is building only small ones, then concluding it must be because smaller is harder, while completely oblivious to the fact China has even more small CCAs
China's smaller CCAs are still larger than the handful of private (and a few more promising legacy) sourced CCAs being developed and tested in the US.
The reason for this isn't because smaller is harder. China's Type C to F CCAs are larger than the Valkyrie, Ghost Bats and the bullshit ones like Anduril's are generally smaller than Chinese ones because they're carrying less fuel and have a pathetic weapons payload capacity. The only serious American CCAs are their Lockmart and Northrop's "Increment 1" or "Group 5" class of CCAs which appear in their renders and read in their literature to be slightly smaller than China's Type A and B light fighter sized CCAs but at least represent sizes that reflect greater capability. These high end CCAs are considerably larger than the Ghost Bat and Valkyrie class CCAs.
It does appear that China is 10 years or so ahead of the US though. Increment 1/ Group 5 programs are WIP with project targets delivering platform for service in 10 years or so whereas Chinese Type A and B are in testing now if not further along since they've been disclosed at a level reserved for in service platforms only. While the hardware may have China pulling ahead, the underlying software these platforms utilise will be comparable ie limited in usefulness for the first generation unless they are remotely and closely fed with inputs. This is why PLAAF has the J-20S already in service and in development for the last 10 years while the US has... nothing yet, not even a program. They'll probably jump straight to full autonomous with their Increment 1/ Group 5 platforms. China's taken a step by step approach here but faster iteration.
Overall when it comes to the military, it's like the car industry. China is FAR more advanced and capable than is commonly understood even by the experts and further along than it is shown to the public. If the Americans (observers like TWZ, Ryan McBeth, F-16net crowd) truly knew what the ground realities are like, they'd be absolutely shocked. China's car industry dominates by far now even in combustion engines they're becoming an equal. Hardly any Americans know just by how much. Military is a field where China places far greater emphasis and have been for a much longer time. It makes China's car industry look like an afterthought and a hobby.
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Isn't increment 1 just YFQ-42 and YFQ-44 (this one doesn't even has a weapon bay) and northrop project YFQ-48 competes for increment 2 (after they lose the bid in 1) which is still a very small aircraft powered by a PW500 which has only a fraction of thrust compare to WS-10
I think you're correct. Increment 2 is the Group 5 class. Increment 1 is mostly comprised of hype RC planes. Increment 2 is their equivalent of Type C to F. US has no equivalent of Type A and B. We can define by engine to give an approximation of payload and range. US is really struggling to keep up with CCAs and their private sector keeps talking about attrition using cheap and replaceable CCAs.
How much you wanna bet that China can produce Type A/B at a lower cost than the Anduril scam?
plawolf
Lieutenant General
If China hits them with a full RE ban, China can probably build a Type A/B for less money than it would cost the Americans to build an AMRAAM with smuggled RE.
When the going gets tough you can always replace rare earth with common earth.
This is guaranteed. Anduril exists to rip off the American tax payer. For them to double down on a failing model to "beat China at attrition" when it comes to UCAVs, is so American. Anduril will provide the least for the most they can extract. China simply spam builds anything good and socialises good ideas/tech. Western companies gatekeep good ideas and tech and put up millions of legal barriers to even access its use. Elite-ist society vs one that aims to actually progress.
This plane is interesting... Seems to have a wing span of ~30m and a length of ~20m, maybe a bit less
What is the purpose of the structure (?) on the ground?
What is the purpose of the structure (?) on the ground?