Shenyang next gen combat aircraft thread

[MC530]

To me it's pretty clear that a frontline fighter is still needed.

J-36 is like a mounted knight that can flank around or charge out from reserves during a decisive moment. Just like those, it is vulnerable if caught in wvr and unable to use it's superior mobility to disengage by a much larger force of men-at-arms/peasants (5th and 4.5th gen). Since after winning a few dogfights, the large plane will lose so much speed that an IRST equipped legacy fighter can just go up to it and hit it through its stealth and EW "armor".

The weakness of shock cavalry is that it can't be fielded in the same number as enemy foot infantry, even if they can nearly always beat them 1v1 and offer unparalled strategic options.

So China still needs its own line of contact foot infantry equivalents, which would ordinarily be J-20s, J-35s, J-16s etc. Here is where the J-XS(50?) comes in, it's like having a dismounted knight fighting among the ranks, bringing the J-36 protection level (stealth + EW) and superior fighting power into the main contact line.

When two lines of legacy fighters clash, having a few J-XS mixed in lets them mow down the opposition with ease unless the enemy also has their own dismounted knight equivalents.

Although we sometimes refer to certain fighters as flankers, they are actually completely different from cavalry. The cavalry is powered by horses, and these animals will tire and be blocked. The J36's jet engine will not feel any fatigue, nor will it hit objects other than the air. It only needs a slight deviation from the angle and it will blow away from the opponent like the wind. Passing by ten kilometers away, the lance named PL15 pierced the opponent's heart without delay. You can come back a few more times if necessary.
The J50 will only complete its own job, such as slashing the opponent's F35 from a lower height.

 

[Schwerter_]

I believe movable wingtips are useful at reducing the structural strength requirement of the wings. There was a video of a Chinese university team adding movable wingtips to a model plane to reduce the stress on the wings when the plane encountered strong winds.

Yeah all moving wingtips can be really useful, I’m not entirely sure how the design would translation from a (relatively small) drone to a full sized aircraft though. If with a full sized aircraft it can still reduce bending moment significantly while not bringing too heavy a penalty (taking up internal space, extra weight, reduced G-limit, etc) it’s definitely something good to have

 

[Schwerter_]

You already are sacrificing all aspect stealth to a minor extent with W wing trailing edge.

True but lambda wing creates a higher aspect ratio and helps with cruise efficiency I think, I could be very much mistaken here. If like 611, 601 treats large range and good cruise efficiency as a key requirement then the tradeoff of using a lambda wing may very well be worth it

 

[ACuriousPLAFan]

New underside view of the J-XDS. Posted by @Rational314159 on Twitter.

 

[Neurosmith]

New underside view of the J-XDS. Posted by @Rational314159 on Twitter.

View attachment 142565
View attachment 142566

Very interesting. The tailfins are not very prominent, unless they're so flush with the rest of the wings that it is not possible to discern them at that distance.

 

[polati]

Clearly a white/grey underbelly, as opposed to the other one with a black underbelly, 2nd prototype?

 

[Neurosmith]

Clearly a white/grey underbelly, as opposed to the other one with a black underbelly, 2nd prototype?

Possible. I don't think the first black prototype had a pitot tube either.

Additionally the engine grooves are extremely prominent on this one, to the point that an IWB is questionable here.

 

[no_name]

It looks like it might have two smaller bottom weapons bay instead of one large one, the notch down the middle seems quite deep.

 

[polati]

Possible. I don't think the first black prototype had a pitot tube either.

Additionally the engine grooves are extremely prominent on this one, to the point that an IWB is questionable here.

It does seem weird, like it couldn't fit any IWB at all. From both these pictures either the nose is very wide/flat, or this aircraft is in fact quite small? Given the size of the intakes in comparison to the aircraft it doesn't seem like it can carry anything internally.

Additionally if it were 2 smaller bottom bays, why add a groove and decrease the internal volume? It seems counterintuitive.

 

[Blitzo]

Clearly a white/grey underbelly, as opposed to the other one with a black underbelly, 2nd prototype?

I would say it's more likely to be lighting and/or camera.