Shenyang next gen combat aircraft thread

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Aval

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siegecrossbow said:
There appears to be some tape treatment to the joints where the flaps join the wings so I don’t think they use flexible flaps.
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I suppose this suggests it can accept some stealth tradeoffs. This lends credence to the theory the J-36 is the revolutionary uber-stealth fighter concept while the J-50 is the more evolutionary hybrid (stealth + maneuverability) fighter concept. The former unlocks new capabilities and strategies, the latter enhances existing ones.

Its not a leap of imagination by any stretch and I'm sure everyone else has also had similar thoughts, but I figure this observation is still worth pointing out. Beyond the specifics of the airframes themselves we should discuss the doctrine and design goals behind them, since ultimately those decisions (which are still hidden from us) are what led to the final product(s).

It seems that should the J-36's new concept not work out, the PLA can still rely on the J-50 to deliver a tried-and-true 5th-gen stealth fighter doctrine (but enhanced with modern systems). This was also likely the dilemma facing the US NGAD project with Boeing's revolutionary (as reported) concept and LockMart's more traditional proposition. The difference is that China seems able to fund both of its projects and hence hedge its bets, while the US has gone all-in with the revolutionary Hail Mary from Boeing (for both the USAF and the company itself, it seems).


As a light-hearted additional note, new reactions from Western forums to the J-50 are:
  • "Its a fighter-bomber"
  • "Engines must suck"
  • "Generations aren't real"
Their arsenal of "rationalisation" (to put it nicely) is stretched ever thinner. The new fighter concept the J-36 heralds can certainly be critiqued for it being untested in any battlefield, but commentary on the more traditional J-50 seems to reveal an underlying psychological motivation rather than sound argument.
 
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Mearex

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Is there any way to confirm from this picture that SHADE doesn’t have the weird notch in the middle of the IWB on an earlier video?
 
BillRamengod

BillRamengod

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Tyler covered the new SHADE photos in an article, though nothing special caught my eye.

But he still can't let go of those two X-Planes that never had any pictures released...
While many have taken to the internet to declare China has overtaken the U.S. in fighter design as they have two tailless stealth fighter aircraft flying and the U.S. has none, this is incorrect. The DoD has
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, one from Boeing and one from Lockheed Martin, for years now, and those are just the ones so far disclosed. Those demonstrators flew as part of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-led program that also involved the Navy. Other U.S. testing of tailless stealth fighter design concepts
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. Still, as we laid out in great detail in our original analysis, China has made incredible progress in their combat aircraft design and manufacturing capabilities in a relatively short amount of time, and that progress is only set to accelerate.

In other words, the gap is closing.
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Gloire_bb

Gloire_bb

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Aval said:
I suppose this suggests it can accept some stealth tradeoffs. This lends credence to the theory the J-36 is the revolutionary uber-stealth fighter concept while the J-50 is the more evolutionary hybrid (stealth + maneuverability) fighter concept. The former unlocks new capabilities and strategies, the latter enhances existing ones.
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It isn't obvious why JC should be less maneuverable than JS.
Wingtips are good, but they ultimately provide authority in the same plane as J-36s comb.

Nor is it obvious Shenyang bird is less stealthy.
I.e. we can speculate, but realistically it's a step too far.
 
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