That certainly could be the case, thought the flying wing might just be PS to throw us off among the recent developments. If the mystery aircraft is manned then we're looking at a good portion of the whole teapot/teacup PLAAF/PLANAF ecosystem, possibly 3 (!) manned 6th gens and at least 4 mid and high end CCAs. Plus not forgetting the WZ-X that i'm sure will have a role to play in this ecosystem, and the only one missing from this party, the H-20.
Well, if the picture is truly of the actual flying article of that patent then this aircraft would be the first new variable sweep wing design built in 44 years.
I'm inclined to think it's just a J-36 foreshortened by angle/AoA.
They are being explored. There's an article floating around from 2020 about AFRL experimenting with Ga_2O_3 sensors that included a number of partnering companies that are working on this. There's a number of air force related SBIR contracts with companies to build GaO related electronics. NRL, AFRL, NASA have all been doing exploratory and rudimentary implementation work. You really have to dig around for this stuff and the most information rich article I've seen was actually just that one article from AFRL.
I like it, i hope it's real, that swing wings look great.
@Reddington777 thanks, agree with your points and think a new thread is a great idea.
www.twz.com
This one seems like a PS job, I feel like the only genuine photos were the first two photos posted
In fact, I want to laugh a little, there should be no reason for China to develop a third manned sixth-generation aircraft. This one is very much like a fake picture.
Not to mention a lack of leading edge alignments from inlets to wing tips, etc which is a big no no in stealth. I don't even think the plane is symmetrical. Not only a photoshopped but a bad one at that
Although the newer clearer pictures showing intake and undercarriage is fake, the initial 2 pictures of the side seems to be genuine and maybe that one where the aircraft is directly overhead. It could very well be another manned aircraft or loyal wingman.
Pretty fair assessment by a SDF memberA) This is a fake, likely using a still of the J-36 for the front fuselage. I’ve been thinking this since yesterday. I’m convinced now.
B) This is a CCA, taken from the footage of it flying with a Y-9, that surfaced ~1-2 weeks ago. It is clearly not the same aircraft as (C) below, including any of that VG CATBOR stuff, which borders on nonsense IMHO.
C) If, as someone said above, this is supposedly the only real picture of “[G]J-XD3”, it would make sense because it clearly looks different to those PSed J-36 ones, like (A), that did the rounds yesterday (with the clear image quality on the trailing edges and undersides).
Am I the only one that thinks this thing looks big? I see a slight bulge that makes me think a cockpit is more likely than not (of course, could be satcom) — but mostly because judging by the front gear, the undercarriage is either comically tiny, or the aircraft is big… and what looks to be at least 2, but maybe 3 wheels in the main landing gear bogie.
That or H-20s supersonic partner. Since China can afford at least 2 6th gens and at least 4 high end CCAs (but possibly there might be more) why can't they afford two types of bombers to cover all mission requirements?
I have run this photo through several photoshop detectors, and the entire outside edge shows signs of manipulation, particularly the trailing edge. However, this could easily be from the post processing that most phones do by default. It's interesting that the trailing edge appears more sharpened than the forebody, something you can see with the naked eye when looking at the photo, but you'll notice that the entire airframe nevertheless shows signs of manipulation (the trailing edge doesn't appear to have been photoshopped onto an original image).
I don't think it could be that quick...
meanwhile in the US. ...
Of the last three stragglers in the meme, F/A-XX is barely clinging to the bumper while the E7 and shipbuilding faceplant flat onto the cement.
Maybe it was photographed after some of the trailing edge controls fell off?
If it is a new aerodynamic configuration of the J-36 (which was my immediate thought when I saw it), there would still be a use for the previous version, systems and engine testing, for example. It may even have been decided upon before the first version flew . . .
Or may be a competition with 3 diferent models
Medium (J-50) and Heavy (J-36) for PLAAF and one for PLAN would be a possibility if you want to make sense of three advanced aircraft flying.
Here are some arguments from Chinese websites:
