Could be one large engine or two smaller engines sharing an exhaust exit.
I don't see why can't it have B-21 level of thrust, that "exhaust" simply might be some kind of blanket, it looks too irregularly shaped and off center for a single large exhaust. It is far more likely to be a two engine design like the earlier WZ-X.
It is because they have the industrial economy to do such things. The US and Russians no longer have that ability. In the time frame you listed, the US dominated (I would modify it to be 20's through mid-70's) manufacturing globally. They pulled stuff out of the ground, refined it, turned those refined goods into inputs, and built huge assembly lines to turn those inputs into finished products. They did this on the regular. Just look at US production capacity vs. the rest of the world during World War II.
Actually, given its size, it's probable we are looking at a 60 ton (empty weight) plane, with a 130-140 ton MTOW. One engine is all but impossible to drive such a plane. China doesn't have anything like such a hypothetical engine.
Three engines would also be very unlikely because that'll limit the central bay's height. J-36 doesn't really need extremely deep bays like a strike aircraft or bomber.
Ignore him. Most of us do.
I guess 50 tons empty and 115 tons mtow sounds about right. After all, B-2 flies with approximately 308 kn of thrust. (allegedly 72 tons empty, 170 tons mtow) Given the difference in size and, lets say material/construction advances, it's plausible GJ-X is a fair bit lighter. Though the best indication for 50/115 ton class values would simply be the fact such weight class is doable for china with two engines, which should be the optimal choice. I am not sure about WS18 or anything like that, a medium bypass engine. For a flying wing, something slimmer may be more desirable. F118 used in b2 is after all a derivation of F110. Since WS15 should be all but ready, It sounds sensible that this GJ-X plane actually waited until WS15 is mature enough. Of course, we'd certainly be looking at a non-afterburning variant of WS15, with further optimization for subsonic envelope.
It appears that the GJ-11's codename is "玄龙"("Xuanlong"), which means "Mysterious/Black Dragon". The one shown in the video is "Xuanlong 08", with the J-20 pilot reporting "coordinates with Xuanlong confirmed," it suggests the drone has undergone small-batch deployment for some time.
it suggests the drone has undergone small-batch deployment for some time.
In order to combat endless off topic discussions I'll reply here (and encourage anyone for that matter to make liberal use of the quote function to reply in appropriate threads).
To be fair, had their priorities changed earlier, the Americans could've turned their demonstrators into real projects and made them service-ready. The problem is they can't manage their projects as well as the PLA.
Tailless flying wings since the Horten Ho 229 have been designed with a lift curve that's less aggressive towards the sides than would be optimal. This is to reduce the yawing moment that gets stronger with the increased leverage the further you go from the centerline. This reduces the overall efficiency of the wing. I remember reading a test report written by US engineers after WW2 when they tested the Horten. They found the overall airframe underwhelming, in one part due the errors in the design of the aircraft, with badly positioned features leading to more drag than necessary.
I think the real “oh-shit” moment for the US will happen if the GJ-X becomes something like an information gateway aircraft – similar to the RQ-180 Drone.
The US already has prototype AMTI targeting satellites in space.
It has a civilian version. Haha.
