Shenyang / Chengdu "6th Gen" Aircraft - News and Analysis

siegecrossbow said:
New photo. Don’t know when it was taken.

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I've been thinking for awhile now that designers would over time slowly revert aircraft to looking as much like birds as possible. I know it sounds corny lol but it makes sense; mother nature knows best, so to follow her lead makes sense. The famous B-2 vs Eagle/Hawk comparison comes to mind. The slim bird like features lead to the strongest stealth capabilities and strong mobility. I could go on and on, though this philosophy of design probably requires its own thread.
 
Airborne2001 said:
I've been thinking for awhile now that designers would over time slowly revert aircraft to looking as much like birds as possible. I know it sounds corny lol but it makes sense; mother nature knows best, so to follow her lead makes sense. The famous B-2 vs Eagle/Hawk comparison comes to mind. The slim bird like features lead to the strongest stealth capabilities and strong mobility. I could go on and on, though this philosophy of design probably requires its own thread.
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Birds don’t go supersonic though.
 
EmoBirb said:
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.
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Before the 3rd one flew I was mostly assuming the J50 was for PLAN.

But Medium and Heavy for PLAAF and a separate bird for PLAN would work.
 
Surprised at that Deino. I had thought that as long as the J-XDS had the probe it was considered to be a prototype but now it is removed. It all seams rather strange at this time.
 
They could be part of the EODAS but my theory is that possibly they, alongside the undernose transparent aperture, might be part of a DIRCM system, sort of like Su-57 has?
 
lancer21 said:
So this is what a sixth generation fighter looks like up close, not the smokeware BS from some other countries lol. After Fujian EMALS operation now this. What a week.
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I mean, J-36 already showed that. People were just in denial about it's nature as a fighter simply because it's unconventional/doesn't fit their idea of a fighter.
 
Life of Tyo said:
The Radome Shape remind me T-50-5 ,but J-50 have bigger Radome
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It's just your typical 6th-generation air supremacy/multirole fighter radome and nose design.

The design resembles that Northrop Grumman ad from a few years ago, as well as previous visualizations from other companies.

The other approach in 6th-generation (also in 5th) manned fighter designs so far is raising the cockpit to improve the visibility for the pilot, which is a design choice that's highly likely to be a part of the F/A-XX design, and visibly present on the F-47 as well.
 
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Life of Tyo said:
The Radome Shape remind me T-50-5 ,but J-50 have bigger Radome
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Aside from the proportionally long snout and distinct edge (which is present on every stealth aircraft) running along the side I don't see much commonality. The J-50 is longer, flatter wider, certainly less pretty and also lacks the distinct IRST that makes the Sukhoi recognizable as such.
 
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Uuuuiiiuu said:
To me the J-36 still screams fighter bomber / regional strike aircraft.
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Simply because you see it and think about the F-111 and Su-34 when you notice the seating arrangement, landing gear and size.

But size and seating arrangement lend themselves to an aircraft that's intended to generate plenty of power, have long range, carry large weapons and also work in a command and control role within the larger kill web (kill chain?) somewhere below genuine AEW&C aircraft but above the unmanned and less capable manned assets it will direct in theater (presumably).
 
a rough translation of the above image

2.2.1.1 Geometric-Integration Constraints​


Restricted by the overall airframe structure of this aircraft, the intake system is confined to the three-dimensional region shown in Fig. 2.5. This 3-D region consists of the area beneath the forebody and the internal fuselage space from the forebody to the combustor inlet. Two identical intake ducts must be arranged symmetrically about the aircraft’s longitudinal mid-plane. The exit cross-section of each duct, to match the combustor, shall be a circle with a diameter of 920 mm, and the normal of the exit plane shall be parallel to the x-axis. At the same time, the intake inlets should realize geometric integration with the forebody; the corresponding concept is illustrated in Fig. 2.6.


Fig. 2.5 Available space for the aircraft intake system
Fig. 2.6 Concept diagram of geometric integration between the intake ducts and the forebody
 

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