After holding their ground for a day, American media finally admitted that the large drones displayed at China's 9.3 military parade are ones that the US military does not have.

After the 9.3 military parade, on the 3rd, the "War Zone" website again published an article discussing several large drones that appeared in the parade. However, this time, the "War Zone" website no longer implied that "China copied American technology", but instead admitted that the US Air Force has neither such drones in service nor designs comparable to the PLA's drones.

American media may not be as stubborn, but they still imagine these drones are "models"

However, although admitting that "China has them while the US doesn't," the "War Zone" website is still imagining, claiming that "the drones displayed by China may just be high-fidelity models" and "there is no evidence that these drones have been deployed with the troops," and so on.

Regarding this, we can only say that the 9.3 military parade indeed frightened Western media a lot, with effects similar to last year when two new Chinese fighter jets suddenly appeared, forcing this group of Western media to try every means to hypnotize themselves, repeating the so-called "China stole American technology" or declaring that Chinese weapons have not been tested in real combat.

Getting back to the main point. In fact, the "War Zone" website was right about one thing: the US Air Force indeed does not have the large drones displayed at China's military parade.

We have previously introduced the US Air Force's "Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA)" program, which aims to design and manufacture several "loyal wingmen" that can operate in conjunction with the US sixth-generation aircraft.

From the details, it can be seen that China is pursuing more than just a "loyal wingman."

Therefore, American media often compare the large drones developed by China with the model of the US "Collaborative Combat Aircraft" program, thinking that the PLA is following the US approach.

However, this kind of understanding is actually a misunderstanding. It is true that China is studying the concept of "loyal wingmen," but from the two large drones that appeared at the military parade, it can be seen that the task positioning and design of the "loyal wingmen" between China and the US are completely different.

Firstly, in terms of appearance, the two large drones of China did not follow the traditional "reconnaissance and strike" UAV design, but instead adopted the aerodynamic layout of manned aircraft, especially sixth-generation aircraft. One used a tailless diamond-shaped main wing, while the other used a lambda wing.

In addition, some analysts, based on the scale ratio, speculate that the size of these two drones is close to the J-10 fighter jet—meaning they can carry heavier aviation ordnance for combat.

They are truly unmanned air superiority aircraft capable of carrying out independent air combat missions.

Secondly, when the drone formation passed through Tiananmen Square, the official news release from China introduced these two large drones as "unmanned air superiority combat aircraft."

Therefore, based on the above information, it is clear that China's concept of "loyal wingmen" is not limited to drones cooperating with sixth-generation aircraft for joint operations. Instead, China is exploring whether drones can act as independent air combat units to perform tasks such as gaining air superiority, attacking land targets, and sea targets.

Or, in other words, the difference between these two unmanned air superiority combat aircraft and manned aircraft may only lie in the absence of a cockpit.

In contrast, the US Air Force's "Collaborative Combat Aircraft" program has much simpler goals. Its objective is simply to equip the sixth-generation aircraft with a few low-cost, mass-produced "loyal wingmen."

What's the difference between Northrop's drone and a light fighter jet? Is one drone worth one pilot?

In other words, the US Air Force still defines the "Collaborative Combat Aircraft" as a "loyal wingman" that can work with the sixth-generation aircraft. That is, in actual air combat missions, the US sixth-generation aircraft will command the drones to perform dangerous reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, and other forward tasks, or serve as a missile depot or decoy for the US sixth-generation aircraft.

However, it cannot be said that the US has not considered the issue of the "loyal wingman" operating independently. The technical approach of the US is simply the opposite of China's: China is exploring how to achieve independent drone operations through artificial intelligence or remote control, while the US simply equips the drones with a cockpit.

Last August, Northrop Grumman had once released such a design—the company's "loyal wingman" even had a pilot cockpit, which caused multiple American military media outlets to comment: isn't this just a light fighter jet? Can a drone with a cockpit still be called a "loyal wingman"?

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7546158174202511912/

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