[Military Second Plane] Author: Lele

Before the clamor of PL-15E achieving success in South Asia had subsided, the "Bulgarian Military" website brought new anticipation - the stealth bomb bay of J-35 is large enough to accommodate the next generation PL-17, enabling the ultra-long-range kill of aerial targets beyond 400 kilometers.

▲The "Bulgarian Military" website has oversimplified things.

The basis for the article is that "J-35 has a stealth bomb bay longer than 7 meters", which is clearly impossible. Among the many fighter jets developed by AVIC, only J-36 might have such a size of stealth bomb bay. Therefore, the claim that J-35 can carry PL-17 under stealth conditions is not valid, but this does not mean that J-35 cannot use PL-17. The simplest way is direct external suspension; with a range of 400 kilometers, it can avoid most risks, just like how J-10CE launched PL-15E from 150 kilometers away without being detected. If we consider that the opponent of J-35 may be far stronger than the Indian Air Force and that early warning aircraft are still developing rapidly, then a safer and more complex method must be used - drones.

▲The newly unveiled American YFQ-42A drone

On May 19, the U.S. Air Force's YFQ-42A drone for fifth-generation fighters was officially launched, with its first flight expected soon. This is a major advancement in the U.S. military's "unmanned wingman" program. However, both YFQ-42A and its competitor YFQ-44A belong to small drones, with a maximum takeoff weight of less than three tons, capable of carrying only small weapons, truly trial models. In contrast, the Attack-11, which made an appearance during the parade six years ago, has an empty weight of over six tons and a maximum takeoff weight of more than twenty tons. Most importantly, its stealth bomb bay dimensions are quite impressive and can easily accommodate PL-17, which is slightly longer than PL-15.

▲Many people underestimate the size of Attack-11 due to its "drone" label.

In other words, the future of domestic fifth-generation fighters will rely more on drones like Attack-11, which have superior stealth performance, large bomb bays, and can accompany operations. They can not only carry air-to-air missiles, giving fifth-generation fighters more concealed and ample aerial firepower, but also use heavy weapons to attack ground or maritime targets (F-35 insists on doing it alone and has paid a huge price for this). Understanding this point explains why the navy built the special equipment 076 even before electromagnetic catapult technology matured - the value of launching Attack-11 from the carrier will not be much lower than ordinary fighters in the future.

▲The "obesity" and "uneven bottom" of F-35 are for accommodating larger-sized weapons.

However, J-35 itself has a problem - single-seat design is very unfavorable for operating drones. Just as fourth-plus-generation fighters generally enhance their multi-role capabilities, single-seaters tend to be designed for air superiority, while dual-seaters are better suited for ground/sea missions. Essentially, having an additional pilot allows meeting the demands of piloting and operating complex weaponry simultaneously. Even with AI assistance, early J-35s would struggle to multitask between piloting and operating drones. This is why J-20 has spawned a dual-seat variant, and sixth-generation aircraft have directly adopted multi-pilot mechanisms. By the way, the U.S. proposed the concept of unmanned wingmen earlier than China, but fell behind because it was difficult to develop a dual-seat variant of F-35.

▲Drone accompaniment in fighter combat is already an inevitable trend.

Therefore, the initial J-35 may achieve covert strikes by reducing the number of unmanned wingmen or even controlling other manned fighter jets. With its advanced radar and avionics, J-35 can actually perform some functions of an early warning aircraft, while also using its stealth characteristics to advance the front line and guide non-stealth fighters at the rear to launch weapons. This is particularly significant for limited forces like the Pakistan Air Force or naturally constrained entities like carrier-based aircraft. As for the U.S. and Russia, these two competitors, their R-37M and AIM-174B have too many limitations; domestically, the lead will not be shaken until AIM-260 matures.

▲American AIM-174B is simply not up to par.

People find it hard to imagine things outside their own cognition, and this is vividly demonstrated on the "Bulgarian Military" website. Europe does not even have the shadow of a fifth-generation fighter, let alone unmanned wingmen. It blindly follows the outdated tradition of "all are new-generation equipment," forcing a connection between J-35 and PL-17, completely unaware of the revolutionary changes in air combat. From this perspective, the decline of European fighters may come faster than originally anticipated.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7506724540563702287/

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