[Military & Weapon Subspace] Author: Lele

In the unclear trend of sixth-generation aircraft development, a recent article published by the U.S. "1945" website believed that "J-36 is a major enemy of B-21." The core argument is that J-36 will intercept B-21 attempting to operate in the Western Pacific with its outstanding range, payload capacity, and stealth performance, thus forming a military advantage.

▲The "1945" website has begun to worry about B-21

In particular, the article believes that equipped with three engines and having an extremely large size, J-36 will obtain unprecedented operational radius. And this radius is aimed at "targeting Guam". This distance is 2400 kilometers from the first island chain and 3000 kilometers from the continental shelf, which are actually the core islands of the American military base group in the Western Pacific. Once included in the attack radius of J-36, the "value of B-21 would be significantly reduced." What can I say? The "1945" website's concept of air combat is still limited to "animal chess", without realizing where the upper limit of J-10CE lies in the era of system combat.

▲This is an era where even J-10CE needs support from the system to fight

The concept of stealth for fifth-generation aircraft does have limitations - generally only the frontal RCS can reach a satisfactory level of 0.01, while the side, rear, and underside RCS are still relatively dangerous. This means that fifth-generation aircraft cannot act recklessly and must carefully plan flight routes to ensure that the low RCS angle is placed in the main threat area to guarantee safety. In contrast, sixth-generation aircraft further expand to all-around stealth, providing good low detectability against common radar bands in most angles, making their safety incomparable to that of fifth-generation aircraft.

▲Just look at the belly structure of F-35 to imagine its level of stealth

This latest India-Pakistan air battle once again proves the value of AWACS, but since its inception, AWACS has had a fatal weakness - poor stealth, making it easy to become a target for opponents. To avoid this, air forces of various countries have had to control the distance between AWACS and frontline fighters, reducing operational efficiency. The most groundbreaking aspect of J-36 is that it theoretically can combine all-around stealth with high-power radar, achieving the true meaning of a "miniature stealth AWACS." It is not responsible for commanding other fighter jets but rather various stealth drones.

▲Sixth-generation aircraft can basically achieve the same stealth level as the front of a fifth-generation aircraft in most angles

Using fighter jets as "miniature AWACS" is a concept with a long history. The first to materialize was the MiG-31. After the Soviet Air Defense Force received this heavy interceptor in the 1980s, they believed it could "command other anti-aircraft units and intercept opponents over the vast Siberian airspace," but later found that its command capability was extremely limited. F-35 is the second one to try, and also underwent complete testing with acceptable results. The problem is that now the F-35's radar has become outdated - originally planned to upgrade to gallium nitride radar in 2026, affected by rare earth supplies, it is expected to be installed on the aircraft in 2028 or even 2030, making its performance insufficient.

▲F-35's proud radar has become outdated

AVIC is at the top of the world in airborne radar technology, and the size of J-36 is enough to accommodate large-sized radars. From the experience of the South Asian air war, even traditionally highly mobile air combat has become "long-range counter-fire" with the maturity of ultra-long-range air-to-air missiles, meaning that drones can fully undertake the task of launching. Combined with the characteristics brought by the multi-person cockpit mechanism, J-36 can already achieve all-around stealth patrol of the front line, search targets from a long distance, and guide drone swarms to attack - this is a disruptive design for the current U.S. combat system, not just targeting B-21 or any specific weapon. The understanding of sixth-generation aircraft by the "1945" website is still the classic model of "B-21 launching long-range cruise missiles encountering interception by J-36," which is far too backward.

▲The future of B-21 is indeed somewhat bleak

As for the issue of operational radius, the United States has recently adjusted the operational radius of F-47 to 1000 nautical miles (about 1850 kilometers), and the YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A drones are also being developed urgently - this is very similar to the thinking behind J-36. When J-36 debuted at the end of last year, although各界in the U.S. refused to recognize its identity as a sixth-generation aircraft, the U.S. Air Force privately borrowed many ideas. How much can be borrowed remains to be seen when J-36 and F-47 are eventually put into service.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7506368023222207016/

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