We may never know how many surprises the Chinese aviation industry has yet to unveil.

Recently, several photos of a new type of fighter aircraft have once again appeared on social media. The time and location of the shooting are unknown, but it can be confirmed that this aircraft is not the "J-36" or "J-50" that was revealed last year, but rather a combination of the two.

Photo of the newly reported flying vehicle

In short, from the photos circulating on social media, this aircraft adopts a Lambda-like, tailless layout, showing clear low observability design features. The front of the nose is equipped with an airspeed tube, indicating that the aircraft is in the early verification flight phase.

Additionally, the sharp conical front fuselage of the flying vehicle seamlessly merges with the large sweepback wing tips, which have clipped wingtips, featuring a significant triangular extension structure, and forming a unique "serrated" edge configuration.

It is speculated that this flying vehicle may adopt a tricycle landing gear, with the front landing gear possibly being a dual-wheel design, which is commonly seen in heavy or carrier-based aircraft, thus it cannot be ruled out that this aircraft is a carrier-based one.

Another photo

Owing to the limitations of the photo's pixel and shooting height, the internal weapons bay and other details of this flying vehicle are currently not visible, but it can be confirmed that the aircraft uses a twin-engine configuration, and its wide fuselage can provide a large internal fuel and ammunition load capacity.

Regarding whether this aircraft is another sixth-generation fighter of our country, there are two speculations:

The first is that this flying vehicle is a carrier-based aircraft, based on the dual-wheel front landing gear of the aircraft, as well as a variable sweep wing carrier-based aircraft design patent applied for by Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) some years ago, whose model design is highly similar to the current exposed flying vehicle.

According to the circulated information, the joint team of NPU and Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) is believed to have proposed eight schemes in the research field of sixth-generation fighters, and conducted low-altitude flight verification on four of them.

Propaganda board showing the research results of NPU and CAC

The second speculation is that this aircraft is a "loyal wingman," or in more sophisticated terms, a "collaborative combat aircraft" (CCA) similar to the U.S. plan, which aims to develop multiple drones to support the U.S. Air Force's "next-generation air dominance" fighter project (NGAD).

With the increasing exposure of various concepts and research in the sixth-generation fighter field between China and the United States in recent years, it has become a consensus that "sixth-generation fighters are a combat system, not a specific aircraft."

CG image of the carrier-based aircraft design patent submitted by NPU

China's research progress in this field is far ahead of the United States. When the U.S. Air Force publicly promoted the first drone prototype of its "collaborative combat aircraft" program in early July, China had already exposed several "loyal wingman" designs.

Nevertheless, from the simultaneous test flights of two new aircraft from Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) and Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) last year, to the appearance of another new flying vehicle now, within just a few months, China has already introduced three different configurations of experimental aircraft.

This is the first CCA drone prototype introduced by the United States in July this year

This "flowering variety, multiple approaches" research path makes one think of the U.S. "Hundred Series" aircraft development plan from the last century, which produced a series of research outcomes that propelled the U.S. aviation industry's progress in breaking the sound barrier, exploring new aerodynamic layouts, and integrating weapon systems.

However, it is quite touching that although the U.S. Air Force has recently proposed the concept of "Digital Hundred Series 2.0," hoping to rapidly iterate, produce at low cost, and quickly manufacture small batches of next-generation aircraft, today's United States is no longer the technologically driven, bold innovating America of the Cold War era.

This is a possible drone that may appear in the military parade in September this year

Whether it is the three different configuration flying vehicles that have been unveiled in our country, or the numerous drones with distinct designs that have been captured by satellites in recent years, these signals clearly indicate that the "digital hundred series" aircraft research plan of the new era will eventually take root in China, and the Chinese aviation industry will define the next generation of fighters and air combat rules in its own way.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7534954060336595456/

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