Next Gen Fighters?
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Last week China flew two new platforms that look kinda like Sixth Generation Fighters. Some thoughts on the first one:
China has flown an aircraft that looks much like what Western aviation analysts expect a sixth-generation fighter to look like. The Chinese jet was accompanied by a Chengdu J-20 chase plane, making it likely (or at least plausible) that Chinese manufacturer Chengdu developed the aircraft.
The aircraft, which is quite large, has a delta wing and no tail. This latter development is common in US plans for a sixth-generation fighter, suggesting either espionage or (more likely) convergent development around technical requirements. Most surprisingly, the jet appears to have three engines, an almost unique characteristic among tactical combat aircraft.
The configuration suggests a stealthy, long-range attack aircraft capable of air superiority and strike missions.
Before we get any wags in the comments with “why do we need a next generation fighter when we’re still building the F-35,” let me pre-empt by noting that the question is neither here nor there. We may or may not “need” a 6th generation fighter, but it has been the case throughout all of the history of military aviation that development of the next generation of aircraft has begun while the previous generation was still in production.
Other links on the same subject:
- The second prototype, evidently at Shenyang…
- More on the first one.
- Even more on the first one!
- Stephen Trimble on the both of them…